Surrounded by shelves of books, three children were sitting quietly on chairs in the children’s section of our branch library, watching two others play a game on a computer. That grieved me because our family enjoyed reading a lot of library books (and we still do).

When Ben, Josh, and Jenn were little, my main concern was whether they were getting outside enough, or reading more, instead of spending too much time playing computer games. We didn’t have to address issues about the internet until their teen years.

Chuck Colson published a review in September, This is My Father’s Digital World, of a short video: God’s Technology: Training Our Children to Use Technology to God’s Glory by seminary professor Dr. David Murray. He writes:

“… twenty-eight percent of young social network users admit to sharing information online that they would never have shared in public if they were face-to-face.

“… because technology is created by God and has good uses, we should want our children to enjoy technology’s benefits. But we can’t ignore the dangers and embrace the digital world without what Murray calls ‘disciplined discernment.’ And Murray gives sound, practical parenting advice concerning Facebook, where children desperately need that disciplined discernment.

“… If we and our children are going to use digital technologies wisely and morally, it will be because we make an intentional effort to apply our Christian worldview to technology.” (Read the review here.)

Chuck Colson also recommends Safe Eyes, a parental control software. We never used any software to protect our children, so please weigh in here if you have some products to recommend.

What do you do to protect your family from possible internet abuses? From spending too much time texting, on Facebook, with video games?

AND… you’re invited to browse my virtual bookshelf of 500+ books for family reading. Pick out some books and head on over to the library!