Stumbling into internet porn

The problem with writing about pornography for a Catholic newspaper is that you can't be precise about what you're discussing.

Inevitably, you have to resort to clinical terms or veiled descriptions. The result is that some of the impact is lost, and readers can be tempted to respond, "That doesn't sound so bad."

The problem with writing about internet porn in any publication is that you can't give web site addresses so that adults can see for themselves what you're talking about because children could go there, too. The result, again, is a standoffishness that blunts the point.

In search of...

Back then, people were cautioning parents to "take care; your kids can easily stumble into smut." Far from stumbling into it, I couldn't find it when I deliberately went in search of it. I concluded that the scare stories were mainly myths.

I figured kids would have to be a combination of Albert Einstein and Bill Gates to get into on-line porn; they couldn't possibly just stumble into it.

Surprise site

What I typed was innocuous. Where I went was not. A junior high student in search of the same information for a term paper could easily get to the same place. And to the same links: The page contained several connections to other porn sites.

Some people say, "Don't worry. Those are all pay sites. Unless your child has a credit card, he's not going to see anything offensive." Not so. The sites all have free material, and I don't mean just centerfold photos of naked women.

What's there

But that's not all. In addition to thousands of free pictures, your child can download free X-rated movies and play them on his computer screen.

This is a difficult problem for parents to solve because it isn't a case of monitoring what books and magazines come into your home, or what TV shows and videos are viewed. Wandering around the internet is an unobtrusive and even accidental way for a child to get his eyes on pornography.

Solutions

* Know what your child is viewing on the internet by talking to him or her, and checking out the screen on occasion.

* Install programs that block adult sites. Using such a screening system, I tried the phrase by which I stumbled into an adult site and was locked out.

* Discuss with your children what is acceptable material for your home, whether it is published, broadcast or downloaded. Explain your standards on sexually explicit material and why you believe it is wrong for children to see it.

And be careful what you search for when you go surfing.

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