During the week of May 8, 2006, the United States was disturbed by the news reports of a second grade girl's assault during recess by a group of young boys. The May 11, 2006, issue of the Kansas City Star featured a related article. While the general population wondered how such young boys could think of such behavior, therapists were not.
The director of a Kansas City agency that treats young children with severe emotional problems said while alarming, “it's happening more and more.” Another agency director said they had dealt with kids acting out and saying the saw it in Dad's porn. In previous decades such behavior was typically an indication of similar abuse by the perpetrator. Today, experts worry about children “acting out” sexual behaviors due to the proliferation of sexuality on the internet, video games, TV, movies, and DVDs.
Dr. Jerry Kirk of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families calls the church and concern citizens to act now because of the crisis of rapidly escalating sexual exploitation of children and young people from:
• Pornography on the Internet
• Sexual predators
• Sexual slavery and trafficking
• The constant flood of sexualized media messages
Another factor is the flood of pornography exploiting our children and youth through advance technology such as cell phones, PDAs, and iPods.
• They can access all the pornography on the Internet.
• They can do so anonymously.
• They can do so through purchased phone cards.
• They can take sexually explicit pictures of themselves and others and send them to each other and post them on the Internet itself.
“To possess or distribute such pictures of children 17 and under is a felony and leads to serious legal problems and massive moral and spiritual struggles.”
Another concern is the constant sexual stimulation and experimentation of children and young people in America.
• The average teenager is exposed to nearly 14,000 sexual messages a year. Less that 2% of these have any reference to abstinence, self-discipline, or concern about sexually transmitted diseases.
• The American teenager is the most sexually active of all the industrialized nations.
• American teenagers lead the entire world in unwanted pregnancies.
• American teenagers lead the industrialized world in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) with 3-4 million new cases reported each year.
• American teenagers lead the world in abortions.
• American teenagers are more likely to become pregnant and have multiple partners than any other teenagers on the planet.
• 65 percent of young people have sex before they finish high school.
Be aware of the ways the Evil One uses sexual brokenness, guilt, and shame to destroy the spiritual life and strength of God's people, especially young people.
• Sexual brokenness and guilt undermine faith and confidence in God.
• Sexual brokenness and shame weaken the desire for fellowship and prayer.
• Sexual brokenness neutralizes the desire for scripture and obedience.
• Sexual brokenness destroys their passion for worship and sharing Christ with friends.
While most of this above information relates to the United States , similar problems exist in other countries. It is time for God's people to stand against these evil forces. As women, we are concerned about the effects of the sexualized today's culture. Let's band together to pray for husbands addicted to pornography, men as they strive to live pure in a sex-crazed world, and fathers and male mentors to teach and model pure sexuality to the sons and boys they influence.
For more information about the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families go to
http://www.nationalcoalition.org.