By Angie Ketcham
As a vigilant soldier, we have to be careful what our little one's eyes see. In a world inundated with technology and images, we must be vigilant to protect our children from from the constant images that bombard our lives on a daily basis.
A few years back, my 11 year old daughter, innocently enough, downloaded some apps on the Kindle while sleeping over at a friend's house. The content of what was in these apps would make a grown adult blush! She saw and heard things that was perverted and twisted sexually. I cried when I found out, because her innocence was lost that day. As I explained to her later, because of her choice of giving in to curiosity, she could never undo the images that saw. She could never undo the things that she heard. She will always have that thought in her mind, unless cleansed through the blood of Jesus, and she can never go back.
There are things we can do to protect our children from experiencing these incidents. My husband and I bought a filter program that we installed on our computer that monitors anything coming in or going out. There are several out there to choose from. These programs will limit pop ups and block your child from being able to get on to websites that are rated inappropriate.
Another must for computer usage is to keep electronics out of the bedrooms. In our home, we kept the computers in a central location of the home, like the living room. I-pads are allowed in bedrooms, but after a certain time of the night, they are to be handed in to us. We have filters on what they watch and can see anything that they have been on through the watch programs we have installed. We are very particular when it comes to what shows they can watch, even on television.
Some feel we are overprotective about what we allow or don't allow, but, as a parent, I am the watchman on the tower, and it is my responsibility to guard the hearts of those entrusted to me. By watching violence, sexual content, spiritual issues (such as witchcraft, paranormal shows, and spiritual medium content), I am helping shape the adult that child will one day be.
We must also remember that our children are always watching us. They are learning be the things we say and do. They become not so much by what we tell them, but by what we don't say. They will pick up on those things we don't want them to see or notice. Are we being the example of Christ that we want our children to be?
I am so sorry your daughter has seen horrific sights as she did. :( But it sounds like you have everything in place to protect your family. We also use filters, keep computers in a central place in the home and phones and tablets are never to be in bedrooms or bathrooms with doors closed. At 8pm all phones and tablets are to be powered off and put into my bedroom. And as you said, the kids are watching us, so we are very careful as to what we let into our home and hearts. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenifer. It was a sad situation, but God is a restorer:)
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