A simple way to talk to your 3-7 year old child about the dangers of pornography.

Background

Parents, your children are constantly surrounded by sexualized messages and images. Many of them are teaching your child lessons about sexuality and interactions between people that are misleading, incomplete and unhealthy. Real emotional intimacy is rarely portrayed. It is so important for you to talk to your children about the messages they see every day so that you can be their first, best source of information. Set aside time to talk with your child and make it a priority. It is vital that you share your personal or family standards about pornography in the course of this lesson. This is just one of many, many discussions you should have with your child and you may even feel the need to break this lesson into several to make sure you cover everything. (See related discussions below.)

Preparation

Review the objective of the lesson and understand why it is important to talk to your child about it. Read over the lesson first and try to anticipate what your child is ready for and what questions your child might have. Familiarize yourself with the glossary terms.

Objective

To teach your child what pornography is, help them to understand why it’s dangerous, explain how to avoid it, and what to do when confronted with it.

What is pornography?

Pornography is pictures or movies of people with little or no clothes on. They show private actions to make money.

Why is it dangerous?

Pornography is dangerous for children because it doesn’t represent real love or intimacy. It objectifies women and men. It glorifies violence against women. It is as addictive as a street drug. It damages a child’s undeveloped brain.

Other points to make

• No one should make you look at pictures or movies that make you feel uncomfortable

• Pornography is sometimes used by predators to groom children questions to ask your child

• Is curiosity about sex normal? (It is Important to assure your child that curiosity about bodies and sex is completely normal.)

• What is respect? (See glossary)

• How can we be respectful of others bodies?

• Have you ever seen pictures of naked people?

• What would you do if you did? (Form a plan that includes: look away, find and tell a trusted adult, tell a parent)

• Should we take pictures of ourselves or others when we are not fully dressed?

What to Do if Your Child is Exposed to Porn

Equip your child with our 

Following Up

• Each time your child is not in your care and could be exposed, it is a good idea to remind them of ways to protect and prepare themselves.

• Ensure that appropriate filters are in place on all internet-enabled devices and that all adult content is appropriately contained both on your home devices and in homes they regularly frequent.

• This will not be a one-time discussion, you’ll want to reiterate these principles continuously. This lesson will likely lead to other valuable discussions like anatomy, relationships, good touch/bad touch and predators, all of which can be found in (available on Amazon.com).

Related Discussions

(which can also be found in )

Public

Private

Respecting Others

Where Do Babies Come From?

Computers and the Internet

Curious to learn more? Check out our books, ; How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography, which is also available in ; and .

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