California Family Minute
October 27, 2010
Pornography in Our Homes
by Rebecca Burgoyne,
CFC Research Analyst
The suggestive content of television shows, movies and Internet content is pushing the standards of decency in sexuality and language. Children see once forbidden images, yet many moms and dads abdicate their responsibility to shield them from such fare. Teens and preteens refer to their parents as technological “immigrants” while they inhabit the online culture with ease, and children often interpret a parent’s inattention or naïveté as “permission.”
Today, online pornography is readily available and dehumanizing depictions of sexual activity – once offensive and shocking – unfortunately are now considered mainstream. Pornography, defined by the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography as “sexually explicit material designed primarily for arousal,” is widespread and out in the open.
What is to blame for the massive increase in porn viewing by adolescents? Is it that parents are unaware, or rely too heavily on filtering software? Earlier this month, investigators from Fox News sat down with Facebook executives and revealed a hidden world of pedophilia they had uncovered on Facebook. Executives from the world’s largest social networking site were incredulous. Their advanced automated filters had failed to uncover the cache of potentially illegal photos.
As Facebook was forced to recognize, filtering software does not accomplish the task, and parents must become actively involved in their children’s protection. However, many parents may resist enforcing online boundaries because they, too, are viewing pornography online. Research suggests that 50% of Christian men visit porn sites with regularity (and many sexual addiction experts believe that number to be low). The number of women addicted to online pornography is also astounding. There are many places to go for help, such as XXXChurch.com, which provides a system of accountability and confidential assistance addressing porn use.
The consequences of viewing pornography include damage to our reputations. Like recent examples of celebrities and athletes, we fail to recognize the staggering loss of privacy and safety in what we visit – and post – online. Two years ago, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a major study on teens and technology. They found one in five teen girls had electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude images of themselves. The distribution of these imagesnever ends in cyberspace; one-third of teen boys and one-quarter of teen girls have had nude/semi-nude images—meant to be private—shared with them.
“Dabbling” in pornography is producing sexual addictions that threaten our faith, our employment, our marriages, our families, and our churches, and will continue to do so until we confront this Goliath. California Family Council is willing to help. You may contact us for confidential help in identifying resources most appropriate to your circumstances. Take steps today to do battle with what may be a dark and hidden corner of your or your child’s life.
To contact California Family Council:
Pornography in Our Homes
by Rebecca Burgoyne,
CFC Research Analyst
The suggestive content of television shows, movies and Internet content is pushing the standards of decency in sexuality and language. Children see once forbidden images, yet many moms and dads abdicate their responsibility to shield them from such fare. Teens and preteens refer to their parents as technological “immigrants” while they inhabit the online culture with ease, and children often interpret a parent’s inattention or naïveté as “permission.”
Today, online pornography is readily available and dehumanizing depictions of sexual activity – once offensive and shocking – unfortunately are now considered mainstream. Pornography, defined by the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography as “sexually explicit material designed primarily for arousal,” is widespread and out in the open.
What is to blame for the massive increase in porn viewing by adolescents? Is it that parents are unaware, or rely too heavily on filtering software? Earlier this month, investigators from Fox News sat down with Facebook executives and revealed a hidden world of pedophilia they had uncovered on Facebook. Executives from the world’s largest social networking site were incredulous. Their advanced automated filters had failed to uncover the cache of potentially illegal photos.
As Facebook was forced to recognize, filtering software does not accomplish the task, and parents must become actively involved in their children’s protection. However, many parents may resist enforcing online boundaries because they, too, are viewing pornography online. Research suggests that 50% of Christian men visit porn sites with regularity (and many sexual addiction experts believe that number to be low). The number of women addicted to online pornography is also astounding. There are many places to go for help, such as XXXChurch.com, which provides a system of accountability and confidential assistance addressing porn use.
The consequences of viewing pornography include damage to our reputations. Like recent examples of celebrities and athletes, we fail to recognize the staggering loss of privacy and safety in what we visit – and post – online. Two years ago, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a major study on teens and technology. They found one in five teen girls had electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude images of themselves. The distribution of these imagesnever ends in cyberspace; one-third of teen boys and one-quarter of teen girls have had nude/semi-nude images—meant to be private—shared with them.
“Dabbling” in pornography is producing sexual addictions that threaten our faith, our employment, our marriages, our families, and our churches, and will continue to do so until we confront this Goliath. California Family Council is willing to help. You may contact us for confidential help in identifying resources most appropriate to your circumstances. Take steps today to do battle with what may be a dark and hidden corner of your or your child’s life.
To contact California Family Council:
- info@CaliforniaFamily.org
- Riverside office – 951.354.8362
For more information:
- White Ribbon Pornography
- Focus on the Family: Pornography
- Morality in Media
- Pornography Harms
- Obscenity Crimes.org
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