Ask the Pastor

By Pastor Scott Denham of Harvest Fellowship, Shambaugh, IA

The Clarinda Herald Journal, publication date : 04/12/2006

 

Surf The Net : Beware The Riptide

 

Pastor Scott,

       “We just got a computer. What are some precautions we should take with our children accessing the internet?”

 

       The greater the power for good, the greater the power for evil when good is corrupted. The internet is morally neutral--neither good nor bad. How people use their God-given freedom determines whether using the internet will be safe or not. Great good has come with this technological advancement--and great evil.

       Parents bear the ultimate responsibility for raising and protecting their children--not the school, the government, or even the church. Parental love “protects” (1 Cor 13:7), and requires a degree of vigilance in a world where evil people target our children.

       Teaching our children to safely “surf the net” requires the same parental skills for teaching them to how to swim. We invest in swimming lessons and give careful instruction to lessen the dangers of the pool, the lake, or the sea. We caution them to stay inside the ropes, to swim with a buddy, to or to stay in the shallows.

       Having lived near the ocean, I have witnessed the dreaded “riptide.” One moment, you are enjoying the sun and catching a wave, and the next you’re struggling to reach the shore and escape the undertow.

       In the same way, your child may be online doing a research paper, when, out of nowhere, a pop-up or banner-add invites them to a pornographic site. They may be “chatting” with a friend, and a pedophile enters the conversation, coaxing information out of your unsuspecting child. This awful reality demands a heightened level of watchfulness if home is to be a safe place. Let me make a few suggestions for you to keep in mind before your child goes surfing:

       (1) Never give out your password for them to access the internet--never. They may be good kids, and their spirits may be willing, but the flesh is weak. They should not be able to go online without a parent present.

       (2) Never let them surf alone in their room (or watch cable TV, for that matter). Keep the screen in a place where an occasional parental glance keeps them accountable.

       (3) Do not permit them to chat online or to use a messenger program. Chatting exposes them to great vulgarity and the probing of sexual predators.

       (4) For email, I highly recommend staying away from the online accounts--especially Hotmail--and using a spam filter to keep the rude and crude out of their inbox.

       (5) Get an internet filter that will either prohibit access to offensive sites, or report the sites when a violation has occurred.

       Finally, limit their screen time, whether online, gaming, movies or TV, and encourage their love of reading . . . and the great outdoors. There’s more to life than staring at a screen, and besides, catching a real wave beats digital surfing, any day. Surf’s up!

       --Pastor Scott

To submit your anonymous question for Pastor Scott, you may write to: Ask The Pastor, PO Box 98, Shambaugh, IA 51651, or harvest@heartland.net, and on the web at www.askpastorscott.com