Videos open door to World of Smut — and mom's investigation
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
"I didn't know porn was a bad thing," my 11-year-old said meekly as we were walking to the car.
Even if he didn't know what it meant, he should have known that it's the sort of subject he should bring up while getting out of the car, not getting into it.
After all, my favorite time to lecture is when he's strapped in place and can't escape unless he hurls himself out of a moving vehicle.
Maybe he didn't realize there was going to be a lecture, or more importantly, an investigation.
Among the questions:
Birds, bees, flowers, trees ... I'm willing to answer questions on a need-to-know basis.
However, I can't imagine any reason why any sixth-grader needs to know about porn. What's he doing, trading magazines for cigarettes on the playground?
Nah, I know that's not happening. My son's school doesn't have a playground.
Seriously, though, is it just me, or is there this weird point in a parent-child relationship where parents aren't sure which party is naive? My son is too naive to realize what porn is, but am I naive to think the fact that he's not interested in girls means that he's not interested in looking at them?
Much to my relief, in this case he was the naive one.
But I felt a little doe-eyed myself when I discovered that the silly "World of Warcraft" videos he adores has opened the door to the World of Smut.
Luckily, as far as he knows, he was just exposed to the word "porn" and if there was any imagery involved, it went right over his head. He apparently was just watching a video of a computer game set to the song "The Internet is for Porn" from Avenue Q, prompting him to ask me if he could have some.
As appalled as I was that he asked, he was even more appalled when I told him in very basic cootie-terms what he was asking for. He assured me that if he ever encounters anything even remotely pornographic on the Internet, he'll shut it down immediately.
I believe him.
Unfortunately, I know that when he really is interested in that kind of stuff, he's not going to be asking me about it first.
Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.
