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Making Your Home a
Safe Haven -
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Pornography and other online threats are often one click away. In this rapidly-changing digital society, Parents often are overwhelmed with learning how to protect their children from inappropriate or vulgar internet images. Parents called to be diligent to learn how to make their home a “Safe Haven.” It is our hope that by using the links given below, will help you learn the steps necessary to make all devices in your home safe for everyone.
We desire to assist our parish families to become aware that building a home as a safe haven is the necessary layer of Internet protection from the potentially harmful exposure to websites that prey on our children and our marriages. The greatest threat to the sanctity of marriages and families today is the unfiltered or unprotected use of technology. Dropping your guard may deprive all members of your home of the “Safe Haven” role. We urge you to take action today!
Awareness of the steps necessary to filter out inappropriate websites can be found at these various links. These links provide practical resources that any concerned adult can use to protect themselves, their children, our young people and neighbors from online risks.
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Thank you for your great love and sacrifice! You are cherished by God the Father, from whom your fatherhood and motherhood is named. You are the first guardians and teachers of your children and are called to be their models of chaste and fruitful love. The Church is so grateful for you who form, protect, and guide the domestic Church. As they grow up, children secure in their parents’ love for each other and for them will have a distinct advantage in navigating the challenges of the world. Children have the right to receive “an authentic education in sexuality and in love,” which includes education in chastity.112 It is your great and crucial responsibility to teach your children the true meaning of human sexuality, enabling them to see its beauty as an expression of total love. Even from an early age, your children can learn self-control, modesty, and respect for others from your words and actions. Education in chastity also includes doing whatever you can to protect your children from pornography and helping them to reject it and other sexual sins as they mature. There are good resources to help you in this important task.
Parents and guardians, protect your home! Be vigilant about the technology you allow into your home and be sensitive to the prevalence of sexual content in even mainstream television and film and the ease by which it comes through the Internet and mobile devices. Educate yourselves about filtering software that can assist in protecting your home. Foster openness and trust with your children, so they know that they can come to you if they see a sexual image; by talking about it with them calmly, you can give them a healthy framework in which to interpret it. The Holy Spirit is your guide as you assess the situation of each child. None of us is perfect, and parents are the first to model the mercy and forgiveness that all families need. Rely on the Father’s mercy, especially if you face the difficult situation of a child who has seen or uses pornography. Many good families experience this; you are not alone, and the Church is here for you.
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