[Note: Part 2 of 2 parts on the Sexualization of Our Children: The Internet]
For Part I, see (It’s Not Such) A Brave New World  This content may be shocking, but it’s necessary for us to know!

Not my child. Is that what you’re thinking? Not my child. Not my grandchild.

But it is your child. Your grandchild. Your niece and nephew. Your next-door neighbor. The little girl in your Sunday School program. The little boy in your child’s kindergarten class. Our children are being sexualized.

Our culture is sexualizing our children. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines sexualization as when:

–  the value of a person comes from their sexual behavior and appeal

–  being physically attractive is defined in terms of being “sexy”

–  a person is seen as “sexually objectified”

–  sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person

 Consider the following statistics:

– Norton Symantec (the anti-virus folks) tracked 3.5 million searches by users of their children’s filtering service for six months, from February through July 2009. For an item to be included in the list of children’s top searches, it had to be submitted at least fifty times. The top six searches were:

1. YouTube
2. Google
3. Facebook
4. Sex
5. MySpace
6. Porn

– Enough is Enough,an organization dedicated to making the Internet safer for children and families, notes:

• In America, one in three girls and one in seven boys will be sexually molested by age 18
• 87% of convicted molesters of girls and 77% of convicted molesters of boys admit to using pornography

 So what’s a parent or grandparent to do?

Introduce your children to Christ. Encourage them to live for Him and value the things He values…and hate the things He hates. Teach them to call sin, sin.Teach them to focus their thoughts on things that honor God (Philippians 4:8). Teach them to be discerning about the people they choose to be their friends.

Get involved in the lives of your children – especially in their on-line activities.

Do you know what they’re posting on-line? Many children don’t realize the danger in posting their name, location, photos, and contact information in their on-line profiles. Marian Merritt, Internet Safety Advocate for Norton Symantec, notes, “We know children, and particularly teens, are engaging in online activities their parents would be shocked to learn about.”

Pete Findley, of Giant Campus, creator of Cybercamps, said, “Kids today have never known a world without the Internet. Interacting with their peers via social networks is common practice. Unfortunately, without parents who are knowledgeable about the Internet and actively involved with what their children are doing online, kids could (most likely) learn of the dangers of the Web through a damaging experience.”

You are the most important influence in their lives. Pray for them. Model the behavior you want to see in their lives—no double standards!

And get involved!