I recently attended a summit in Arlington, VA, on the issue of ending sexual exploitation. The information shared by experts was, to say the least, overwhelming. We are in an emergency state. Of utmost importance is the urgent need to protect the innocence of our children from exposure to online pornography.
Pornography has become extremely violent since the days of Playboy. Porn that depicts bondage and rape is viewed in much larger numbers. About 90% of scenes in top-selling porn contain at least one act of physical aggression. Of the 50 top selling porn DVDs, 3,376 acts of aggression were found – that’s an act of aggression every minute and a half.
Unfortunately, it is my intention to shock you and for that I deeply apologize. But it is my firm belief that if parents don’t become alarmed and take active measures to monitor and protect children from the XXX-rated material easily found online, the consequences to their children can be a life-long struggle with a most difficult addition to overcome.
Please read to the end where hope and solutions are offered.
Statistics & Research Worthy of Attention:
The average age of first exposure to pornography is 11. However, many children are exposed much earlier.
Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children conservatively estimates there are at least 100,000 US children per year used for the purpose of commercial sex. The fact that this is happening in our country is shameful.
Adolescent exposure is a significant predictor of attitudes of elevated violence and degradation toward women.
“Teen Porn” has increased online 215% over the last 6 years.
The porn industry business strategy is to pull in young boys as future paying customers.
Pornography does not just distort the individual’s view on sexuality, but actually restructures the brain by eroding the prefrontal region which is responsible for willpower.
Research shows the more porn is viewed, the more likely the viewer believes that unnatural sexual activity is common in society – anal sex, group sex, sadomasochism and bestiality. Watching porn desensitizes participants to trivialize rape.
70% of 18-24 year-old men visit porn sites in a typical month. These are our daughters’ potential dates and future husbands.
An analysis of 400 million web searches from 2009 to 2010 concluded that the most popular category of porn searches online, by a very wide margin, is “youth.” When the U.S. Supreme Court defined child porn as only involving actual children, it opened the door wide to websites depicting women dressed to look like little girls or cartoons of children being sexually dominated by older men.
The average age of entry into prostitution in the U.S. is 13-14 years old, not because there are pimps who take them in, but because there are buyers who like them young. Demand drives supply. Each click on a porn site increases the demand.
There’s Help
Children depend on adults to protect them. Protect yourself and your family from pornography. Install filters today! Start conversations with your family! Get help if you’re struggling!
NetNanny.org has filtering solutions for every parent’s need to protect their children and themselves from pornography, online predators, cyberbullying and much more. Thanks to NetNanny, a FREE download is being made available to IFI supporters. CLICK HERE for the FREE download, look under “How Net Nanny Can Help” for instructions.
Talk “with” kids instead of just “to” kids about online dangers. For role-play and conversations ideas CLICK HERE, HERE, and HERE.
PureHope.net/parenting is a four-part teaching series provides parents the tools to model a lifestyle of purity while protecting and equipping their children to make godly choices in today’s sexualized and technology-driven culture.
Good Pictures Bad Pictures is a book written by Kristen A. Jenson, MA, and Gail Poyner, Ph.D. It features a powerful 5-step plan to inoculate your child against the epidemic of pornography. It is also available at Amazon.com.
InternetSafety101.org Many parents and grandparents don’t have a clue that the kids in their lives can accidentally be exposed to extreme hardcore pornography through their smart phones, tablets and computers. Sexual predators actively seek out kids to sexually exploit via technology. Half of today’s youth are experiencing cyberbullying. Started by Enough Is Enough, Internet Safety 101’s goal is to educate, empower, and equip parents with the basic safety rules and software tools they need to know to protect their children online. Click Here for an overview.
SALifeLine.org Protecting Families from the Harmful Effects of Pornography is a free manual for families, religious and community leaders. It provides individuals, couples and families hope for recovery from sexual addiction. Protecting Families Manual – Free Download.
Stand with Illinois Family Institute!
