The number of searches for Internet pornography exponentially increases every second. If the rapidly changing online \u201cporn ticker\u201d represented increasing stock value, there would be thousands — possibly millions — of overnight millionaires. Instead, the ticker reveals an insatiable appetite for sexually explicit content, and a high percentage of those searching are teenagers.<\/p>\n
There have been nearly 2.5 billion searches for pornography since the beginning of 2015, according to Covenant Eyes, a company that specializes in Internet accountability and filtering software. The real-time counter can be found at covenanteyes.com\/pornstats. The counter is part of the organization\u2019s report titled \u201cPornography Statistics: 250+ Facts, Quotes and Statistics about Pornography Use (2015 Edition).\u201d The full report is available for free download from the site.<\/p>\n
According to the report, 79 percent of men 18 to 30 — and 67 percent of men 31 to 49 — said they view pornography at least once a month. However, it is incorrect to make the assumption that pornography consumption is a \u201cman\u2019s problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report found that 76 percent of women between 18 and 30 viewed pornography once a month and 25 percent of married women say they watch porn at least once a month. In 2008, an estimated three million Americans purchased pornography online, paying an average of $60 per month.<\/p>\n
Sadly, the \u201cporn problem\u201d is rapidly escalating among teenagers. A recent study jointly commissioned by Covenant Eyes, Josh McDowell Ministry, and the Barna Group found that 50 percent of teenagers and approximately 75 percent of young adults come across pornography at least monthly.<\/p>\n
Amazingly, when asked, both groups consider failing to recycle to be more immoral than viewing pornographic images.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a growing problem and not enough people are talking about it in the church,\u201d said Shawn Lowery, youth minister at First Baptist Church in Portland, Tennessee. \u201cIt is an issue we address with both our teens and our parents, but most parents don\u2019t understand the extent of it and aren\u2019t equipped to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although most parents would assume their teens aren\u2019t affected by pornography, statistically that isn\u2019t necessarily so. The Barna study revealed that 8 percent of teens encounter pornography on a daily basis, 21 percent weekly, and 21 percent at least once a month. Not all of this activity is Internet-related.<\/p>\n
\u201cSexting,\u201d sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly-nude photos or video via text message, is escalating. Four percent of 12-year-olds, 7 percent of 14- to 17-year-olds, and 9 percent of 13- to 18-year-olds said they\u2019ve sent such texts. Most might instantly equate pornography with being a \u201cboys being boys\u201d problem, but the Barna report found 56 percent of women ages 13 to 24 \u201cactively seek out porn\u201d at least once a month.<\/p>\n
An increasing number of porn searches are done through mobile devices such as smartphones and hand-held tablets. Parents may periodically police these devices but there are a number of \u201capps\u201d — applications — that hide content. One such popular app actually appears to be a calculator, but it is passcode protected and serves as a \u201cwallet\u201d where content can be hidden from view. According to a 2012 study done by the organization Tru Research, 71 percent of teens 13 to 17 years old have done something to hide from their parents what they do online.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why it is so important for parents to be constantly engaged with their youth,\u201d said Jason Salyer, youth and family minister at East Maryville Baptist Church in Maryville, Tenn. \u201cParents have to maintain an open line of communication. Parents need to talk to their teens about pornography. Many don\u2019t have that conversation with them because they feel their kids might not be ready for it. The truth is, it is out there in their world and it is becoming a real problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of standing at the bottom of a cliff waiting for kids to drive off, parents and churches need to work together to put up a guardrail to keep them from crashing and burning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deron Henry, youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Columbia, Tenn., said the place to begin creating that guardrail is with a recognition of the problem, education to know how to address it, and a willingness to openly discuss it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe a lot of time the issue isn\u2019t addressed because there is a stigma to it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the truth is we need to create an environment in our homes and churches where we can help our teens get beyond the shame. To do that, we have to be informed.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times it isn\u2019t being brought up by ministers because we don\u2019t want to sound unintelligent,\u201d Henry noted. \u201cBut we as student pastors need to bring it up, often. Parents need help in this area and together we need to help the kids deal with this issue in a biblical way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowery said the parents of kids in his youth group are always informed in advance of any discussions related to the issue. He said it is important for the pastor to be on board with broaching the subject and even better when he is a part of the conversation. He also recommended dividing the group and having a qualified woman leading a separate conversation with girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will have some parents who prefer to not have their students present when we have these discussions because they\u2019d prefer to have that conversation in the context of their family,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s great. I strongly encourage that. The bottom line is that parents need to take the lead with their children and we [ministers] need to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other suggestions the three youth ministers offered were:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Not allowing mobile devices in the room after certain hours and not overnight;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Making sure there is some kind of filtering software on devices;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Knowing all the passwords to all devices a teenager has;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Helping parents have a greater understanding of how their teens use technology;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Helping parents stay informed about what\u2019s transpiring in the youth culture in and beyond church; and<\/p>\n
\u2022 Creating forums for both parents and youth that encourage open lines of communication.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is too often the perception that since we live in the South and in the Bible Belt that our kids won\u2019t be nearly as affected,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe [teen pornography] problem is something we think will happen somewhere else. That\u2019s just naive,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is here and it does hit close to home, and we must address it if we want to help our teens resist its evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Chris Turner is director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Convention. This article appeared in SBC LIFE and is used with permission of the Baptist and Reflector , newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The number of searches for Internet pornography exponentially increases every second. If the rapidly changing online \u201cporn ticker\u201d represented increasing stock value, there would be thousands — possibly millions — of overnight millionaires. Instead, the ticker reveals an insatiable appetite for sexually explicit content, and a high percentage of those searching are teenagers. There have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[410,292,25,675],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}