Pornography, a growing problem in the world today.
May I remind you:
"Pornography. . .overtakes lives, causing loss of the Spirit, distorted feelings, deceit, damaged relationships, loss of self-control, and nearly total consumption of time, thought, and energy." - source
The Sad Facts:
- Pornography is an estimated $97 Billion dollar industry. It generates more money on an annual basis than most sports, television, or other entertainment industries.
- 40 million people are sexually involved over the internet.
- The internet is the most popular place to view pornography. . ."The lure of anonymity has made this content available without social stigma. No longer do people need to be concerned about their neighbor recognizing them, or seeing the mailman deliver a magazine that they might be embarrassed to possess. Instead, they can sit at their computer, in the privacy of their own home, and consume as much of this content as they like. The problem is that the content is also available to everyone else who accesses the Internet—including our children."
- The average age of first exposure to pornography on the internet is 11.
- 1 in 5 teenagers who regularly log onto the Internet have received a sexual solicitation via the web.
- Sister Reeves informs us that "mobile devices with Internet capacity, not computers, are the biggest culprit".
- Pornography isn't just a problem for males. Girls who are addicted to pornography usually start with printed words. And it can start out so innocently: a romance novel, fan-created spin-offs of her favorite books or TV shows . . . (source)
There was a time when the only risk of a child viewing pornographic material in their home was if the parent brought it into the home. Purchase of the material was limited to adults and the primary way for the content to get into the home was from an adult member of the family who would purchase it and bring it home. Today, however, simply connecting your computer to the Internet makes it possible for this content to come into your home, without your knowledge, consent or approval.
Years ago, we were warned of the drug dealers who lurked around schools and provided free drugs to children. Once the children experimented with their free dose, they would be hooked and the dealer then had a steady clientele. Studies have shown a similar addiction from viewing pornography. . . the porn industry has followed a similar business model to the drug dealers of old. Some people go to work every day with the express intent of getting their pornographic content in front of as many people as possible free of charge. They know this content to be highly addictive and are doing everything in their power to get this content in front of anyone who could be drawn in and eventually pay for more of that content. The Internet has given them a perfect venue for such activities. No longer do they need to convince people to trudge down to the local corner store to purchase their adult materials–they simply need to turn on their computer (or their cell phone).
"Parents, be aware that the addiction to pornography can begin with youth at a very young age. Take preventative action to avoid that tragedy." source
To help combat this growing addiction, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints has published four free lessons designed to help parents discuss pornography with their children including ways we as parents, can equip our children with skills to respond appropriately to pornographic content they will likely be exposed to.
You can find these FREE LESSONS HERE
Last night for family night (FHE), we discuss lesson 1, My Body is From God, as a family. We talked about how important our bodies are. They are temples of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). For the little ones, we worked together as a family to complete this maze.
Then using Elder Bednar's talk as our guide, we discussed:
What We Should Put Into Our Temples - following the Word of Wisdom
What We Should Put On Our Temples - grooming and dressing modestly
What We Do (or not do) to Our Temple- tattoos and piercings
What We Do With Our Temples- chastity/virtue, and thinking clean thoughts. We watched THIS SHORT VIDEO HERE.
What are you doing to teach your children about the dangers of pornography?