Keeping Families Safe Online
Practical steps to make the internet in your home safer for your family — not a substitute for conversation and diligence, but wise barriers against the darkness.
The Reality
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 it, consider these frightening statistics.
9 out of 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.
If you have given your child a computer, an iPod, a smartphone, a tablet, or even a game console, you have given them access to pornography. If these devices are unprotected, you need to do something about it immediately. An unprotected computer or smartphone is like a loaded gun (see Matthew 5:27-30) — it is dangerous and deadly. Thankfully, there are practical steps that can be taken to protect your children from exposure to pornography in your home. These are not a silver-bullet answer, 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.
www.opendns.com · Free — Blocks malicious and inappropriate content by changing the DNS settings on your router.
Visit Sitewww.meetcircle.com · $129.99 (one-time) — A router-connected device that controls usage, filters content, and monitors activity across your whole network, including a device "bedtime."
Visit Sitewww.covenanteyes.com · $10.99/mo per user or $14.99/mo per family — The best accountability software around for PCs and Macs — monitors usage and sends regular reports to accountability partners. Also available for Android and iOS.
Visit Sitewww.x3watch.com · Free — A free accountability software option for PCs, Macs, and Android, with a filtering browser for Android and iOS.
Visit SiteAndroid & BlackBerry · Free — A browser that filters dangerous web content on smartphones — often works better than K9 or X3Watch on Android/BlackBerry.
Visit SiteAndroid & BlackBerry · Free — Password-protects other apps on a smartphone (e.g. YouTube, Instagram, Twitter) — works well alongside Safe Browser.
Visit SiteChrome Extension · Free — Prevents inappropriate ads from being displayed on regular websites.
Visit SiteYour router is the gateway through which all of your home’s devices connect to the internet. Adding a router-level filter protects every device connected to your home network. Software option: OpenDNS. Hardware option: Circle.
PCs & Macs: K9 Web Filter. iOS (iPods, iPads, iPhones): Covenant Eyes Browser plus disabling internet-based apps. Android: Safe Browser + Applock. BlackBerry: Safe Browser + Applock.
PCs & Macs: Covenant Eyes. iOS: no accountability apps are available due to iOS restrictions. Android: Covenant Eyes (monitors Browser, Chrome, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook). BlackBerry: no accountability apps available.
Modern video game consoles have access to the internet and to YouTube, but they all have parental controls that allow parents to disable or password protect these apps — Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation devices each publish their own guide to setting up parental controls. Each of the apps and tools listed above require a password to be set. Please be sure that the person who holds all of the passwords is someone who does not currently struggle with pornography — the person who has had the most victory in this area should hold the passwords.
"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." — Heath Lambert, Finally Free
If you’re stuck setting up any of these tools, our team would be glad to walk you through it.