First, I'm glad you're disturbed and concerned. Be assured that your kid is a good kid who's curious like any kid. Be also assured that this has happened in part because of "child advocates" that encourage kids to experiment and encourage parents to let their kids experiment on their own. They advocate nothing but what your child was doing - and you were foolish to let it happen. No offense intended, because most parents are just like you.
Frankly I'm amazed nobody talks about creating safe surfing environments at home. Especially websites that promotes "safety for kids on the internet". It astonishing.
Instead it's only about "educating your kids on the dangers", which admittedly is important but if anyone mentions "filters" or "restricting access" there's a whole contingency of people who freak out claiming you're a rotten parent for not sending your kids out with little more than their curiosity and a "contract" they signed - thptptp! Those people are rotten themselves, imho.
Let me be clear here, parenting is not only a parent's right, but their responsibility, and parents are PERSONALLY responsible for what their kids do on the internet at home. You provided them with access? You're responsible for how they use it. Contracts are great, but they're no substitute for parenting, and that includes making sure they understand that parent-child relationship and that it means you will check up on their surfing habits. It means they know you care about them enough to not let them surf in private. It means you wouldn't simply tell them that guns are dangerous and then give them unrestricted access to use one fully loaded anytime they want in full privacy.
Kids are curious (which is a good thing, and should be nurtured) and no contract in the world is going to stop their curiosity. Parents talking about sex in a responsible and respectful way isn't going to satisfy it either, and like it or not all the research indicates that porn can have devastating effects. If you don't believe me then do a search on "pornography addiction science" and see for yourself.
Enough of this mamby pamby talk about mere education and time to show your kids you really care by creating a safe surfing environment. I've posted some suggestions here:
http://the-austins.com/kidfriendly.html Scroll down to the bottom, where you'll see "educate" is the first bullet item, but there's so much more that you can and should do. Good luck!
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Edited by davea0511 at 07/24/2007 4:15 PM
