I’m a firm believer to always seek out both sides of a story before reacting. I was in a situation only a few months ago that I truly wasn’t prepared for. My nine-year-old daughter was introduced to pornography on a smart phone.
I realize how terrible that sounds! How horrifying this situation can be because for me it was just that. My girls are as innocent as the day is long and the fact that an older child showed my daughter an adult image, makes my skin crawl and my insides feel as if they have been rubbed raw.
Let me start from the beginning of any parent’s worst nightmare. Recently, we’ve had a few new families move into our neighborhood. I’ve been trying to let my children grow up with a little more free range than the typical helicopter parent I am. My daughters are allowed to play across the street with the neighbor kids, as long as they are together and in view of the house. We live in a cul-de-sac with virtually no traffic so it’s safe.
One of the neighbor girls has a smart phone and showed a picture of a topless woman to my daughter. When I first learned of it, I was horrified and vehemently angry. It took a few painstaking moments of pacing the kitchen before I calmed down enough to start knocking on doors. Before I accused the child with the phone or had a heated conversation with the parents, I sought out the truth. The truth of the matter was slightly more devastating. All the children were victims that day.
The girl with the phone had allowed some older friends to use it. They had looked up dirty images. When she was with my daughter, she discovered the picture and in shock showed it to her. It was an innocent mistake with greater ramifications. With practically every parent in the neighborhood involved in the situation, we were all forced to have an uncomfortable conversation with our children about pornography and the dangers of the internet.
I believe handing a child a smart phone with internet access and texting capabilities, is similar to handing a child a loaded gun. With the pull of the trigger or click of a button, they can cause immeasurable damage. As parents, we have the right to parent how we wish but we need to take into effect, the damage that can be caused by unlimited internet access.
As for me, any phone my daughters will own will never have unbridled internet access and I encourage all of you to do the same.
