New Name! Here’s Why We’re Becoming Defend Young Minds

Every parent I know is fighting for the hearts and minds of their children. It’s a difficult digital battle! And to keep up with the changing times, we all need to keep growing. That’s why we’re becoming Defend Young Minds.

It’s time to level up our defenses against pornography and all the things it fuels--like child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking. 

Our Defend Young Minds Vision: “We envision a world where caring adults empower young children with the information, skills and mindsets they need to defend themselves against pornography and reject all forms of sexual exploitation. In this way kids can grow up unburdened by addiction and objectification to enjoy healthy relationships and successful lives."

Are you familiar with the DEFCON alert system? The US military developed it over six decades ago to signal increasing levels of readiness for (gulp!) a nuclear war. When we think about a DEFCON alert for porn exposure, it’s clear that we need to increase our readiness now. 

It’s obvious from the messages we receive from parents, professionals and even kids that there is a rising struggle with pornography--and the stats and studies back this up. That’s why we need to move from protecting to defending. And to adopt even stronger tools to help families raise empowered, resilient, screen-smart kids.

The word protect is strong and we’ve loved using it for the past 7 years! But we feel the word defend is even stronger and better at inspiring action to safeguard children!

‍5 reasons we’re becoming Defend Young Minds

We love our new name and are excited to share our bold vision with you. Together we can be even stronger against the predators of the porn industry.

1. To defend implies guarding against an actual known enemy

To defend means you’re actively protecting against a known enemy. Pornography is one of the worst enemies to our children’s health and happiness. Learn more about your kid’s digital enemy by reading our article Today’s Porn Industry: 5 Things Every Parent Needs to Know. 

2. Kids can learn digital self defense when other protections fail

Teaching young children digital self-defense is smart parenting. Adults can’t be with them every minute. Children need to learn to make good choices when faced with bad options. That’s why we created the Brain Defense: Digital Safety course for kids ages 8-12. It teaches refusal skills for digital dangers--the strong defense every kid needs. 

3. A strong defense requires us to be smart and decode the enemy’s tactics

If your child were a soldier going into battle, you’d want them to know the enemy’s tactics, right? To create a strong and smart defense, you need to understand the enemy’s offensive strategies. We help you with articles about the current threats and regular tech updates. 

You’re not going to sit by with your fingers crossed hoping your kid is safe; you’re going to do what every coach in competitive sports does--study the opponent and prepare your defense!

4. Defense is ongoing--not a one and done protective measure

You can build a protective fort, but it won’t hold against the enemy unless you guard it everyday. So get the right tools in place and then continue to be vigilant and hold regular conversations. We’ll help you with our weekly emails that help you tackle the tech and parent resilient kids!

5. You can always defend your child--grace instead of guilt for parents

It’s impossible to completely protect a child from exposure to pornography. Every week I hear from parents who feel horrible guilt because they’ve discovered their child has viewed pornography. But here’s the good news! You can always defend your child from porn--even if they’ve been harmed by it. 

Defending is doable. Defending is loving your child. Defending means action, and action leads to hope. Don’t give up. Don’t beat yourself up. Keep on defending!

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Check out our new logo!

We brought in our talented graphic designer and branding guru, Evan MacDonald, to create a new logo for Defend Young Minds. The logo font is the same and the wordmark represents a simple, strong evolution of our name. 

No more box.

Why are we taking away the box that outlines the Protect Young Minds logo? Because we recognize that you can’t put a young mind in a protective box or a bubble. You can love, teach and train--but not contain. 

Why a circle?

A slightly imperfect circle because none of us are perfect. We want everyone who works with children to feel good about their efforts, even if they aren’t perfect.

We love our new name! It embodies a strong call to action to defend our children from the enemy of pornography and all who are seeking everyday to harm our kids.

We look forward to helping you even more in the coming months and years to defend the young minds in your care. Come join us!

Our Defend Young Minds mission: We educate, encourage and equip parents, professionals and community leaders to defend young minds from the harms of pornography. We are devoted to developing excellent tools, including books, curriculum, articles, guides, courses and communities, to help raise empowered, resilient, screen-smart kids. 

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