Porn can be harmful to your teen's present AND future

                                                                                                image source

This graphic describes 10 different ways that porn can harm marriages and sex lives.  (The full explanation can be found here). 

Why would we discuss marriage on a blog that is meant for teen issues?! 

Because most likely in the future, your teen may choose to get married or choose to be devoted to someone in a committed relationship.  Many of the decisions they are making today can effect that marriage/relationship down the road.

It is not a secret that porn is rampant in society. It is ever increasing among young people.  In addition, the age at which kids are first viewing pornographic images is getting younger and younger.  In another one of our blog posts, we revealed various statistics that may surprise parents.  A few of these statistics were as follows:

• the average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11
• 90% of 8-16 year olds having viewed porn online (most while doing homework)
• 80% of 15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures (source)

(Read the entire blog post here. )

Another study reveals:

"Pornography websites were accessed by at least 44,000 primary school children in one month, online research showed Friday, amid calls for greater restrictions on providers."

"The Authority for Television on Demand (Atvod) tracked the actions of children in Britain in December 2013 and found that one in 35 of six- to 11-year-olds online clicked onto an adult website."

"Some 200,000 aged under 16 -- one in 16 who went online -- also accessed an adult website in the same month, while one in five teenage boys under 18 were clicking on porn, the online video regulator said."

"One adult site, which allows users unrestricted access to thousands of hardcore porn videos free of charge, attracted 112,00 teenagers." source

The numbers and statistics tell it all. This is a growing problem, worldwide.

It is imperative that parents understand the severity of the issues and addictions that pornography can bring into their child/teen's lives.  

• Know how to protect your child/teen from accessing pornographic sites and images!  
• Keep lines of communication open! 
• Don't judge! 
• If there seems to be an addiction, they may need help!

So, could you go without it for 24 hours? Part 2

                                                                     photo source

Last week, we posted this challenge for families to go wireless (or completely unplugged - if you will) and give up media for 24 hours.  (Don't worry if you missed that post or if you weren't able to do it.  There's always tomorrow).

The idea behind the challenge is obviously to encourage families to reconnect with each other and take a break from the constant media overload that may be affecting relationships.  Many studies point to  the fact that consistent media intake and/or addiction is affecting our habits, schedules and relationships. 

A recent article by WIRED magazine stated that mobile users check their smartphones an average of 150 times a day.  When you do the math, that equals out to be once every six-and-half minutes.  Wow! That's a lot of time and a lot of checking.  

In addition, the Huffington Post reports the findings of a few studies pointing to the idea that the addiction to social media may be as strong, or stronger, than that of substances like nicotine.  The study from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business published the finding from a report of 205 adults in Germany.  Over the course of a week, the highest rate of  their "self-control failures" was tied to social media sites, per The Guardian. 

Finally, in another study about smartphone addiction, it is revealed that:

• 30% of participants say they check their phones while at a meal with another person
• 40% check their smartphone while on the toilet
• 9% check it during a religious service
• 54% check it before they go to bed, while in bed, in the middle of the night or as soon as they wake up 

Does the ding of a new email and the lure of a Tweet have that much of a control over us?!  We may only know that if we try to do without it?! 

Whether or not you took the challenge from last week, it may be time to break some bad {media} habits and offer your undivided attention to those you love the most. Check out our challenge from last week here.

So, could you go without it for 24 hours? Part 1

photo source

Media.  It has changed and morphed over the decades and most likely, so have we because of it.  It provides entertainment.  It allows for convenience.  It can provide employment and open up endless opportunities.   

Might we venture to say that it may also add "clutter" or "noise" to our lives.  Are we disconnected, while we are connected?

How many times have you seen a couple on a date and one of them was texting the entire time?  How often do parents communicate with their kids while they are glued to the video game on the screen?  How many moms escape the busyness of life through excessive social media? 

I think we would be astounded by the answers?  Is our media saturated culture hurting our relationships? 


Would you consider yourself any of the following:

Information Glutton

Entertainment Junkie

Gung-ho Gamer

Facebook Fanatic

T.V.  Addict

Texting Queen/King



Parents, would your family look differently if everyone went unplugged from all forms of media for 24 hours?  Would there be more conversation?  More quality time?  More laughter? More connection? More learning? More sleep? 

It's probably safe to say that most families would...so why not give it a try?!  We would like to offer you this challenge (our families included) of a 24 hour media free period.  Decide on a convenient time when everyone can go unplugged for 24 hours and see what unfolds.  

If you decide to take on this challenge, we would love to hear your responses and the creative ways you spent your time.

Who's looking out for your teen, really?

photo source

So, maybe you are a parent who is all over the supervision thing with your teen. You know their friends and their friend's parents.  You keep tabs on where your child spends their time and with whom.

However, have you thought about the other people that your teen may be "spending time with" and being heavily influenced by.  The musical artists, actors, models, authors, celebrities, and magazine editors.  This may sound silly, since most of those people are considered  "untouchable" to the normal crowd.  Yet, many young people are spending ample time listening to their advice, ways of thinking, views on sex/relationships, lifestyle, their worldview and value of life (or lack thereof).

In this blog post, Brian Graves specifically talks about the negative effects of music as it reads, "Most children between ages 2 and 18 spend upwards of seven hours a day ingesting some sort of media, " says Susan Buttross, MD, FAAP, chief of child development and behavioral pediatrics at the University of Mississippi and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  Seven hours is more time than some young people spend do anything else such as homework, family time and even school.  That's a lot of media

In another blog post written by a mother who took interest in her teenage son's school literature book, she was quite surprised to find the content of a school literature choice utterly disturbing.  She described the book, which was approved by the school board, as pornographic.  You can check out the full post here. (warning:explicit)

On another note, in a recent survey by the Federal Trade Commission, it was found that 47% of 13-16 year olds were able to purchase music with Parental Advisory labels, 24% purchased tickets to R-rated movies and 30% bought R-rated DVDs.

Do we really know what our young people are listening to, watching on T.V. and searching online?  Do we know who is influencing them on a daily basis?   Media has a very loud voice in the lives of today's young people. As parents, it's crucial that we get involved in the media choices of our children.  It's our job to monitor and approve these choices.  No one else is looking out for our kids.  We cannot leave it in the hands of school boards, teachers, Parental Advisory labels, iTunes and Youtube.

Do you have ongoing conversations with your kids/teens about their media choices?  Do you have a system worked out with them by which you monitor and/or approve these choices?