Why You Need to Keep Your Teenage Daughter Away From These Sites!

If you have a teenage daughter, you should know about the dangers of  Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia websites.  These are sites that see Anorexia and Bulimia as a religion or a lifestyle choice. Anorexia is an addiction that has less to do with seeking to be beautiful and more to do with feeling that they have power and control over their own lives.

A Dangerous, Cult-Like Community

The Pro Ana internet community gives tips and tricks that promote unhealthy dieting and exercise. They call for users to devote their lives to this deadly disease, seeing it as a religion.  Some Pro-Ana websites include poetry and informative articles meant to inspire those who starve their bodies.  They see 'Ana' as a goddess to be worshipped.

On these blogs, users post about their obsession with thin bodies.  They post images of their skeletal figures as pround expressions of their success. These sites promote compulsive exercise and eating just a few hundred calories each day.  Users are typically dangerously underweight, but they still view themselves as fat.

Pro-Ana Sites Becoming Popular

Popularity of these websites is growing and 40% of teens surveyed said they had visited these sites.  For a time, families lost focus on this deadly disorder, becoming obsessed with the epidemic of obesity. It is this same obsession that is now leading to an increase in teens looking into anorexia and falling for the lure of these sites.

Protect Your Children

Because of the danger posed by these sites, it is vital that parents know what their children are doing online.  It is a battle for parents to regulate their teens internet use, a source of constant argument.  One solution for parents is to use software that lets them filter the sites their teens can access.  There is also software available that allows parents to actually view every key stroke and see the web sites their children visit.

Software That Can Help

Make sure you become familiar with family web filtering software and choose one that will protect your teenage daughter from the dangers of Pro-Ana sites.  The most popular available are NetNany, SafeEyes and WebWatcher.