The good folks at Reuniting have kindly made a short video series available free to the public, “Things You Didn’t Know About Porn”. These videos are related to an earlier article reprinted at NoPornNorthampton, “How to Talk about Porn with Your 11-Year-Old Son”.
From the introduction at Reuniting:
This is a three-part YouTube series we helped create, based on the audiobook, Things You Didn’t Know About Porn.
It’s an unsettling fact that by age 11 most boys have been subjected to pornographic images. Yet few materials on the subject address such a youthful audience. If you’re a parent, it can be surprisingly difficult to find a good way to discuss pornography. You don’t want your child to see sex as “forbidden” or “dirty”, but no matter how sex-positive you are, you sense that porn isn’t the best way to gain a sex education.
Scientifically based and non-religious, Things You Didn’t Know About Porn describes some potential pitfalls of porn use in simple, easy to understand terms. It draws a parallel between junk food and porn, and explains why these activities have the potential to “train” the brain, and become unhealthy habits. This lets youngsters make more informed choices about all potentially addictive substances and activities.
See also:
Traffic Control: The People’s War on Internet Porn
Average age of first exposure: 11
New Research Indicates That Significant Numbers Of Children As Young As 11 Are Engaging In Sexual Activity And That Dating Violence And Abuse Are Part Of Their Relationships
62% of tweens who have been in a relationship say they know friends who have been verbally abused (called stupid, worthless, ugly, etc) by a boyfriend/girlfriend.
Abusive Relationships and Porn: The Similarities (explicit language)
Young New Yorkers Talk about Porn’s Effect on their Relationships (explicit language)
Over beers recently, a 26-year-old businessman friend shocked me by casually remarking, “Dude, all of my friends are so obsessed with Internet porn that they can’t sleep with their girlfriends unless they act like porn stars.“
People on the Left and the Right Share Blame for the Sexual Miseducation of Americans
Testimony in Massachusetts: Porn Confuses Young Men about How to Behave
Gail Dines Presents: Pornography and Pop Culture (explicit)
“I say this to men over and over again. You might not go to pornography hating women, but you’re sure as hell going to come away with that feeling. You get much more than you bargained for with pornography, and that’s the problem with it. The other problem with pornography is it sexualizes the violence and degradation against women. And when you sexualize violence you render that violence invisible, because when men see that they can’t step back and critique it… You are basically trying to have a rational conversation with an erection and it doesn’t work.”
A Review of Pornified: How Pornography Is Damaging Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families
According to recent polls, 70% of men aged 18-24 visit a porn site in a typical month.
Now Showing at Amazing.net: The War on Relationships (explicit)
Amazing.net is jealous of your human relationships.
It wants your attention and money for itself. With messages subtle or not, its movies encourage you to neglect and abuse your intimate partners, especially your female ones. If you must relate to another human, Amazing.net wants the experience to be exploitative, short and unstable, to better ensure your swift return to a porn-hungry state. These strategies appear to be working. At a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two-thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended said Internet porn contributed to more than half of the divorce cases they handled.
The Creation of a Pornography Addiction
“In a majority of my cases, the earlier the exposure to pornography, the deeper the client’s level of addiction. In most cases I see involvement with pornography starting between ages ten to fourteen… [C]hildren and teenagers are faced with sexual decisions before they fully understand the consequences of their own sexual behaviors.”
Time to Explore the Links Between Porn, Testosterone, Sexual Behavior and Violence