Wake Up, Mom!

I'm going to be talking a lot on this blog about raising our sons to be godly men in a very ungodly world. Today I want to start with a wake up call. Mothers, it's time for us to wake up and realize the porn problem facing our boys. Boys at younger and younger ages are being exposed to pornography. We can no longer afford to stick our head in the sand and deny it could ever happen to our son.


Get This:
* In the course of a year, the average adolescent will see nearly 14,000 sexual images.
* Playboy magazine recently announced it will offer galleries of photographs that can be viewed on digital media players. It's to be called "Ibod".
* Porn is also on its way to cell phones. A Boston-based research firm said the mobile adult-services market would reach five billion dollars by 2010.
* 70% of teens get their information about sex from the media.
* When it comes to media access, teens log almost as many hours as the average adult in their full-time job.
* Teens spend over six hours a day engaged with some type of media and more than a quarter of that time they are using more than one media device, it's called "media multitasking".
* Kids' rooms have increasingly become multimedia centers, with 2/3 saying they have televisions in their rooms; half report having video game players; 54% have DVD players and 20% have a computer with internet access IN THEIR ROOMS!
* More than half the children said their families have no rules about watching TV.
* Another 46% say they have rules but 20% say the rules are only inforced "most" of the time.

I could share a lot more bad news but I'm afraid it would be too overwhelming. The truth is, unless we move to a commune in the middle of the wilderness, we cannot completely shield our sons from the world of porn/sexual imagery. I also hate to break it to those of you who homeschool or do Christian school, but your boys are not completely protected either.

What hope do we have? Plenty but we must remember we are still the parent! Here are some suggestions:
* Draw boundaries such as blocking access to MTV
* Do not allow your son to see a movie you have not prescreened. We check out movies on Screenit.com.
* Do not allow your son to watch shows that model worldly dating (even some of the Disney shows are starting to do this as their stars are growing up).
* Do explain to your son the "why" behind the rules.
* Do be purposeful in exposing the agenda of the media.
* Do point to the fallout and long-term consequences associated with it.
* DO NOT let your son get a hold of your Victoria's Secret catalogue or even buy him a Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders calendar. All of this is just soft porn and an introduction to harder things. Also, these things do not help your son to view women as people but rather as objects.
* DO NOT let your son have media in his room...EVER. Help your son by keeping the television and computer in an open and busy place in the house. Do not put the responsibility on him to choose what is right when he's not ready. Make sense?

These stats were taken from Vicki Courtney's book, "Your Boy". I recommend this book as well as Stephen Arterburn's book, "Preparing Your Son for Every Man's Battle".

I know this blog today sounds preachy and very serious but there's no way around it. Too many parents are too lazy or too busy to properly protect their sons. It's having a powerful impact on our society. There is help and there is hope. God is on our side, moms! Let's do it!