Beware of the Rattlesnakes: Safeguarding Your Kids from Pornography

What is the right age to start talking to kids about pornography? Listen and find out!

Marilyn loves to go hiking in the Rocky Mountains with her family. But every time they go, her husband gives them the “snake talk,” warning them about the venomous snakes lurking in the woods and sunning themselves on the big rocks. So how does this tie in with pornography? 

If your tablet had rattlesnakes in it, would you hand it to your kids without telling them about the rattlesnakes? For that matter … What is the right age to start having these difficult talks with our kids?

WHEN should we start talking to our kids about pornography?

Talk yesterday

If possible, prep your kids before they face the “rattlesnakes.”

-What’s the right age to have “the talk”? Is it 3? Is it 5? We can’t put a number on it! YOU have to decide!

-You are the parents. Just like you need to decide when they are ready to hike with the rattlesnakes–you need to decide when they are ready to be on the internet, where there is pornography.

-If we hand our kids a device with internet access, then we need to prep them for the danger!

-Don’t be fooled just because your device doesn’t have a browser. That does NOT mean you can’t access the internet through your device. There are tons of backdoors through games, apps, and chats.

-Would you give a 5-year-old your car keys and let them drive? This may sound absurd; however, we might not think twice about handing a two-year-old a tablet–which is essentially putting the entire world in his/her hands.

-We will talk a lot about how to prevent kids from being exposed to pornography in future episodes! 

Check out Fortify, a program specifically designed to help teens and adults reach long-lasting freedom from pornography. (Free for teens!)

Talk today

Start where you are NOW and go from there.

-We might panic when we think about teaching kids about porn, but we need to go back to basics. Start by simply building a foundation of trust with your kids.

-If kids trust us, they won’t be as likely to tune us out. As we build a foundation of trust, hopefully our kids will look to us for guidance.

-We want to position ourselves as our kids’ first/best source of information.

-We need to make sure we’re coming from a place of love, instead of just making arbitrary rules.

-We need to “know” our kids. We need to create a safe place, where we can talk about anything.

-Don’t worry you don’t know HOW to do this yet. We’ll give you strategies. Hang with us!

-This episode teaches you when to talk about pornography. We’ll talk about HOW in many episodes to come.

Talk “tomorrow”

Just keep talking!

-What if you sat all your kids down one time in their life, had the “snake talk” and then sent them on their merry way? That would be ridiculous, right?

-With both rattlesnakes and pornography, this is not a “one and done” situation. We need to have ongoing conversations.

-Just like every time we went hiking in the mountains, we talked about the rattlesnakes again–we need to talk about these dangers over and over so our kids will remember how to stay safe!

-Everyone needs reminders! It’s just part of life!

 CHALLENGE: This week we want you to ponder on this question: “How is pornography like a rattlesnake?” Share your answers in the Comments, tell a friend what you learned, or share the podcast.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the show, please leave a positive review or tell a friend!

Start Talking Today

Want to start talking to your kids about tricky topics, but don’t know how? We’ve got you covered! Click below to download our FREE guide, 10 Surprisingly Natural Ways to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography.