Dr. Ed Stetzer (President, LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s missiologist in residence) recently published a devastating article on the extent of pornography’s reach in today’s culture. A few excerpts:
- Lawyer and author John W. Whitehead recently observed: “Children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend approximately 30–120 minutes a day watching music videos — 75 percent of which contain sexually suggestive materials; and, with the advent of portable technology, children’s television and music are often unmonitored by parents or guardians. Not only does this accelerate adolescent sexual behavior (girls between the ages of 12–14 are two times more likely to engage in sexual activity after being exposed to sexual imagery), but it increases the likelihood of more sexual partners.”
- Of people who use the Internet, 43 percent visit pornographic websites. Some 40 million Americans regularly visit porn sites, with pornographic downloads representing 35 percent of all Internet downloads. Of the 40 million regular visitors, 33 percent are woman, while 70 percent of men ages 18–24 visit porn sites monthly.6 Sex and porn are among the top five most frequently searched terms for children under 18.
- Researchers estimate porn is a $100-billion-a-year business worldwide. In the U.S. alone, people will spend $13.6 billion on porn this year. Technology has created a porn revolution. People of all ages have anonymous access to all types of porn, including 24.6 million pornographic websites, 12 percent of the entire Internet total. Around 25 percent of all Internet searches are porn related (68 million each day), and 35 percent of all downloads are pornographic.11 Each second in the U.S., people spend $3,075 on porn. In that same second, 28,000 Internet viewers are looking at porn. Every 39 minutes an adult sex video is being produced.12 The adult video industry will have 800 million rentals this year.
Stetzer’s article is extensive, and goes on to evaluate causes, symptoms, and where we go from here. This info-graphic is also explanatory.
On a related note, here’s a sobering article from Michelle VanLoon on being raised by a father who was addicted to pornography.