Inappropriate content on the internet

[Still Alive]

8 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I'd note that even with these filters up it isn't perfect protection. It will stop a lot but if someone sends an inappropriate image or comment in email or instant messages that's going to make its way through. Chat programs are another weakness of filters, and then there's the odd instance of normally kid friendly websites getting hacked or things like wiki sabotage. I'd personally wait until you felt like they were mature enough to make good decisions, and even then I'd still keep the filter.

And it only takes one. Back in 1964, in 4th grade, my buddies and I found a single "full on nudie magazine" that changed forever how I looked at girls. 

[missmuffet]

Kids are getting into some horrible stuff on the computer. The computer is a major cause today for child trafficking. 

[other one]

 

1 hour ago, Still Alive said:

And it only takes one. Back in 1964, in 4th grade, my buddies and I found a single "full on nudie magazine" that changed forever how I looked at girls. 

Well, while I'm not promoting nudie magazines, it was about that time period in my life that my look at girls changed without the nudie pictures.  I think it was just hormones.

[Willa]

The problem my son faces is that the kids download games that contain viruses and wreck the computers.  Be sure and make it clear that you need to download any games and scan them.  

[other one]

5 minutes ago, Willa said:

The problem my son faces is that the kids download games that contain viruses and wreck the computers.  Be sure and make it clear that you need to download any games and scan them.  

I've never let games be downloaded on any of our computers, or other computers (other kids) that are not ours from hooking up to our network...  learned the hard way many many years ago about not having good blocking software on our computers.

Way before the normal virus protection programs someone hacked into my personal computer and replaced some very rarely used Microsoft files that turned my computer into a server for some pretty serious felons.   I am pretty sure that they were sending  illegal to my hard drive and then dispensing it to other people that requested it from them.   My internet connection was always in use and slowing down my own usage of my own internet access.

Thanks to my job,I had access to some rather sophisticated software to see what was going on, on my computer.  The three files that were using the internet while my system should have been dormmate were not supposed have anything to do with internet activity.  The files had the same name length and date stamp as the original windows software which made it impossible to find with the antivirus software available at the time.....   I was also not able to remove those files from my hard drive so I just scrapped it...   drill 8 1/4 inch holes through the drive so nothing could ever get off the thing into any other systems.  

[BibleStudent100]

I am a high school teacher and our school district has strong filters for their school owned chromebooks when they are hooked up to the district wifi; still, the kids find websites that are totally inappropriate regarding pornography and violence.  Of course, their cell phones can never even be monitored or filtered.  If parents think that giving their children an old-fashioned flip phone that has no Internet service, then think again, as at school, they will have access to the cell phones of their friends.  So what is a parent to do?

We can read to our children from the Bible about God’s laws prohibiting sexual immorality, even doing so a number of times. (1 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 5:5) This could impress upon our young ones what is pleasing and not pleasing to God. However, putting His mind in a child requires more. Children need help to reason on the value of God's laws. They need to be convinced that his laws are right and good and that obeying them is the proper and loving thing to do. Only if we reason with our children from the Scriptures so that they accept God’s viewpoint can it be said that we have put his mind in them.

When talking about sex, we might ask, “Do you think that obeying God's law not to have sexual relations before marriage will rob a person of happiness?” We can encourage our children to explain their answer. After reviewing God’s marvelous provision for producing a child, we might ask: “Do you think our loving God would make laws to rob us of enjoyment of life? Or do you think his laws are there to make us happy and to protect us?” (Psalm 119:1, 2; Isaiah 48:17) Getting our child’s thinking on this matter is critical. Then we might draw attention to examples of how sexual immorality has led to heartache and trouble. (2 Samuel 13:1-33) By reasoning with our children so that they understand and accepts God’s view, we will have gone a long way toward putting God’s mind in them. However, there is something else we can do.

Wisely, we will not only teach our children the consequences of disobeying God but also explain how God is personally affected by the way we live (see Psalm 78:41).  We might ask, “Why do you not want to hurt God?” and explain: “God’s enemy Satan claims that we serve God for selfish reasons and not because we love him.” Then explain that by keeping integrity, Job made God’s heart rejoice, thus providing an answer to Satan’s lying charge. (Job 1:9-11; 27:5) Our children need to understand that depending on how they behave, they can make God either sad or happy. (Proverbs 27:11) 

Is any of this easy?  By no means and even though I implemented the above mentioned principles with my two sons, as adults they have chosen to depart from the Way, which has brought much grief to their mother and me.  But beyond following the Bible's advice, what more can we do?  Internet filters and other controls on devices are simply inadequate...