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Is your Child Being Trained Online?
The average 21st century Parents seek to ensure that their children are technologically savvy, to the extent that quite a number of children from age 2 are already conversant with the use of one or more electronic devices, and by age 8, they are already surfing the internet. I am a huge fan of the jet age technologies that spring up almost on a daily basis. I always look forward to the newest ‘miraculous’ technology and I always encourage my children to learn how to use them.
The downside is that, as the children grow older and more conversant with the use of these gadgets and ultimately the internet, the onus lies on us parents to monitor our children on what is and is not acceptable to view on the internet. It is not enough to want to expose your child to all the best things that life has to offer, it is also very important to commit yourself as a parent to ensuring that the privilege of that exposure is appreciated by the child and put to the right use, knowing fully well that if misused, the adverse effect of such exposure could ultimately destroy the child socially, psychologically, intellectually and even marriage-wise eventually.
The number one culprit of all the adverse influences can be found on the internet. The internet is without doubt the greatest blessing as well as the greatest curse yet in the history of humanity! In as much as the internet makes the world a global village in that it brings individuals in contact with information and opportunities by the mere click of a button, when wrongly used, it also brings individuals in contact with sites containing visual information like pornography, sorcery etc that are evil, addictive, and negatively inciting by sowing seeds and sights that leave an indelible mark in the minds and psyche of its victims;
Peradventure, the victim is between 6-12years of age whose mind cannot adequately process such corrupting information, such a child ends up erroneously viewing such views as acceptable behavior. That mentality formed in the mind of that child leaves scars that could ruin the balanced social, moral, psychological and spiritual growth of that child. Some of the resulting vices of these premature and indecent exposure to the internet are rape, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, robbery, assault, and even suicide
It is the responsibility of every parent to educate the child on the right way to use the internet, to block out x-rated sites from being viewed, to ensure that every internet-enabled computer system or gadget is not used by the child behind closed doors or in secrecy, to closely monitor and ratify every site accessed by the child and checking the web usage history on the gadget for recently accessed sites. It is also important for every parent to understand that no matter how closely the child is being monitored at home, children pick up a lot of things from their friends in school. Even the most well mannered children are vulnerable to peer pressure and other external influences.
It is very important for parents to build a foundation of Godliness in the child at a tender age. Scripture says ‘train a child in the way he should go and he would not depart from it’. It is also important for parents to know who their child’s friends are and take out time to communicate meaningfully with their children so they don’t get wrong information from the wrong sources.
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