What Should You Do When You See Your Kids Watching Porn?

There’s a better way to deal with your kid for watching porn rather than shaming them.

We always want to believe our kids can do no wrong. Catch them eating a cookie out of a cookie jar and a simple slap on the wrist and warning should do. But, what happens when you suddenly hear weird moans and groans from your kids’ room? You creep up to your kids’ room and try knocking on the door, and there’s no answer.

So, you open the door, and notice that your kid is watching something on his little magical window of light. You take a closer look and realize what you’re seeing. You gasp at the sight: your kid is watching porn! Your kid hears you, and your cover is blown! Now, he or she’s probably scrambling because they’d completely forgotten the number one rule of watching porn: always wear your headphones!

You’re shocked, furious, and extremely confused. But yelling is the last thing you want to do right now.

Okay, we totally get it if you want to scream at your kids right now. You have every right to be angry at them and it’s okay to feel that way! BUT, reprimanding them (which usually turns into screaming later) usually ends up with kids not wanting to trust you. They’ll start lying, and saying things they know you want to hear because they don’t want to get yelled at. And, does anyone really enjoy getting yelled at?

Listen.

Some parents believe is that the best way to talk about is to be casual about it. Of course, seeing their parents SO COMFORTABLE with what’s going on will shock your kids but that’s your opening to find out why they’re watching it or they found it. From here, you can encourage them to ask questions about porn and sex, just so they don’t get the wrong idea.

In the long run, they’ll even be more open to talking to you about other topics. But if you feel like you’re way out of your league, it’s okay to ask for help from their favorite “cool” Tita or Tito.

A little sex-ed 101 wouldn’t hurt.

Do you remember the time your parents gave you “the talk”? If you haven’t done it yet, now’s your chance to do it. You’ll need to explain that porn’s an exaggerated version of sex with all the camera-work, Viagra, and special effects. Using the proper terms such as penis, vagina, sexually transmitted diseases, STDs, and others can help your kid understand what sex really is and protect them from actually engaging in risky sexual behavior.

Offer your stand and set limits

Sadly, you can’t ban them from porn completely because they’ll eventually see it again. They’ll probably have 1 Terabyte full of it in a hard drive under password-protected and code-named folders for it too! Be that person who they can talk to, give them a safe pace to understand it. Do not associate shame and fear with porn, or it might just backfire on you. Of course, if you’ve got a younger child, you’ll need to make clear that watching pornography at a young age is definitely not OK. At the end of the day, you know your child best, so you are the best judge of what and what isn’t appropriate for your child.

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