4 things every parent needs to know about porn

This article isn’t meant to shock you or to scare you, but it’s a sobering wakeup call for all of us who are parents. We need to have some very honest conversations with our kids, and we need to teach them about porn and sex. If we’re not willing to have these conversations, trust me, there are plenty of their friends who will be happy to have these conversations with them instead. Here are four important facts every parent needs to know about porn: 

1.The average age of first exposure to pornography is eleven-years-old. By the time a child has graduated from high school, 95% of kids have been exposed to porn whether they were looking for it or not.

These sobering stats are a reminder that we need to do everything in our power to protect our kids from being exposed to porn early. Exposure will most likely happen at some point no matter what we do, BUT we still need to do everything in our power to guard their eyes and their hearts. Some tools to help you block porn and monitor all internet activity. A few great resources to help you are “Circle” by Disney to manage all home internet use and X3Watch porn-blocking and internet tracking software. One of the best resources for helping you have honest conversations about healthy sexuality is “Passport to Purity” from FamilyLife Today.

2. The “actors” in porn films are perpetuating a fantasy, but they’re often in physical pain.

Porn producers try to create a “fantasy” where every act is pleasurable, but behind-the-scenes at a porn shoot, it can be a horrific scene. Female actresses often go days without eating and have multiple colonic enemas in preparation for the anal sex scenes. Male actors will often undergo penile injections to maintain erections. The rough sex is often painful for the women and careful editing makes every act look pleasurable to them, but they’re often grimacing or even shouting in agony.  After longterm exposure to porn, male actors are often unable to perform at all for work or even in their personal relationships.

These physical discomforts are only part of the longterm impact. Most of these “actors” and “actresses” end up with longterm physical, emotional and psychological difficulties. Many of these men and women come from a background of childhood abuse, and in many parts of the world, the people you see on screen are actually modern-day slaves forced to do porn because of the atrocities of human trafficking. One way or another, there’s always pain behind the fantasy we see on screen.