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Summer is an Easy Time for Hard Topics

Having "The Talk" about porn. Yikes! Yup, you just have to do it. No exceptions.

It's hard to get everything covered during a school year. Math, English, Science, History - it can all be pretty overwhelming on its own, without adding anything extra. So can I make a suggestion? This summer, spend a little time covering one of the most important topics in this strange new world of constant digital accessibility.  Have "the talk" with your children about inappropriate online pictures.

This book could be an excellent discussion starter for kids of many ages, to guide you through that talk. Just a little bit each day, and you'll have covered the majority of this uncomfortable topic by the end of summer.

Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today's Young Kids Paperback

I read a very eye-opening article about what an expert in this field teaches his own children. The author is Mark Bell, a marriage and family therapist. He has 3 big suggestions:

1. Monthly meeting with each child


2. Casual chit-chat as topics come up


3. Read books together to guide the discussion

This is the big message that he gives to his own children. "Pornography is a form of unhealthy sexuality that most often results in making a person more selfish, dishonest, isolated, unhappy, less empathetic and more disrespectful towards others, particularly females."

These are hard times to be a parent. Pro-active information can help prevent huge trauma in the coming years. Take some time to talk about these things now.

Just between you and me, my husband and I would have shared these duties. He would have had the monthly check-ins with man to man talks. I would have read the books and  had the casual chit-chats. But do what works in your family.

Just please, PLEASE don't ignore the problem. It's not going away any time soon. Filters are NOT adequate protection, they are just a beginning step in handling the larger issues.