It is hard to look at youth and culture today without seeing an abundance of broken and damaged teens ... searching for belonging and charting their course through adolescence. I realize in this moment that the word pornography is becoming common-place in our world. It is a word I should have felt awkward writing, but truthfully it is tragically becoming well known, and by many even accepted! What was your reaction to the title of this blog? Shock!? Surprise? Confusion at this made up word? The use of the word "Pornifiecation" is not new anymore ... it is "the perceived pervasion of society in general or an aspect of it by the imagery, language, and attitudes associated with pornography" Or specifically, "Sexual desire is commodified, pornified and the media leads the way." The prevalence of pornography should alarm and surprise us all, but truthfully we know that an unfathomable amount of education for society today happens through pornography.
A provocative and painful story by ABC News titled, Porn Before Puberty, reveals the shocking truth about the accessibility of pornography for today's youth. The study says that "Internet porn may be replacing sex-ed for kids in the digital age." A documentary called "Sexy Baby" chronicles the story of one young girl, Winnifred who says, "When I can reach into my back pocket and basically pull out some porn its so easy and you can't really blame a bunch of children who can't really understand what to do with that." The documentary explores a statistic that claims nine out ten children between ages 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the internet. Nine out of ten! My son is only 8 years old. I would love to pretend that I don't have to worry about pornography's influence on him, but reality tells me now more than ever we must be vigilant. This is the world we live in.
Have you seen the messages of pornography to our children? Its in the "Bratz" baby dolls wearing thongs, the padded bras on bikinis aimed at 7 year old girls, (That's right 7 years old), and in the playboy logo'd clothing for little girls in the Sears Wish Book this year. We can pretend it doesn't exist, but the "pornification" of our culture is completely a reality. Winnifred says, "We're like the first generation to have what we have ... so there is no one before us that can ... kind of guide us. I mean we are the pioneers." Her insight as young teen is tragically true. This is a world that we have never seen before, and the influence of pornography is more than damaging, it can completely destroy our children and our teens. One last poignant thought from Winnifred, "If parents are able to talk to their children about what real love and real sex later on is. Most of the kids I know would trust our parents over two porn stars that I've never met." Touché.
So parents ... we still have a say, and to do nothing in the onslaught of "pornified" sexuality is to relinquish that voice for our children. Consider this research from Crossroads Church in Red Deer: "The number one protective factor inhibiting female promiscuity is family activities. In fact, for every increased family activity per week—with the father figure present—a 9% decrease in sexual activity is the result." Help stop the invasion of our children. Spend time with your family. Combat the pornification of our culture.
