I loved watching the
original Star Trek when I was a kid. Spaceships – Aliens – Strange New Worlds
(you can hear the theme song in your head can’t you). As the Enterprise was
buzzing around the galaxy some unknown ship would eventually be detected and
Captain Kirk would say, “Shield’s Up!”. That always got my attention because I
knew something good was going to happen. Often it was the Klingons sneaking
around with their cloaking device so they could pop up in front of the
Enterprise and blast it with its disruptor cannons. When this happened all kinds of havoc
would break loose and, as they traded photon torpedo volleys, Sulu would yell,
“Shields at 50% captain!”. Another volley would ensue, panels would short
circuit and an expendable crewman would pay the price. So what’s this got to do with porn?

As our kids buzz around
the Internet they can encounter Strange New Worlds. Worlds where people aren’t
wearing clothes and they’re doing things that shouldn’t be seen. Kids don’t always
encounter these “worlds” on purpose. Often the purveyors of porn sneak around
the Internet cloaking their true intentions. So your kid is innocently surfing then
“Blam” a porn page pops up to attack. The problem is that many times no one is around to yell “Shields Up”. Worse, even if someone could many
computers don’t have any (“shields” being Internet Filtering software). Your
child is defenseless as the porn volley hits them over and over. This kind of exposure to porn can cause confusion about sex and distort their views. For
example, a recent survey by the National Campaign to
Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a survey that said “20% of teens have
posted nude photos or video of themselves on the Internet” (click here for more
details). 20%! That’s
crazy. The Klingons (ahh, I mean porn purveyors) are winning the battle for our
kids minds. Where do you think they’re getting the idea that it’s ok to take their clothes off, take pictures or video of themselves naked and post it on
the Internet? So parents what
are you going to do to start winning the battle? “Shields Up!”.