In today’s digital world, parents usually do not have enough time to spend with their children. Since they do not spend time with their parents, children are replacing them with technology. The child may read or watch something on the Internet that could harm his/her psychology as he/she is unaware of the harmful aspects of the internet.
There are also several dangers to which children and young people are exposed on the Internet, such as the dynamism and spread of cyberbullying, sexting and exploitation. In general, it is recommended that all parents stay up to date on the internet and various forms of social media to help their children stay away from the dangers and bad practices that surround them and are trained on these topics which would help them to play an active role in their children’s digital lives.
In this increasingly digital world, parents feel out of place. Regarding unhealthy practices, the most common prohibited content available to children on the internet is pornography, which is sadly very accessible.
Read about: Want To Quit Porn? Work On Improving Your Social Skills
Why is your child more vulnerable?
Parents cannot be entirely blamed if their children fall into the trap of the dark side of the internet. There are many external factors that may influence them to unknowingly become prey to the negative aspects of the digital world. These external influences may vary from social media, friends and their personal surroundings as well. Sometimes, it is just the nature of the situation that makes them vulnerable to bad habits.
The easy access to online pornography and the potential harm from constant exposure are a cause for concern for the health and wellbeing of children. The internet has made children’s access to pornography a bigger problem. Children and teenagers who use email or surf the Internet are constantly exposed to pornography.
To really understand how single parents can keep their children away from these traps, it is important to look at the various factors that can negatively affect them:
- Parental Conflicts-
The cause of the problems is not necessarily the single parent herself, but a combination of financial pressure, family instability and conflict between the parents.
It is not uncommon for children to be exposed to, or even drawn into, parenting conflict before, during, and after pregnancy. Some parents can put pressure on their children to take sides, which can leave them feeling guilty or abandoned.
This feeling may leave them searching for a relief and land up on the internet at midnight, thinking that porn can make them feel better. However, this becomes a habitual activity which could cause serious harm in the long term.
- Mental Health Issues-
Divorce is still a common reason one parent becomes single. Many studies reveal that children who grow up with single parents suffer from psychological issues that affects them in the long term. What factors trigger these psychological problems?
While children raised by single parents are less likely to be stigmatized than before, many are still at risk for certain developmental and mental health problems. For example, children from single parent households are more likely to leave school and are also more susceptible to alcohol and drug use. Insecurity and emotional confusion can increase the possibility of mental health problems.
- Overly busy schedule-
Sometimes, single parents might have to manage the family entire on their own and hence they would have to stay away from their children all day due to work and would not get much time to spend with them.
Although, this is not the parent’s fault, the child grows increasingly comfortable with being lonely and try to explore the various facilities available to them on the internet. If you miss your youngsters throughout the day owing to work, do not attempt to conjure for it at midnight. It is not right to go wake them up late at night because it provides them access to the net and makes them terribly vulnerable to pornography.
It is completely understandable that you can quickly become overpowered by the necessities and responsibilities of a single parent. You will probably be subjected to additional suffering from the pain of your spouse’s death or divorce. Despite all of this, you wish to remain positive as your mood can simply influence your children directly.
Which step is the most critical?
Importance of prevention-
It is important that parents become aware of how to prevent their children’s bad digital habits from a young age. Countless children are in the habit of using pornography; it is a vicious circle of desire, use and shame.
There are two reasons parents sometimes do not speak to their children even after knowing they have watched pornography:
- Some parents feel that pornography is a normal part of growing up and learning about sexuality. Unfortunately, pornography is violent and demeaning and can learn harmful lessons about online sex.
- Other parents are overwhelmed with fear because they do not know what to say or how their children are going to react.
Relying on your comfort and setting boundaries for your children will pay off. Children need a parent to help them untangle these harmful images and explain why they are unreal, manipulative and disrespectful.
Possible solution- for Internet Porn
Dealing with your child watching porn is a common problem. Many parents seek professional help to guide their children. Watching pornography can become an addiction if it is not controlled in time.
Parents should let their children understand the harmful effects of using technology for the wrong reasons. In addition, parents should continue to monitor their behavior without interfering too much.
Google has released a new Safe-Search feature that works with their search engine, and you might have guessed what it does. The important thing about Safe-Search is that you need to access not only the devices your children use to access the Internet, but the browsers they use as well. A safe bet would be to enable this feature on all devices and browsers they have access to.
Another way to manage your kids’ searches on their devices is to regulate your internet network from the source. It is as easy as getting a router that allows you to filter certain web pages and restrict your kids’ access to certain web pages on the Internet. When looking for these types of routers, you will get many results to choose from.
Other powerful tools that can help your children have a healthy relationship with the internet is mentioned in detail below.
Power Tools to help you avoid such a situation from the get-go-
As all told families, single parents will maximize their children’s probabilities of success by making a top-quality home environment. Although this case is notably difficult for single parents, children benefit from an organized home with clear rules and expectations, appropriate consequences for misconduct, and emotional encouragement from parents.
Here are some of the solutions that you could adopt to prevent your child from getting access to high-speed internet porn and live a healthy lifestyle:
- Engage your children in other activities-
It is important to support single parents attempting to make a productive home. The external community can play a vital role within the health and development of kids in single parent families.
Children collaborating in structured community activities love a tutoring program, extracurricular programs, and youth sports leagues will facilitate optimize healthy child development. This involvement is notably necessary for kids from single parent families.
Try to enhance your kid’s quality of life with their favourite things, from books to exercise to music. This way, you will be able to spend together with your child anywhere, anytime. Chat with them on the during dinner or a walk. Tell funny bedtime stories, play word games and you will be able to get a lot of things done.
- Use parental controls-
Tools like parental controls will shield your kids from accessing inappropriate content. However, they cannot check everything they see on the internet. Lead him to believe that sometimes he may find things on the internet that he would rather not see or that you simply would rather not see.
As a parent, you must facilitate them to avoid inappropriate content and confront them once they see it. Once you notice that your kid is becoming a victim of the internet, you must begin talking to them about what they could notice there. Attempt to have these conversations regularly.
Several websites have a minimum regulation of thirteen years; This includes websites like YouTube and Facebook. Enlighten your kid that age restrictions are required to shield them from inappropriate content. To get on the safe facet, it is always advised to use web site obstruction plugins like Blocker X that are higher at limiting inappropriate content.
- Communicate and educate-
You would be surprised how effective a proper communication between a parent and a child can be. The best age to speak to a toddler concerning porn is as soon as they learn to access the internet.
Why? Here is an example- If you go to a zoo where there is a caged lion, your child might be curious about why they are caged and what makes them so dangerous. You would explain them the very first time you visit the zoo about why some animals are dangerous to interact with. The same goes for internet pornography as well.
There are virtual lions hidden in all our electronic devices. Once you begin talking about the dangers of the internet, your communication does not have to be complex or uncomfortable.
You can make it remarkably simple as even young children will be able to perceive easy ideas. You can try telling them something like: “There are unhealthy pictures, referred to as pornography and they will harm your brain. You must tell a parent or a trusty adult if you ever see anything like this.” They will understand you and be comfortable around that topic with you and can educate yourself on how to keep them safe from such content.
Conclusion
Although there is no sure-fire way to ensure that your child does not encounter pornography, the above methods reduce the chances of encountering such content. In the meantime, talk to your children as you see fit. Let your kids know what kind of content is appropriate and what is not. That way, if you accidentally stumble upon something similar while browsing the internet, their curiosity will not overwhelm you.
You may quickly become overpowered by the necessities and responsibilities of being a single parent. However, don’t let all those problems discourage you from being a good parent as varied practices and systems are in place to help you keep your child’s digital practices in check and you’ll be able to incorporate them into your life.
Check our : Parents perceptions of the internet and its effects on their children
