Updated: Feb 5, 2021
Teens today are drowning in sexual content.
Yes, sexual content has always been assessable to teens in previous generations.
But, this it is different, sexual content is everywhere and teens are drowning in it. If we do not do something and something quick, our kids will experience harm from drowning in this sexual content.
3 Ways Teens Are Drowning in Sexual Content
Ads- The average person sees 3,500 ads/day and around 1,000 ads/day contain sexual content. And not just the obvious ones like beer commercials. There was even a commercial for butter that was sexualized...yes, butter. If we do the math that is 365,000 ads/year that are sexual in nature that your teen is seeing. My guess that about .0000000001% of them at most line up with what the Bible says about sex and relationships.
Ease of Access to Porn- Yes, it was possible for previous generations to find porn. But it was more difficult to find. A person had to either steal a magazine from a grown-up or even in the world of the home computer, they had to try to watch it on a computer that was in a common area of the house. Now, with all of the devices that teens and their friends and friends of their friends, it is very easy for teens to access pornography. And sites that seem harmless contain porn and your teen could easily stumble across porn.
Every Show- Okay, not every show, but it seems like more and more shows have sexual content. Even shows for elementary aged children. There has been a couple shows that I have had to have my son turn off because of the sexual content in kid's shows. Let alone, prime time shows that all seem to have some sexual content
Sinking Quickly
All of this sexual is drowning is suffocating the Biblical view of sex and relationships that is in them and is normalizing the world's twisted view of sex. We can't sit around waiting for it to get better because honestly, it won't. The overwhelming swell of sexual content will only grow our children will more quickly be overwhelmed.
Throw Them a Life-Preserver
Block- Your teen needs help blocking sexual content. Even if they want to block it, they will need help blocking the sexual content that is overwhelming them. Getting internet filters, reporting software, and paying attention to the media they are consuming all will help.
Teach- Your teen needs you to teach them the Biblical view of sex and relationships. If you look through this site you will find resources that will aide in these conversations. This should not be a one time talk, it needs to be ongoing conversations. The enemy doesn't stop at one time a year, month, or even a year. He does it 1,000 times/day.
Pray- Your teen needs you to be praying protection over them. Our most powerful weapon as parents is prayer. Let's use this weapon to help our children in this vital area of their development.
There won't be a drastic change over night. But, with perseverance we can win the battle.