Sometime around ten years ago, when our son was seven or eight, we allowed him to have his own computer. He used it to play games and watch sports highlights. At the time, he was obsessed with Nascar. Obsessed may be an understatement. He could tell you about every car and every driver. Danica Patrick had come into the scene as the only female Nascar driver. Her sponsor was none other than Go Daddy. Innocently, our son performed a Google search on Patrick and Go Daddy. Imagine our surprise when one of us realized that our son’s search had produced provocative pictures of Patrick! Thankfully, our son did not go far enough to view porn, but it awakened Dana and me to the fact that we MUST do something to protect and guard not only our son’s, but also our daughter’s, innocence. We were faced with questions, such as:
- “How can we teach our children to use the Internet with integrity?”
- “How do we guard our own hearts and remain pure online, and do the same for our children?”
- “How do we serve as an example to our family and church?”
Thankfully, soon after this event, we were made aware of a company called Covenant Eyes. Covenant Eyes is a company whose goal is to equip people with tools that provide protection and encourage accountability and trust in the fight against Internet temptation. They bridge the gap between technology and relationships because what we do online impacts our lives offline. When we signed up for Covenant Eyes, we were given info on how to install their accountability filtering to our computers, tablets, phones, etc. We were able to choose the level of accountability we wanted for each member of the family, and are able to change it at any time. We can block certain sites if we wish. We also get reports each week on each person’s screen time and get flags letting us know if we need to check on anyone’s activity from that week.
During the holiday season of 2020, Covenant Eyes is offering a free month, so that you can see if their services would benefit your family. I cannot advocate for your family having a service like this enough. Yes, we should be able to trust our children. Yes, we should be able to trust our spouse. Yes, we should be able to trust ourselves. However, the fact of the matter is that the porn industry is thriving, especially during Covid. They will stop at nothing to engage more and more people’s lives and minds. I just do not want to risk that my family will be the ones to fall. It is my job as a parent, especially, to teach my children a proper view of sexuality and God’s plan between a man and a woman, and I am not willing for the internet to take my job. Having Covenant Eyes on all our computers, devices, and phones gives me the peace of mind that I am doing my part in keeping porn out of the Beland home. Give it a try! Click here for your free trial! And, feel free to reach out with any questions!
Thriving in the Fishbowl 