You might be an informed parent who has already installed a cell phone tracker application on your child’s phone. You have been tracking your children’s whereabouts and digital interactions without any glitches so far. What happens when you notice your child getting exposed to inappropriate content? How do you deal with it?
Maybe you noticed through the WhatsApp online tracker premium/mod apk feature of your parental control application that some friend of your child had sent a pornographic clip, or you noticed your child exposed to any illegal activity. You need to address the situation with sensitivity. Here’s how you can do that.
1. Respond With Calmness
You might face a lot of turbulent emotions when you find your child coming across objectionable content. However, your reaction might have a lot of impact on your child in the long run. Therefore you must regain your calmness before talking about it to your child.
You should also acknowledge that this is a normal part of growing up in a digital era and should work your way out of any judgments that arise. This can be an opportunity to shape the beliefs of your child and guide them toward good values.
2. Maintain Curiosity
Instead of reacting straightway, try to understand exactly what the content is and how your child might be affected by it. Speak in a loving mature way while dealing with things your kid might be fearful or embarrassed about. Encourage them to speak and listen to their feelings with an open heart. Sometimes simply being present to the embarrassment your child is facing can be fruitful. Make the conversation as ease filled and friendly as possible. Your child must feel okay to discuss topics such as sexuality, vulgarity, drugs or illegal activities with you in future. Rather than labelling something as bad, explain how they are a part of life and their impacts. Encourage your child to ask questions.
3. Make Your Child Aware
Pornographic videos or photographs most often convey unrealistic and unhealthy messages. Convey to your child about the unrealistic aspect of pornography and its perils. Discuss healthy, consensual sexual relationships. Make it a point to bring up topics like mutual respect, consent, trust and assertiveness. Normalize talking about body image and body parts. Discourage pornographic attributes like unrealistic body image and violence. Also, discuss the potential dangers of this sort of content. Encourage your child to find joy and entertainment through tasteful, appropriate content.
Conclusion
The digital arena is filled with inappropriate content. It is best to prepare your child to face these through healthy, informative conversation. You might feel the impulse to shame or punish your child for watching such content, but know that it will do more harm than good. Instead, focus on what they are experiencing and validate it. If you have a parental control app installed, you might notice how your child will interact differently with such content after you have the conversation.