The Church has published a series of family home evening lessons to help parents discuss pornography with their children and to equip children with skills to respond appropriately to pornographic content they likely will be exposed to.
The following lessons can be accessed on the OvercomingPornography.org website:
- My Body Is from God
- The Spirit Can Help Me Choose Good Media
- What Should I Do If I See Pornography?
- The Savior Desires to Forgive and Heal the Wounds of Pornography
The lessons include basic doctrines and principles about the sacredness of the body, sexual intimacy, following the Spirit, choosing good media, appropriate action steps for when a child sees pornography, and repentance. They also include age-specific activities parents can select based on the needs of their family.
Some parents may feel uncomfortable discussing the topics of sexual intimacy and pornography with their children, or they may not feel like it is necessary until children are much older.
Elder Richard G. Scott counseled, “Parents, be aware that the addiction of pornography can begin with youth at a very early age. Take preventative action to avoid that tragedy” (“To Acquire Spiritual Guidance,” Oct. 2009 general conference).
Read more in the article “New FHE Lessons Help Teach Children about Pornography.”
I am entirely SICK of anti pornography stuff from the church… and associated media. There is nothing anti about it when you keep it in the forefront, making an issue of it all the time. The fascination with pornography or the anti of it is ridiculous. If it truly is that big of an issue then you’ve got other problems to address.
There is so very much about the church that bugs me. This is not one of them. If you had any people who you love struggle with serious debilitating porn addiction you would be grateful someone is trying to help families get ahead of it. Porn addiction is affecting kids as young as 10 and setting them up for serious problems with relationships and other addictions going into their teens and young adult life. Even non-LDS scientists are seeing this is a massive problem.
denise, i believe the purpose of all this is to shine the light in a dark room. if the light is on, the darkness can then leave 🙂
There is a great McGee and Me video called “The Not So Great Escape.” Nick sneaks out of the house to see a movie with a friend; however, the content is repulsive and his parents teach him that your mind is a recorder. We cannot remove brain content easily, if at all. It’s really important that everyone in our society understand how dangerous pornography is and I am glad it is being addressed with young children. “It is easier to defend a city, than it is to retake it” per the Book of Mormon. Let’s defend the innocent so we don’t have to do years of damage repair counseling. Thanks! Jabbles
Great resource Larry, as pornography grows as a scourge on society, it’s important to provide resources on how to teach youth and adults how to combat and avoid it. To think the church has talked “too much about it” or has a “fascination” with it, demonstrates ignorance of the strength of this evil in society today.
I am so grateful that I can prepare my children to know what to do when they see this evil. So many get sucked in before they really understand what’s going on. I appreciate a clear way to identify and respond to this pernicious vice that ruins so many lives.