This summer, the First Things First blog published a fantastic article on the effects of pornography on society and on individuals. The article, here, is rather long for a blog-type post, but is well worth the read because of the multifaceted approach it takes to the dangers of this media, especially on the young.
Having teenagers at home makes this issue a lot bigger than it was a few years ago, personally. With the recent brain research showing how adult images can re-wire the brain in ways that make normal relationships with people difficult to impossible, it gets even more scary. (See this article, for example, citing how the exposure can make teens more rebellious.) Add to that, porn now seems to be a growing problem among teenage girls and young women (see this article from Christianity Today).
This raises the whole question of the new media again...not just adult-related material but the whole concept of rapid access to shallow bits of information. How is that process affecting our kids' ability to reason?
I don't have the answers, but some smart folks are working on it. Hopefully, they'll have more answers sooner rather than later.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I welcome comments, and will read them, but they are moderated.