Kid yourself not, today’s children are the real digital natives which makes them far more complicated and advanced than you were while their age. But unfortunately everywhere I turn I see ongoing assault against these digital natives both physically and spiritually.
In my opinion, the greatest challenges confronting children and youths today is the Internet on one hand and entertainment on the other hand. By now you should know that the Internet has a two-edged sword, one is the positive while the other is the negative side. Unfortunately, many parents are still treating the latter with kids glove lightly – they are probably under the illusion that the Internet is all positives so they allow their wards have unmonitored access, how wrong?
OK, lets move to entertainment and my question to folks who thinktheir is nothing wrong with the brand of music being aired today is simply: what will likely be in the mind of a young teenage boy who is constantly shown images of “supposedly”good looking girls dancing in a tempting way all in the name of entertainment? Itwon’t be long before the fellow would want to explore what is in a girl or if you flip the coin, many young girls would rather want fame or glamour of being a beauty queen or hanging with super stars as their screen babes than go to school to study medicine for 6 years. A teacher told me that some kids in her school of between 6 – 9 years know what sex is all about and if you give them a computer with Internet access they can find their way to pornographic website and show you men and women in the very act. This is not a case of sex education, they learnt it out of curiosity with the aid of the Internet according to her.
Truth is that parents have become extremely busy all in the bid to meet up with the rising cost of living while in many cases leaving the home front exposed. My advice to parent is stop being lazy about raising up your children properly while working hard, day and night to build a career. If you have decided to be a parent then you have to properly manage every aspect of your life.
Some Tips from CFA
I may not be the number one parent in the world but I have made up my mind to create a controlled, godly environment for my children. I refuse to allow just anything be thrown at them by the demands of modern society, so that I can render account before God of how I brought up the gifts he handed over to me.
So, I am nowhere being a counsellor but here are some tips based on personal experience:
- Monitor the activities of your children on the Internet and restrict unfettered access to ALL websites.
- Protect them from unnecessary vices around our entertainment industry and prevent the pollution of their minds except for songs and music videos that you consider safe for them.
- Turn on child protection on your decoder especially when you are not around. Why allow your child access to E! or MTV or other channels that will expose them? Wait until they come of age, then they can decide.
- Password your phone if you have sensitive stuff in there, at least I once met a father of 3 who had all sorts on his phone and he actually told me how he can’t do without watching “blue film” almost every night. He actually told me that their was nothing negative with the act and even when I brought in the spiritual angle, he reminded me that he was also a Christian. All I could do, is pray that God should have mercy. Honestly, who do you think is the bigger loser after watching porno? The actors or those watching?
- Ensure that your children are surrounded by the right kind of influence, if you have to go to their school to meet their friends then do, remember we are leaving in a digital, highly advanced society today.
Even as an adult, I literally have to “flee” from things I consider tempting talk less of a child. So for example, I don’t visit any site showing half naked women not to talk of a porno site. I also don’t watch musical videos that want to get me to imagine the attractiveness of what is being dangled on the screen and believe it or not, everyday I say the Lords prayers and particularly I stress “lead us not into temptation.” You’ve got to guard your heart jealously!
So, what do you think?
