By Dina Alexander, MS
When my kids were younger, I struggled to find the most appropriate times and the proper ways to to discuss certain tough topics. I knew I needed to protect my kids from outside forces and educate them about those forces, but sometimes I just wasn’t sure how to start those discussions.
After a lot of research, talking to many experts, and making plenty of mistakes, I started a non-profit called Educate and Empower Kids with the hope of educating parents and their families about various online dangers. We wrote books and created resources for parents to help them start talking about the dangers of pornography and its opposite, healthy sexuality. Soon, our focus grew, and we began to cover other timely topics such as media literacy, healthy body image, social media, and using technology for good. Since the beginning, however, we knew that having these tough conversations needed to start early!
Family Home Evening (FHE) presents the perfect opportunity to talk about these challenging topics.
I’ve put together some great FHE lessons that will help you start various discussions of crucial topics that can be beneficial to helping keep your kids healthy and safe. I think it’s crucial to cover topics that will help your kids keep their Spiritual, Social, Emotional, Physical, and Intellectual “accounts” healthy and strong. As you read through the following list, think and pray about which ones your kids need the most and start there. Remember, there is no perfect way to relate these lessons. Just pray for guidance and do your best.
Spiritual Lessons:
Teach Your Kids to R.U.N. from Pornography
Kindness: Online, Face to Face, and Everywhere
Social Lessons:
Helping Your Child Develop Empathy
Teaching our Kids Smart Clothing Choices and Modesty
Emotional Lessons:
Teaching Your Kids about Predators
Dangers of Pornography for Kids ages 3-7
Dangers of Pornography for Kids ages 8-11
Talking with Young Children about Sex
Physical Lessons:
Great Ideas for Outdoor Activities
A Master of Your Body: Moving Beyond Good Touch/Bad Touch
Intellectual Lessons:
Understanding Messages in Media
Talking to Your Kids about Gaming
Need a helpful guide for you and your spouse? Check these out:
Creating Your Family Media Guidelines
Sometimes we get discouraged thinking we have to present picture-perfect FHE lessons, or that we have to cover every idea we see or hear about from other families, but Heavenly Father doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He just expects us to do our best and allow Him to magnify our efforts. As President Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said, “the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.”
For more ideas, check out these other FHE lessons.
Looking for a great book with tons of FHE ideas? Check out Conversations with My Kids: 30 Essential Family Discussions for the Digital Age or 30 Days to a Stronger Child.
About the Author:
Dina Alexander is the founder of Educate and Empower Kids (educateempowerkids.org), an organization determined to strengthen families by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online porn. She is the creator of How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography, the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. She is also the author of Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good and Petra’s Power to See: A Media Literacy Adventure.
Most recently, Dina has published This is the Spirit of Revelation for Latter-day Saint children and their families, and Conversations with My Kids, 30 Essential Family Discussions for the Digital Age.
Dina received her master’s degree in recreation therapy from the University of Utah and her bachelors from Brigham Young University. She loves being a mom and spending time with her husband and three kids. Together, they live in New Mexico.
Citations:
Jones, Joy D. “An Especially Noble Calling.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Apr. 2020, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/14jones?lang=eng.
Prepare Your Family for Every Needful Thing
“Signs of the Second Coming are all around us and seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity. . . . While we are powerless to alter the fact of the Second Coming and unable to know its exact time, we can accelerate our own preparation and try to influence the preparation of those around us. We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming.”–Dallin H. Oaks
Ready for Awesome Family Home Evenings?
Check out 30 Days to a Stronger Child. It includes helpful lessons, activities, and discussion questions to help your kids learn to fill their social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical accounts. This is a GREAT supplement to the new Children and Youth Program.
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