Should You Be Concerned About Your Son's Internet Safety?

Should You Be Concerned About Your Son’s Online Safety?

The digital age brings a wealth of information and conveniences, but we cannot ignore the risks it poses for our families as well.  As parents of boys, it’s extremely important that we are aware of what they’re doing when they’re on the internet.  There are so many ways that they can be led astray – from pornography to graphic violence to the views of radical extremists and more.

Should You Be Concerned About Your Son's Internet Safety?

Pornography is the one that ensnares most of our young men.  Even if they are growing up in a good, Christian family they are at risk to be exposed to images we would cringe to see ourselves.  Did you know that most children are exposed to the Internet at the age of 6, and 70% of children see inappropriate content by accident?  Also, former Attorney General John Ashcroft estimates that 9 out of 10 of our teen sons have been exposed to internet pornography.  How heartbreaking!

The Need for Online Safety

I know this is something that my husband and I desperately want to keep from our boys.  We would like them to maintain their innocence as long as possible.  My husband wisely told me that once that area of the brain gets turned on in a boy, it never turns back off.

Neither of our sons has their own phone, yet.  (Although we may have to rethink that now that our oldest son is approaching 16 and will be driving on his own, soon.)  However, they each have Kindles and they spend time on computers.  Apparently, the average American family has 10 Internet-connected devices and counting which creates new security threats and vulnerabilities. And many of the existing parental control tools are too complicated to use and/or expensive with annual subscriptions.

Our family has taken precautions by not allowing TVs or computers to be in our boys’ bedrooms.  We have one TV which is in our living room.  And all of our computers are in our shared office.  This helps to minimize the amount of time that our boys are alone with electronic devices.  But we still wonder if we’ve done enough to protect them.  The older they get, the more time they spend on the computer – and the more they are vulnerable to the wiles of internet predators.

I was compensated for my time to write this post – but my opinions are honest and I was not required to write a positive review.

The Peace of Mind of Online Safety

Fortunately, there are people out there who are trying to help parents protect their children from these threats. There’s a brand new product which all parents should know about.  Gryphon is a powerful yet convenient approach to online safety. It combines a high-performance WiFi router with a simple-to-use smartphone app, making it easy for parents to manage the connected home from anywhere. All of the security features are built within the router itself, eliminating the need to install additional apps on your connected devices.  Sounds convenient, doesn’t it?!?

Apparently, setting up the Gryphon router takes just three steps and a simple tap inside the Gryphon app. Parents have the ability to grant access to specific websites, restrict internet access during various times of the day (such as during sleep and homework), and monitor connected home devices like thermostats or cameras to prevent hacking. This can be done on our smartphones from anywhere!  The app even features a social collaboration tool, so you can work together with fellow homeschooling parents to create a safer Internet for everyone, by recommending and rating specific websites.

I love the thought of being able to easily set times when our wifi router is off without having to remember to unplug it every night!  Below is a video which does a great job of explaining how Gryphon works!

I haven’t personally used Gryphon – but it sounds like a great tool for parents to have in their arsenal against dangerous internet content.  The people behind Gryphon have worked hard over the last year on the design and the software platform and today they are launching a Kickstarter campaign for the final production of Gryphon. We can never have too many safeguards in place when it comes to the internet.  The innocence of our children is worth fighting for!  If you’re interested in Gryphon, please go to their Kickstarter page to find out more about the product and their campaign.

Should You Be Concerned About Your Son's Internet Safety?
Interested in online safety? Please pin this for later!

7 thoughts on “Should You Be Concerned About Your Son’s Online Safety?”

  1. Another Concerned Mom

    Accountable 2 You is also an excellent resources for online safety and is simple to use and inexpensive. It provides accountability for the whole family 🙂

  2. Also look at Protect Young Minds, which puts out great info on how to equip kids to react if they ever do get exposed to porn. They even have a book, Good Pictures, Bad Pictures, that helps you talk to your kids about what to do: name it (“that’s porn”), turn away, get away, tell an adult. Filters are great too, but no filter is fullproof. Just like drugs, telling my kids about it and why it’s bad and that the people who make it make money off hurting people seems to me info that will carry them into adulthood. Help them avoid it as much as possible, definitely, but also empower them to reject it and fight it.
    Fightthenewdrug.org is another good one for older kids.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *