We wanted to wait a few days before piggy-backing on the important #metoo campaign to draw attention to the voices missing from this conversation: the CHILDREN. Every day, kids all over the globe are being exposed to pornography, and for some it will become a life-long struggle. Porn is the world’s greatest serial sexual abuser. It is absolutely sexual harassment and assault to their innocent hearts, mind, and eyes, and the effect of pornography on a child’s psyche is nothing less than TRAUMATIC.
Not only that, but pornography is a contributing factor to kids acting out sexually on one another, as well as growing up to be adults with twisted sexual appetites and norms. It’s not healthy! Pornography perpetuates its abuse over and over throughout the course of a young victim’s life.
While the research is still being developed on the exact scope and frequency of exposure, we stand behind the approximation of “MILLIONS” with this logic:
5.6 million kids under 11 are on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. And YouTube is the #1 online destination for kids under 13. Given how much pornography is on all of these platforms, and the fact that the majority of parents we talk to do not know how to (or are unable to) prevent explicit content on these platforms and on devices in general, we think it’s safe to say that on any given day, 1 in 10 kids is exposed to porn. Not to mention those who are actively seeking it out. There are 73.8 million kids under 17 in the US alone, and there are approximatley 12 million porn web sites on the Internet.
WHAT CAN YOU DO:
Talk to your kids about pornography! Help them understand how exploitive and dangerous it is, giving them reasons to reject porn and keep themselves free from its damaging impact.