When I arrived in the UK for the first time in mid 70s, amongst things I was excited about was to visit Soho. There had been so much hype about what were going on in Soho amongst Malaysian students who have 'been there and seen that'! I could not helped but be curious.
However I was not placed in London. From the Heathrow airport, a group of senior Malaysian students whisked us directly to various little towns where we were placed to do our A levels. Mine was to be in a little town called Grantham! Other new and more noble things to which I was exposed to made me forget about Soho and all of its porn glories.
Now in 2009, the porno virus is much closer to all of us including our children than Soho was to me back then in the seventies. A porn virus lurches in clouds above us, carried by porno websites and made accessible only by a few click of the keyboards. If I was curious back then, why would I not want to believe that my children would harbour similar curiosity today. I did not get to entertain my curiosity due all the complexities associated with having to physically go to Soho ~ but what would stop my children from surfing even accidentally into such websites from their laptops in the comfort of their own rooms?
A fourteen year old may do a search of the word "Boobs" and may get to see what he was hoping to see in all of their fleshy glories. What seemed like an adolescent innocent curiosity about a human anatomy can easily ended up with a peek into a full-fledge porn pictures and videos. At least here in the Middle East, I can breath easy that almost all of such sites are screened and banned by internet service providers! I would like to believe this is true...although I know of employers who have terminated the employment of their staff for browsing into porno sites at work. How on earth those staff managed to penetrate the firewalls???
Some facts:
1. There is full nudity on MySpace and, according to a recent survey, there are also 26,000 registered sex offenders on the site.
2. 90% of children in the UK have looked at porn online and the average age for first time view is eleven!
3. 50% of all internet traffic is related to sex and porno sites.
Now consider this, "Your own children may have visited such sites too....!"
You can say, " No never!" and be in a state of denial for the sake of wanting to feel good about your children or you can be a little more accepting of current reality and find ways to guide and educate them about porn and what bad influence those porn sites can give them.
Realizing that whether I like it or not, Porn is so close to home, I have chosen the later. I let my children know first of all that in the UAE it is illegal to view porno pictures and videos or go into porn sites! People caught doing so can be deported! It is that serious....Second of all, I let them know all the bad things that can happen from indulging in porn. Thirdly, I relate to teachings of Islam....about why our religion has forbidden display of Aurat! There are good reasons....
However I was not placed in London. From the Heathrow airport, a group of senior Malaysian students whisked us directly to various little towns where we were placed to do our A levels. Mine was to be in a little town called Grantham! Other new and more noble things to which I was exposed to made me forget about Soho and all of its porn glories.
Now in 2009, the porno virus is much closer to all of us including our children than Soho was to me back then in the seventies. A porn virus lurches in clouds above us, carried by porno websites and made accessible only by a few click of the keyboards. If I was curious back then, why would I not want to believe that my children would harbour similar curiosity today. I did not get to entertain my curiosity due all the complexities associated with having to physically go to Soho ~ but what would stop my children from surfing even accidentally into such websites from their laptops in the comfort of their own rooms?
A fourteen year old may do a search of the word "Boobs" and may get to see what he was hoping to see in all of their fleshy glories. What seemed like an adolescent innocent curiosity about a human anatomy can easily ended up with a peek into a full-fledge porn pictures and videos. At least here in the Middle East, I can breath easy that almost all of such sites are screened and banned by internet service providers! I would like to believe this is true...although I know of employers who have terminated the employment of their staff for browsing into porno sites at work. How on earth those staff managed to penetrate the firewalls???
Some facts:
1. There is full nudity on MySpace and, according to a recent survey, there are also 26,000 registered sex offenders on the site.
2. 90% of children in the UK have looked at porn online and the average age for first time view is eleven!
3. 50% of all internet traffic is related to sex and porno sites.
Now consider this, "Your own children may have visited such sites too....!"
You can say, " No never!" and be in a state of denial for the sake of wanting to feel good about your children or you can be a little more accepting of current reality and find ways to guide and educate them about porn and what bad influence those porn sites can give them.
Realizing that whether I like it or not, Porn is so close to home, I have chosen the later. I let my children know first of all that in the UAE it is illegal to view porno pictures and videos or go into porn sites! People caught doing so can be deported! It is that serious....Second of all, I let them know all the bad things that can happen from indulging in porn. Thirdly, I relate to teachings of Islam....about why our religion has forbidden display of Aurat! There are good reasons....
"Curiosity in children, is but an appetite for knowledge. One great reason why children abandon themselves wholly to silly pursuits and trifle away their time insipidly is, because they find their curiosity balked, and their inquiries neglected!"
- John Locke
