"Surfing the Web. " "You've got mail!" Downloading, e-mail, World Wide Web. If you had said any of these terms to me 10 years ago I wouldn't have known what you were talking about. But nowadays these terms are a part of our daily vocabulary. It doesn't matter what age you are, how much schooling you've had, or even how much knowledge you have about computers. It seems that almost everyone has a working knowledge of the Internet and what you can do with it.
No longer do you worry about expensive phone calls overseas. All you have to do is type your letter, put in an e-mail address, and press "Send." And how about those long hours of Christmas shopping that you dread each year? Well, that is almost a thing of the past with online shopping.
Do you want to research a topic? Why go to the library anymore? You have some of the best researching capabilities on the web - right down to talking (via e-mail or chat rooms) with the authors themselves. You can trade stocks, get a job, find a long lost relative and trace your family's history online. You can do almost anything with a simple touch of a button or a click of the mouse.
And that, my friends, is the problem. It seems that every good thing always has a bad side, and Satan knows exactly how to use these things to his advantage.
Web Dangers
With all the wonderful things that the Wide Web has to offer, many things accompany it that can cause permanent damage to you and your family. I am not saying that using the Internet is a sin (I use it daily myself). What I am saying is that we need to be aware of the potential dangers that await our families. Among these things are pornography, cults, online affairs, unmonitored chat rooms, gambling and drugs.
For years, pornography was confined to sleezy adult bookstores, back rooms in video stores and the top shelves of magazine racks in convenience stores. It was very difficult to purchase these materials with total anonymity. Most of all, children were kept from purchasing them.
That is now a thing of the past. Now, Internet users have easy access to pornographic materials in the privacy of their own homes and with "complete" anonymity. Young and old alike can easily access, download and print out pornographic pictures, video clips, sound bites and much more. As a matter of fact, the pornography industry has found a new home on the Internet. A U.S. News and World Report article revealed that the porn industry took in more than $8 billion dollars last year, "more than all revenues generated by rock and country music, more than America spent on Broadway productions, theater, ballet, jazz and classical music combined."
Statistics show more than 72,000 sexually explicit sites on the web and an estimated 266 new porn sites being added each day. These sites alone generate a revenue of $1 billion dollars each year. The Playboy web site averages five million hits each day. A market-research company, PC Meter, found in the spring of 1997 that 11 percent of kids under the age of 11, and 25 percent of all teens had reported visiting web sites with pornographic materials (and these statistics are three years
olds).
Further statistics could blow your mind about the prevalence of pornography on the Internet, but these should open your eyes to the problem at hand. Anyone at any time in your household can access these materials with a click of the button. What is even scarier is that it can happen without your even looking for it. You can easily stumble upon one of these sites before you even realize it.
A friend of mine was innocently looking for Barney for his 2-year-old daughter when he stumbled upon a pornographic site. Another friend was searching for the Rubber Maid web site and you can probably guess the rest. The point is that it is easy to access this material, look at it long enough to satisfy your curiosity and end up hooked. It takes three-tenths of a second for a picture to get from the eye to the brain, and it takes forever to erase that image.
When discussion on Internet cults comes up, one's mind immediately jumps to the Trench Coat Mafia and the Columbine tragedy. We all saw what an influence this cult had on the young men involved, and that is only the beginning. On the web, you can log on to fascist and racist web sites, sites on cultic suicide (how to go about committing suicide), Satanism sites and much more. It's scary to think of what our children might be accessing.
Online affairs and unmonitored chat rooms are becoming a serious problem. Husbands, wives, parents and teens are all susceptible to these lures of Satan. Within chat rooms, and even through email, a person can meet someone, have a "date" and even have "sex" online. A husband or wife can do this without the spouse ever knowing (or so they think).
That's bad enough, but it gets worse. Children are being stalked, contacted and even abducted by pedophiles and child molesters online. Parents have no idea who is talking with their children and they have absolutely no idea what their communicators' intentions are. The web is an easy way for these people to manipulate and coerce our children. And if all that weren't enough (and there is more, unfortunately), now our families can gamble and purchase drugs and illegal weapons over the Internet.
Have you got the picture yet? With all the positively incredible things that the Internet has to provide, there is also a world of sin out there for the taking. And you can be entangled by all of it in the privacy of your own home.
Safeguarding Your Home
We have taken a brief look at the serious problems our families face on the web. Now we turn to how we can deal with these problems to ensure safe surfing.
There are three basic ways to go about safeguarding our homes from the lures of the Internet.
First, families should follow these basic guidelines to ensure a healthy Internet environment in their home:
• Our computer(s) should be in public areas within the home, such as the family room, den or office. The monitor should face the door and the door should remain open. Parents must make periodic visits to the room.
• Spend time as a family learning how to use Christian discernment on the Internet.
• Show your family what to do if they accidentally come across a bad web site.
• Learn how to set up "bookmarks" to enable easy access to your favorite sites.
• Do not let the computer become a "babysitter." Set time limits on the Internet and don't allow late-night usage. (A friend of mine once told me that leaving your family alone with the Internet is like letting Sodom and Gomorrah baby-sit your children.)
• Don't talk to strangers! If you don't let your children talk to strangers on the street, why would you let them do it on the Internet? Know whom your family is talking to at all times.
• Never give out your name, address, telephone number or email address to anyone. (Possible exceptions could be to online stores and Christian web sites, but be cautious, and don't let the kids provide this information.)
• Allow your children the freedom to inform you about questionable web sites without your assuming they were searching for them.
• Periodically check the browser history on your computer to see where family members have been.
• Set up some ground rules for computer use and stick to them. When setting the rules, also determine the punishment for when and if they are broken. (Every family should have a "no Internet usage" rule when mom and dad are not at home.)
• Most of all, take an interest in your family's use of the Internet.
Second, you can install filtering and monitoring software onto your computer. This will allow you to dictate where your family can and cannot go on the Internet and let you know where they have been. It allows you to block what you deem inappropriate for you and your family.
Keep in mind that, while filtering software is a viable option for your family, it does not offer complete protection. Realize that your teens might know more than you about computers and can easily find ways to bypass this software. And remember, software can be uninstalled and installed very easily.
Third, you can sign up for Internet access through a filtered ISP (Internet Service Provider). This is the best way to safeguard your Internet use. These filtering ISPs offer a service that no filtering software can. They block access to web sites that contain pornography, vulgarity, violence, drugs, cults and other inappropriate materials. Better yet, they offer you this service for the same price that you are already paying for Internet service. I call this a "no brainer." You have the choice to hook up with an ISP that is not filtered or an ISP that is filtered for the same price. What should you do?
I have used a filtered ISP for more than two years and I have felt completely secure with respect to Internet access. Though filtering ISPs cannot replace parental guidance of Internet usage, they can make parents feel more secure about web surfing for their families.
It is my prayer that families become aware of the dangers that face them on the Internet. Although the Internet can be a wonderful place, it is also a place where Satan can do his work. May the Lord bless you and your family as you strive to live for God in a world of technology where Satan is so prevalent.
Phil McKinney 11 is web minister for the Downtown Church of Christ in Searcy, Ark. He and his wife, Angie, also work with the teens. He is working toward a masters degree in youth and family ministry and can be contacted at pmckinney@olpha-net.net or 501-268-5383.
For more information...
Visit Focus on the Family's web site at www.family.org or Get Net Wise at www.getnetwise.org.
Focus on the Family's web site gives a direct link to a comprehensive listing of filtered ISPs:
www.family.org/cforum/research/papers/a0002551.html.
For a partial list of filtering software companies that you may contact, see the next column.
1. CYBER PATROL: 1-800-828-2608 or www.cyberrpatrol.com
2. SURFWATCH:1-800-458-6600 or www.surfwatch.com
3. CYBERSITTER: 1-800-388-2761 or www.solidoak.com
4. NETRATED: 1-714-559-7777 or www.netrated.com
5. SAFESEARCH:1-972-424-7882 or www.safesearch.com
6. NET NANNY: 1-800-340-7177 or www.netnanny.com
(re-printed with permission from Church & Family - Harding Institute, and Phil
McKinney)