As a good parent, I’m sure you are concerned about the types of movies your kids are watching. I’m sure you wouldn’t want them watching hard core horror movies that are going to give them nightmares, or movies that contain graphic sex scenes. The problem though is how do you monitor this when your kids have access to the Internet and can download movie for free wherever and whenever they want? Even if you have parental controls on your computer, they can still watch them at friends’ homes whose parents are maybe not as vigilant as you are.
It’s a dilemma that we all face and one that needs addressing if you want to protect your kids from this kind of stuff – don’t despair though, because you can….
1. Talk to your kids about the movie rating system and explain to them why different movies get different ratings. Also explain to them why the restricted ones are not suitable for them at the moment and why you don’t want them to watch this type of movie.
2. Make a deal with them that if they tell you which movie they want to watch, you will research it and come to a decision based on what you find out. Sometimes you will decide that the movie isn’t so bad and let them watch it, and that will have a powerful positive effect on the issue. Other times you’ll say no, but by that stage you have built a lot of trust.
3. Tell them that you know they can watch Going The Distance for free online whenever they want, but you’d appreciate it if they talked it over with you first. If you can develop this level of trust and encourage this level of maturity in your kids, you should be good to go.
I’m not saying it will be easy, but you can do it if you are consistent with your kids and persistent with your goals. As they get older, peer pressure on them will make it more difficult to keep to these agreements – good luck with the challenge.