The increase of pornography use and addiction among adults is a growing concern around the world. Sadly, it is far worse for today’s children who are growing up in a fully connected world. Porn is devastating an entire generation of young people. According to ChildLine founder Dame Esther Rantzen, “Young people are turning to the internet to learn about sex and relationships. We know they are frequently stumbling across porn, often unintentionally, and they are telling us very clearly that this is having a damaging and upsetting effect on them.”
Many studies report that the average age of a child’s first exposure to pornography is at 11 years old. But security technology company Bitdefender’s research states that children under the age of 10 now comprise 22% of online porn viewing for youth under 18 years old. The under 10 years-old group now accounts for one in 10 visitors to porn video sites. As licensed clinical social worker Donald P. Huerta explains, “Many kids I have seen in my private practice who are struggling with an addiction to pornography were initially exposed to it through a friend, by newspaper underwear or swimsuit ads, on an ad that popped up while searching the internet or by an accidental click on the internet while doing homework.
After the unintentional viewing and subsequently wrestling with guilt and shame, they secretly continued looking for the pictures or movies that held similar images and became more intentional in their searches for it.” Over a quarter (26%) of 13-to-17-years-old teenagers admit to viewing pornography at least once a week. And if you think the problem doesn’t exist within the church, seventy percent of Christian youth pastors say they have had at least one teenager come to them in the last 12 months for help in dealing with pornography. CONTINUE
