Last summer, the Barna Group, the conservative Christian research and polling organization, was commissioned by Josh McDowell Ministries, also conservative Christians, to research the observation and use of pornography in today’s highly sexualized culture. One result of the landmark study was the understanding that teens & adults under 25 were more open and accepting that folks viewed porn. Those same groups sought out and viewed porn more than any other generation interviewed in the surveys.
The study tried to differentiate between actively seeking out porn, as opposed to casually coming across porn during random surfing of the internet. To differentiate the two, Barna tried to assess the participants intention when viewing porn. Participants were asked if they were actively seeking out porn, as opposed to coming across porn in their daily use of the internet, without the intention of seeking out porn.
The research also pointed to a correlation to actively seeking porn and how often one casually came across porn. The higher the percentage participants reported actively seeking porn, the higher percentage that same group reported casually encountering porn without having sought it out.
When participants were asked to determine whether certain actions were moral or immoral on a 1 to 5 scale, teens and young adults viewed porn as less immoral, by at least 10%, than other generational cohorts over age 25. The results also correlated the ready acceptance of the use of porn by younger folks by their ease in casually and openly discussing porn with friends and acquaintances.
The Barna group sums up the research in a number of negative observations about which we should all be mindful. Perhaps the most alarming being that the introduction and active use of pornography at a young age, prior to actually being sexually active with others, bodes for trouble in young folks future interpersonal and sexual relationships.
You can read the entire article regarding the research at the Barna Group website.
The images are from the research article.
All Content © 2017 Episcopal Café
Have ambivalent feelings about this. One person’s “porn”, is another person’s “erotica”, is a third person’s “literature”/”art”.
Coerced sexual exploitation of vulnerable people is always wrong, however.
The internet intensifies this paradox, but doesn’t really qualitatively change it.
Maybe they should do a study about teenagers exposed to gun violence in the media, people shooting each other…or watching people beat up each other like in UFC fights
I bet that is acceptable
William,
Josh McDowell’s group has been trying to ban violence in video games, TV, etc. and calling on parents to control their kids’ viewing, sports, no drinking, and promoting abstinence, etc…..since the 1980’s. I’m sure they’ve already done that survey. Nothing surprising about them doing this one and I’m sure he doesn’t expect anyone in liberal churches to support him.
Of course, the results aren’t a surprise in a school culture full of “sexting”.
[Edited. Unless you have definitive information regarding the school district, that was unsupported hearsay. – ed]
We need to know this because…..?
Please try to be civil towards the writers here. We are not paid, and don’t really deserve snark/attitude/nastiness.
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Perhaps you don’t.