Spotlight on Porn
© 2010 Teresa Cook
Ten years have passed since our teenage son admitted he was addicted to
pornography and asked for help. At the time, I could find little published
about the effects of sexually explicit material on adults—let alone youth and
children. Since then, however, the porn industry has skyrocketed. Lives
destroyed by easy access to its wares have proliferated to the degree that
many families, both Christian and not, are affected. Today many studies
spotlight pornography and its consequences. One important outcome of these
studies is a better understanding of who might be more likely to become
addicted to porn.
In December 2009, Dr. Patrick Fagan with the Family Research Council (FRC) in
Washington, DC, released a synthesis of available research material entitled
"The Effects of
Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family, and Community." While the
report does not focus exclusively on children, it contains chilling facts
parents would be wise to heed.
Most parents recognize that the Internet tempts kids with convenient and
covert access to pornography. Few know what factors predict which adolescents
will be most attracted to using porn. According to the FRC report, teens who
watch porn more frequently tend to:
1
- Be high sensation seekers
- Feel less satisfied with their lives
- Have a fast Internet connection
- Have friends who are younger [than themselves]
- Spend large amounts of time on the computer
In addition, two other statistics herald a wake-up call for parents. According
to a national youth survey, adolescents who seek out pornography online
(compared to those who do not) are three times more likely to:
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- Have parents who do not monitor their behavior at all (or very little)
- Give a poor rating of their attachment with their parent(s)
Sadly, many unsupervised youth grow up to become sexual addicts who are 23
times more likely to state that discovering online pornography was the
worst thing that ever happened to them. Think about that. These adults
feel porn has had such a devastating impact upon them that no other tragedy
compares with the moment it first entered their lives. Not surprisingly,
Internet pornography users are twice as likely to experience severe clinical
depression as non-users.3
While filters and other protection measures are important, the most effective
deterrents to pornography use are much more basic. According to Dr. Fagan's
key findings, a parent's main defenses are:
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- A close family life
- A strong marriage
- Good relations between parents and children
- Deliberate parental monitoring of Internet use
The FRC study highlights a simple but vital truth. An engaged parent who puts
God and family first already has a head start on porn.
