It happened again. I was soundly sleeping, and suddenly awake. Sometimes I think my heavenly Father wakes me up in the night for a talk.This usually means that I proceed to the bed of one of my children to awaken them for the same talk I just had with my Father. This time it was around 2 or 3 am. I was suddenly uncomfortable about one of my children’s internet access. I felt a caution from the Lord.
Proceeding to the child I began to share with them the dangers awaiting them online. We have a list of approved sites for our children. I have overheard on more than one occasion, adults who have visited our church giving my child internet contact information to their web sites because of a shared interest. What could be safer, right?
I don’t know these adults. Visiting a church does not necessarily make them a suitable companion for my child. Some of these adults have given no evidence of salvation. Some hold very different standards in music and dress than I believe God requires for His children. The values of some are temporal, very much of this world. Some would encourage my child into work that might keep them from the work God has planned for them. The more these people show interest in the child, the friendlier they are, the more they praise the child, the more vulnerable the child is to their opinions.
Danger number two: the internet allows access to people and ideas that are contrary to God’s Word. The following are things that have happened at our house. On one occasion a young person was impressed with a piece of music he saw played on You Tube. With a little research the child was in touch with the musician through email. I do not know this musician. Do I want my child in contact with a stranger I know nothing about?
Next, my children have their own web sites. This is a blessing, but could be a curse. They search online for things to use that pertain to the topics of their sites. People register on their sites who are interested in the topics addressed. On one occasion I noticed someone had registered on one of the sites with a username having to do with being sexy. Do I want this contact for my child?
We have had a rule in our home that required Dad or Mom to preview a movie or see it with the child. As the children have aged and are now between 15 and 25, with two being married, the rules loosen. Of course the two married are no longer under our jurisdiction, but the remaining five are. With the internet and our recent move and extended trips the rules have loosened more. While my husband and I were away our children were exposed to several movies that did not receive prior parental approval. They are simple to acquire through You Tube. No one has to buy or rent them, they are at the child’s fingertips. Over the last couple of days I have viewed two of the movies my children have seen. I had the following concerns: 1. low necklines on ladies were more the rule than the exception. I do not want my daughters to become accustomed to immodest dress as acceptable for heroines. I want my daughters to admire women of Godly character, including modesty. 2. Drinking alcohol was portrayed as the norm for “good” people. 3. The entire plot of both movies was an attempt to get one set of young people married off to set two. I have purposely discouraged the reading of “romance novels” Christian or secular because I do not want this to be the focus of life for my daughters. Romance happens and I don’t mind the truth portrayed in a biography of a godly person, but romance novels have one main aim–marrying off their heroes. Romance and marriage can be wonderful, but for that to become the main focus of our young people, and for many it is, is to sell them short on true preparation for life and marriage.
Young people have been influenced through their internet exposure to philosophies they were unprepared to refute. Knowing that their parents would disapprove of their new ideas, they kept them to themselves. The damaged lives that ensued were partially the result of unlimited internet access.
I have not mentioned “dark games”, time wasting games, the possibilities of chat rooms, and pornography. Most young people have this access in their own home, some at school, others at the home of a friend. What are your children doing on the internet?
