Born for Porn?

I wasn't sure whether to write this or not but I decided to take a risk and go for it as I think it will challenge those of you who have children or teenagers or work with them. Ironically, this evening we are doing a "Sex Factor Revisited Session" on relationships with the Youth, so it seemed appropriate to blog about it here.

I was watching a programme on C4 last night called 'The Sex Education Programme'. Don't worry, it's not as sordid as it sounds. This is a week-long series designed to address the thorny issues of sex education with teenagers. It involves going into schools with their 'Sex Education Roadshow' and being extremely frank and honest about all matters relating to sex with a hall full of honest but embarrassed teenagers who seemed to have WAY too much carnal knowledge of these intimate matters. Clearly, this is done from the world's perspective and their teaching is far from Biblical. The general attitude is 'Well, they're all doing it so we may as well make sure they know what they're doing and don't get pregnant or an STI'. No-one was even questioning whether this cultural downgrading of sexual activity to pure biological acts which satiates our Freudian drives is right or not. But that's for another Blog entry!

One thing which stood out for me was their attempt to address the issue of pornography and the affect it is having on teenagers today. According to research, the first time a teenager views pornography is 11. You read that correctly: E-L-E-V-E-N. That's the first year of secondary school. Pornography is not new in the history of humanity but the ease with which it can be accessed and the sheer unfiltered volumes of it parked for all to see on the internet is a very recent development and both shocking and disturbing.

They gathered about 20 parents of teenagers at a private cinema in London to show them clips of extremely explicit, hardcore pornographic material young people have admitted to watching. The Presenter's opening comment to these parents was highly disturbing: they could not show some of the material which had been viewed by the young people in their survey because it contained animals or children and this was illegal. They proceeded to show the 'legal' clips to these already traumatised parents and we watched them react. One woman looked like she was going to vomit. Many of them could not even look at some of the scenes and cowered behind their hands or bags of popcorn. There were cries of disgust and gasps of shock. At the end one woman said, 'that is not pornography, that is evil'.

I ask you again. Do you know what your children are watching and do you know how to find out what they are watching? I was stunned both by these parents' pure, unadulterated naivety and their complete inability to find their way around a P.C. to find out what their teenage daughters and sons (mainly) are viewing. The powers of evil and darkness behind pornography are very strong and very powerful. The Bible makes this very clear (Ephesians 6). It is soul destroying, highly addictive and a powerful, corrosive force working against the development of healthy, normal relationships.

We must help the next generation fight these battles. They face challenges we never did. Parents, talk to your kids about these issues because if you don't teach them what the Bible says and demonstrate it in your own lives, the world will be only too happy to step in. Involve other trusted strong, Christian adults in this work. Get them to pray and talk through issues with your kids when necessary, reinforcing the strong Biblical messages you have already said. Use Covenant Eyes. Monitor their texts and WAP use on their phones. If you are not very technically minded then talk to people who are, they'll be happy to help!

Thank God that the same power which raised Jesus from the dead now lives and resides in us (Romans 8:11) and we can overcome this world and everything it throws at us (1 John 4:4).