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What's Happening Next Door?
Establishing Internet Rules for Home and Away
By Laura Paul
"Kids are developing some real problems and addictions," she says. "It's just like if you found out your child has a marijuana problem. You might want to have them start having drug testing. With respect to accidental access, you definitely don't want to punish your child or shame them or anything else. For a kid who has already started going down the road of getting addicted to this material or is starting to have online sexual relationships with people, you really need to tighten up the boundaries and get them professional help."
Children may also be exposed to pornography when they are with their friends at school or on the school buses. Children may print out pornographic pictures and bring them to school.
Lynn McDonough, a school psychologist for the Bartow County School System in Cartersville, Ga., says she is amazed by the level of violence to which children are exposed. If a child is drawing pictures of guns or writing violent stories as class assignments on a regular basis, they may be referred to the school counselor, McDonough says. But it's not as easy in today's society to tell whether the child has a serious mental problem or has simply been exposed to negative media.
"It's a lot easier to regulate those things in your own home than it is in the home of someone else's when you are not actually physically there," says McDonough. "My advice to parents would be to really get to know your children's friends and not only your children's friends but your children's friend's parents. Just know what beliefs they have. Really stay involved with your children."
Just as counselors would ask questions, parents may want to sit down with their child and ask, "Where are you getting these ideas from? Who has been talking to you about it? Where are you seeing these pictures? Where are you seeing these movies?"