The Abstinence Clearinghouse Blog

In the Parents Television Council’s Weekly Wrap email they listed this as their Statistic of the Week:

“Among young adults, pornography is losing the social stigma previous generations once attached to it.  86% of young men reported viewing pornography in the last year, and 20% said they looked at it every day or nearly every day.  Among women, 31% indicated they’d viewed porn in the last year, and nearly half said that viewing X-rated material was an acceptable expression of one’s sexuality.  Those who use porn regularly are more likely to indulge in other risky behaviors, such as sex with multiple partners. — study by Brigham Young social sciences researcher Jason Carroll, published in the Journal of Adolescent Research (usatoday.com, December 12, 2007 via Focus on the Family’s Plugged In Online)”

These numbers are very scary.  As I thought about this I wondered, “What are they classifying as pornography?”   Does it include the naked bodies or half naked bodies viewed daily on cable TV, magazine covers or the internet?  Does it include the naked bodies or descriptions of sexual activity found in many condom education courses?  My guess is no.  The reality is they are probably viewing even more pornography than what is being reported here.  Thankfully there are good people - like abstinence educators - in this world teaching our kids purity, values, character and what a truly healthy relationship looks like.  We need more of this in our culture today!