Pornography is an epidemic that knows no particular demographic. Men struggle with porn. Women struggle with porn. Teenagers struggle with porn. And, sadly, even some children struggle with porn. If you don’t believe me, consider these frightening stats:
- 9 out 10 boys are exposed to pornography before the age of 18
- 6 out of 10 girls are exposed to pornography before the age of 18
- 71% of teens hide online behaviour from their parents
- 15% of boys and 9% of girls have seen child pornography
- 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online
- 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online
- 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse online
These statistics should move us to tears. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. With each passing year, these statistics get worse and worse as the market becomes more and more saturated with smartphones, tablets and the like. The fact of the matter is, if you have given your child a computer, an iPod, a smartphone, a tablet or even a PS4, you have given them access to pornography. Plain and simple. And if these devices are unprotected, you need to do something about it immediately! Surely you would never leave a loaded gun on the kitchen table for your child to play with. Why? Because guns are dangerous and they kill people. Well, an unprotected computer or smartphone is like a loaded gun. It is dangerous and deadly (see Matthew 5:27-30). I hope you sense the urgency of this.
Thankfully, there are some practical steps that can be taken to protect your children from exposure to pornography in your home. These practical steps are not the silver-bullet answer to the porn battle but they are quite helpful. Ultimately, the answer to the sin of lust and pornography is found in the joy, satisfaction, and grace that only Jesus Christ can offer. That said, it’s still important that you take tangible steps to protect your family from exposure. The rest of this blog post will practically explain what apps and tools you should use to lockdown your family’s devices and protect them from pornography.
Important Definitions
Accountability Software – this is software that monitors a user’s internet activity and sends reports to accountability partners on a regular basis
Filtering Software – this is software that filters out inappropriate content, preventing the user from accessing harmful or pornographic material
Filtering Hardware – this is hardware that connects to your router and allows you to filter content, set usage limits, and monitor activity for each of the devices connected to your network
App Descriptions
OpenDNS – www.opendns.com – Cost: Free
OpenDNS is a filter that blocks malicious and inappropriate content. In order to setup this filter, you need to change the DNS settings on your router. This sounds complicated, but it is actually quite easy-to-do. Click here for a list of how-to guides to find step by step instructions for how to setup OpenDNS with your specific router.
Circle – www.meetcircle.com – Cost: $129.99 (Best Buy – One Time Cost)
Circle is a device that connects to your router. It allows parents to control usage, filter content, and monitor activity on all of the devices connected to the network. You can set time limits on connected devices as well as set a ‘bedtime’ after which a device can no longer be used.
Covenant Eyes – www.covenanteyes.com – Cost: $10.99/month per user or $14.99/month per family
Covenant Eyes costs money but it is by far the best accountability software around. For PC’s and Mac’s, it monitors usage and website viewing and then sends regular reports to accountability partners. There are some filtering options available with Covenant Eyes as well. It also monitors usage on Android devices (it monitors apps such as Browser, Chrome, Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter). And for iOS devices, you can download the Covenant Eyes Browser for safe browsing.
X3Watch – www.x3watch.com – Cost: Free
If you cannot afford Covenant Eyes for your computer, X3Watch is another accountability software option. It can be used on PCs, Macs, and Android devices. There is also a filtering browser available to download on both Android and iOS devices. Click here to access the download page.
K9 Web Protection – www.k9webprotection.com – Cost: Free
For computers, K9 offers excellent filtering capabilities. Whoever sets this up on a computer will set a password to prevent this app from being uninstalled. It also gives you the ability to add sites to a blacklist so as to prevent people from visiting these sites.
Safe Browser – App for Android & Blackberry – Cost: Free
This app is an internet browser that filters dangerous web content on your smartphone. In many cases this app works better than K9 or X3watch on most Android/Blackberry smartphones and tablets.
Applock – App for Android & Blackberry – Cost: Free
This app allows you to password protect other apps on your smartphone. If you install this on a device, you can password protect apps such as Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter to prevent your kids from using them. This works well in tandem with Safe Browser. The best strategy is to install Safe Browser on the phone and then disable all the other internet based apps to protect your kids.
AdBlock – Chrome Extension – Cost: Free
This extension can be used with the chrome browser and will prevent ads from being displayed on a website. Many ads are designed to tempt people to click them and this results in many inappropriate ads being displayed on regular websites. Ad Block is a simple tool that removes these ads.
3 Steps to Locking Down Your Devices
Step 1: Setup Router-Level Filtering
Your router is the gateway through which all of your home’s devices connect to the internet. By installing a router-level filter, you are basically adding a layer of protection to all of the devices (computers, video game systems, tablets, etc.) that connect to your home network.
Step 2: Install Device-Level Filtering Software
For PCs & Macs:
- Best Option: K9 Web Filter
For iOS Devices (iPods, iPads, iPhones):
- Best Option: Covenant Eyes Browser + Disabling Internet-Based Apps
- Alternate Option: X3Watch Browser + Disabling Internet-Based Apps
For Android Devices (tablets, smartphones):
- Best Option: Safe Browser + Applock
For BlackBerry Devices (tablets, smartphones):
- Best Option: Safe Browser + Applock
Step 3: Install Device-Level Accountability Software
For PCs & Macs:
- Best Option: Covenant Eyes
- Alternate Option: X3Watch
For iOS Devices (iPods, iPads, iPhones):
- No accountability apps are available due to iOS restrictions. If you’re considering buying your kids a smartphone or tablet, know that Androids allow for the most flexibility when it comes to locking down a device.
For Android Devices (tablets, smartphones):
- Best Option: Covenant Eyes
- Covenant Eyes for Android monitors Browser, Internet, Chrome, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook apps. Use Applock to disable other internet based apps including the app store.
- Alternate Option: X3Watch
- X3Watch for Android monitors X3Watch, Chrome, and Firefox browser apps. Use Applock to disable other internet based apps including the app store.
For BlackBerry Devices (tablets, smartphones):
- No accountability apps are available. If you’re considering buying your kids a smartphone or tablet, know that Androids allow for the most flexibility when it comes to locking down a device.
Odds and Ends
How to Lockdown Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation Consoles and Devices
Modern video game consoles have access to the internet and to YouTube. However, they all have parental controls that allow parents to disable or password protect these apps. I recommend simply disabling or password protecting apps such as Internet, Youtube, Netflix, etc.
- Nintendo Devices: Click here for a guide on how to setup parental controls.
- Xbox Devices: Click here for Xbox 360 instructions and click here for Xbox One instructions
- PlayStation Devices: Click here for PS3 instructions and click here for PS4 instructions
Setting Passwords
Each of the apps and tools listed above require a password to be set. Perhaps this goes without saying but please be sure that the person who holds all of the passwords for these apps and tools is someone who does not currently struggle with pornography. The person who has had the most victory in the course of their life should be the one with all the passwords.
Still Need Help?
If you have any followup questions or are stuck trying to setup one of the apps/tools mentioned above, please let us know. We’d be happy to help you lock-down your home and protect your family.
Further Reading
- Tim Challies wrote a similar blog post here: http://www.challies.com/articles/the-porn-free-family-plan
- Tim Challies has another helpful blog post on this topic here: http://www.challies.com/articles/please-dont-give-them-porn-for-christmas
- The stats given above were found on Covenant Eyes up-to-date porn stats page: http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
Remember…
Accountability software, filtering tools and parental controls can go along way, but they aren’t the final answer. In the words of Heath Lambert from his book Finally Free: “Jesus and the good news of the gospel is the only hope for those who want to be free from porn. Only Jesus has the power to change your heart desires, and he does this as you believe in his forgiving and transforming grace.”
