recently, my ex-wife has started enforcing the use of internet filtering software for our 12 year old son. If you're not familiar with this stuff, it acts as a content filter "protecting" your child from adult oriented webcontent. Apparently, she discovered he had visited some adult anime sites and was not pleased. In lieu of actual parenting, she's chosen to install this censoring application. I am not a big fan of censorship in any form, nor am i a fan of prohibition. Historically, neither of these approches works well, as the subjects tend to be aware of and have a dislike for the restriction. Several of my clients with teenage kids have expressed interest in this sort of program and i have always said that no application would ever be a proper surragate for good, involved parenting.

I recall being a teen-age boy, digging into penthouse or hustler or whatev. my folks never made a big deal about it and eventually, i got on to actual, real, live girls. I can pick out some extreme cases for you of children whose parents made a big stink about porn for which their were lasting and detrimental effects. I think Jeffery Dahlmer's folks being fundies beat him for haveing pornography.

I am a very fair and liberal parent. I'm curious what anyone else might think of this issue. anyone else a parent with similar situation?