New Technology Empowers Parents, Protects Children

By Jessica Sund

Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23: "The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness."

The Internet, rightly argued to be one of the best inventions of our time, has opened up numerous opportunities for Christians. Pastors can exchange sermon ideas, Christian mothers can exchange parenting stories, and the whole family can download the latest song from their favorite Christian artist. However, with great opportunity comes great responsibility and most Christians would tell you the Internet is also a minefield of danger and temptation especially for the most innocent and coveted members of the flock- children.

Today there are an estimated 420 million websites that are pornographic in nature. The average age of boys when they are first exposed to Internet pornography is eight and a half. For girls, it is age eleven. Nine in ten children between the ages of eight and sixteen have been exposed to pornography and most while doing homework.

Christian Entrepreneur Richard Maring is all too familiar with the dangers of the Internet. Maring’s eight year old niece was researching algae for a school project when she was exposed to hard core pornography. Maring was outraged to find out that his niece had been exposed to such content. With 32 years as an I.T. business owner with multiple patents in the imaging field and being the founder of two Internet Service Providers, Maring was challenged by a friend to take his expertise and prevent children from being further exploited while innocently exploring the World Wide Web. Three years later, Maring released new patent pending image blocking software called SeeNoEvil.

Designed to prevent unknown potentially harmful images from coming through, SeeNoEvil blocks images from unknown websites. “This is our first shot across the bow of the porn industry to say you’re not going unchecked anymore,” said Maring. “We want to give parents the tools to take back control of the Internet.”

Christian parents are faced with the heavy task of protecting their children in today’s technological society.

While wanting to provide their children with the educational experiences and opportunities present through exploration of the Internet, parents must also consider the realities of the dangers on the World Wide Web.

One in five children who use computer chat rooms has been approached over the Internet by pedophiles. Seventy percent of sexual advances over the Internet were made while a youngster was on a home computer. One in seventeen children between the ages of ten to seventeen was threatened or harassed over the Internet.

Maring was determined to not only prevent harmful images from coming through, but also desired to give parents the tools necessary to monitor and protect their children while they are online. SeeNoEvil comes complete with parental controls, including the ability to take screen shots, set time limits and restrictions, and block specified programs.

“While leading and guiding our children, most Christian parents seek to nourish their mind, body, and soul of their child. SeeNoEvil seeks to partner with parents by giving them the tools to protect each child’s heart and soul from intrusive material on the World Wide Web,” said Maring.

"But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." James 1:14,15