GREAT FALLS, Virginia, October 30, 2013 (Enough.org) – October 3 to November 3 is White Ribbon Against Pornography (W.R.A.P.) week, a project by Morality in Media.
W.RA.P. week's purpose is to educate the public about the dangers associated with pornography. In recent years, numerous studies and research have been conducted and disseminated, showing the indisputable harm of pornography on children, women, men, health and the culture.
Consider the following from recent studies and surveys:
- 36% of the Internet industry is hard-core pornography. (businessinsider.com)
- American children begin consuming hardcore pornography at an average age of 11.
- Nine out of ten children (ages eight to sixteen) have viewed pornography online.
- A study in the southeastern U.S. found that 53 percent of boys and 28 percent of girls (ages 12-15) reported use of sexually explicit pornography. The Internet was the most popular forum for viewing. (Brown, J. & L'Engle, K. 2009, Communications Research, X-Rated: Sexual attitudes and behaviors associated with U.S. early adolescents' exposure to sexually explicit media.)
- 97 percent of boys and 80 percent of girls who responded to the survey said they had viewed porn. Nearly a quarter of boys and eight percent of girls said they have tried to stop watching pornography but could not kick the habit. The study involved a survey of 177 young people between the ages of 16 and 20. (LifeSiteNews.com)
- 70 percent of 18-to-24-year-old men visit pornographic sites in a typical month. 66 percent of men in their 20s and 30s also report being regular users of pornography. (First-person: the culture of pornography, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Baptist Press, 28 December 2005.)
- 56 percent of divorces involve one party having “an obsessive interest in pornographic websites. (The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community. Marriage & Religious Inst., Family Research Council, Love & Responsibility Project: Center for Study of Catholic Higher Ed. Scribd. Web. 11 Dec. 2009.)
- When a child is exposed to pornography, their underdeveloped brain becomes psycho-pharmacologically altered. (The Psychopharmacology of Pictorial Pornography Restructuring Brain, Mind & Memory & Subverting Freedom of Speech; Judith A. Reisman, Ph.D. The Institute for Media Education.)
- The online porn industry makes over $3,000 per second. (https://www.businessinsider.com)
- Of the 304 scenes analyzed, 88.2% contained physical aggression, principally spanking, gagging, and slapping, while 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression, primarily name-calling. Perpetrators of aggression were usually male, whereas targets of aggression were overwhelmingly female. (Ana Bridges, et al., Violence Against Women, October 2010 vol. 16 no. 10, 1065-1085)
- Youth who look at violent x-rated material are six times more likely to report forcing someone to do something sexual online or in-person versus youth not exposed to x-rated material. (Internet Solutions for Kids, Center for Disease & Control, November, 2010)
- According to UK statistics released earlier this year, pornography and depictions of sexuality turned more than 4,500 British children – some of them as young as five – into sexual offenders between 2009-2012. (LifeSiteNews.com)
The pornography is getting worse, children are getting exposed at younger ages and the negative impact on the generations growing up with a steady diet of hardcore extreme pornography is staggering. By wearing a White Ribbon you join in the movement to protect our families, friends and communities from pornography's devastating effects.
Purchase White Ribbons here.
Reprinted with permission from Enough.org.