Digital age parenting and pornography

digital parenting pornography

Recently, an unexpected and groundbreaking news got people’s attention—as the famous Playboy magazine called for ending publishing nude and semi-nude photos of women for their magazine—something that was the epicenter of adolescent boys’ and men’s titillation. Pornographic content was the selling point of Playboy magazines and this news didn’t make sense to us, until Scott flanders, CEO of Playboy magazines provided some elucidation.

“You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture”

The culture of sex and violence, in large, has made people desensitised to the reality. This is particularly due to enormous and ubiquitous portrayal of nudity and sexual violence through media, movies and even video games. And you can thank internet for the aggrandisement of pornography, that was once out of reach for many, and was only found around sketchy areas in the backrooms of stores. But now, it’s readily available to everyone.

Today, the majority is addicted to porn, and largely constitutes the young people. And with access to smartphones and portables, it’s just way to easy to create and access pornography.

And that’s not the only worst part about porn, it’s getting increasingly graphic and violent in nature.

Kids and porn

It’s unfortunate but kids get exposed to porn at a very tender age of just 11 years, on average. There isn’t much that kids know by this age with how to distinguish between the unreal world of porn and reality. This doesn’t only intricately disturb their learning, but they can also fail to understand what a mutually-agreeable, respectful and intimate relationship is about.

Viewers who have little sexual encounter can set very high and and unrealistic expectations about their sexual encounters, which inevitably leads to sexual assault.

What can be done?

While kids are young, it’s the only time when they can be acquiesced to the use of parental controls on their electronic devices. However, this may not work quite well when they enter adolescence. It is then something beyond the capacity of parental controls.

So what you need to do is to talk to your kids about pornography. Tell them that these videos are premeditated, scripted and choreographed. So no matter how much embarrassing you may find this conversation, it needs to be done! You can take some of the following approaches to tackle this.

  • Don’t turn your conversation into a lecture. Encourage two-way communication and keep the attitude of “no shame, no blame” from the beginning.
  • Accept that the conversation is not going to be an easy one for both of you.
  • Be lucid about the message that you are going to deliver before commencing the discussion.
  • Give examples of video games and social media and how they are promoting violence and promiscuity. However, don’t denigrate, if you want to avoid hate speeches as a response from your child.
  • Tell your kids about how they can enjoy and be comfortable with sexual experiences.

Your informed decisions and efforts regarding your kids’ sexual life is the best thing you can give to them.

Have something to share with us? Let us know in the comments.

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