Suggestions to Safe Guard Your Home

Suggestions to Safeguard Your Home

• Keep your home computer in a public central location. Have the computer screen facing in an outward direction.

• Have specific rules about computer use in the home. It is recommended that you do not let your children have unsupervised time online. I know this is frustrating to hear, but it takes only a split second for the limbic system to respond to triggers online.

• Frequently check the history on your computer. To find out how to do this, Google “checking history on computer.” There are simple steps to follow in teaching you to do this.

• Make it a rule that parents are the only ones that can clear the history.

• No “R” rated movies.

• No unsupervised television watching. If you watch television do so with a purpose. Make a rule that: “We don’t channel surf in this house.”

• Censor “PG-13” movies. There are now many PG-13 movies that contain brief moments of nudity. Many clients have told me that moments of brief nudity are the only thing they remember about a particular movie. A single two-second scene can burn a memory stronger than the rest of the hour and a half movie.

• No TV or computer in your children’s bedrooms.

• Place accountability software on your computer. There are many programs available. Again, Googling “accountability software” will lead you to many options. There are too many to list here.

• Be aware that cell phones can access the Internet and can also be used for text imaging.