Copyright 2017 Tami Kiser. All rights reserved.
From October 10-14, Tami Kiser is hosting the free Motherhood Matters: Big and Small Catholic Conference for Women. If you haven’t signed up yet, go do it real quick right here and then come back.
I had the pleasure of previewing the talk by Steve Wood titled “Pornography Proofing Your Kids” from the set of talks for today, October 11. It is an uncomfortable topic, but any one who thinks it is not a necessary one is in denial. In fact, Steve and Tami talk about that quite a bit. Too often the issue of pornography in our homes goes unchecked because it is too shameful to talk about.
A few years back there was a great talk on pornography at my mother’s local homeschool conference. My mom was only one of a small handful of other mothers who listened to the speaker. Almost all of the other hundreds of attendees chose a different session. There is this fear that if you talk about pornography, people will know that your family struggles.
Well, the sad news is that statistically, every family struggles. Steve Wood told Tami that 76% of Christian men view pornography regularly, and as technology becomes more advanced and more available, those numbers are going to keep rising unless we stop the denial and fight for our families.
Tami mentions that oftentimes, we as mothers can feel so overwhelmed by the gravity of the topic that we just brush it under the rug. But whether you have been dealing with pornography in your family for years, or have been blissfully unaware of the havoc it causes, this talk is a must see for the sake of your marriage, your children, and as Steve Wood points out, your grandchildren too.
Steve goes well beyond the basic necessary techniques of filtering, counseling, and chastity talks. He mentions several very concrete ways we can fortify our children spiritually to fight this battle. And he has advice for starting very young, which we need to do. According to Fight the New Drug (a fantastic resource, by the way), the average age of first exposure to pornography is between 8 and 11 years old; this isn’t something we can afford to put off dealing with.
One thing that I would like to add to the talk is that this is not solely a male problem. Most of the research to date has been with men and boys, but its estimated that about 30% of women regularly view pornography as well. If we don’t acknowledge that fact, girls who struggle will feel even more isolated and shameful and aren’t going to be able to get the help they desperately need. The thoughts presented by Steve Wood can certainly apply equally to both genders, and boy-mom or girl-mom, you should definitely watch it.
Discussing pornography is not something we can afford to put off. #motherhoodmatters @hillyanne_t
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There are another sixteen topics that will be covered during the “Motherhood Matters” conference including discipline, positive body-image, technology, and kid-whispering; I am excitedly anticipating each one. Make sure “Pornography-Proofing Your Kids” is one of the videos you watch!
And if you have been fighting pornography in your family and are getting discouraged, just remember what Steve Wood tells us:
“Jesus does forgive, and Jesus does restore.”
Copyright 2017 Tami Kiser. All rights reserved.
Sign up for the FREE “Motherhood Matters” conference, which runs through Saturday, October 14!
Copyright 2017 Hilary Thompson