Parenting and Porn

Yesterday I put, "God has 50 Shades of Grace" on our church sign. Russ Bennet, pastor of Cornerstone Church, Myrtle Beach, NC posted a blog titled Confronting Culture with 50 Shades of Grace. Bennet shared these troubling statistics gathered from a 2006 study on the status of the porn industry in the U.S. and around the world:

1. Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography ($184,538.40/min) ($11,072,304/hour) ($265,735,296/day).

2. Every second 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography.

3. Every second 372 million internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines.

4. Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the US.

5. The porn industry is a 13.33 billion dollar/year industry with 89% of all porn movies produced in the U.S.

6. U.S. News and World Report says that more money is spent on pornography than country music, rock music, jazz, classical, broadway plays, and ballets COMBINED.

7. There are 4.2 million porn websites and 420 million pages of porn.

8. The average age of a child’s internet exposure is 11 years old with 90% of 8-16 year olds having already viewed porn (most are accidental while doing homework).

9. 80% of 15-17 year olds have had multiple hard core exposure to porn.

You can read the entire blog at http://www.ccmblife.com/cornerstone-blog/confronting-culture-with-50-shades-of-grace/.

I am not surprised by the statement in #8 that a child's first exposure is 11 years old while doing homework. Innocent searches I have done for a power-point for a Sunday message or a picture for this blog have brought up inappropriate images. My search engine is set at a moderate safe search.

God has a pure design for love, romance, marriage, and sex. Pornography is a sinful, corruption of God's design.

Parents have to teach about God's design earlier because of the world we live in. the good news is there are more resources available today than in previous generations. Do an internet search typing in Christian parenting resources or books or blogs.

Let me know what the best resources you have used for your family.

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