It is time to roll up our sleeves because we have important work to do and we need you!
In connection with WRAP (White Ribbon Against Pornography) week, we encourage you to get involved in the movement against pornography.
Want access to proven research and facts on how pornography is harmful to society and how unsolicited pornography exposure to our children is growing rampant? You can find that here.
The time is now to speak up and get loud against pornography!
You may have a story or a personal experience with unsolicited pornography exposure for yourself, your children, or children you know.
I have my own story that has to do with my biological father. The first time I had an encounter with pornography was when I was around the age of 11. My father worked for the local power company and would occasionally take me to work with him. On one of those occasions, while he went to walk his rounds around the power plant, I stayed behind in his office. I started rummaging through things (as most curious children would) and opened a filing drawer in his desk. To my shock and horror, it was filled with pornographic magazines. I immediately closed the door and did not have the courage to talk to anyone about what I saw and how I felt.
Jumping ahead a couple of years, my father was arrested for lewd and lasciviousness battery involving a child. He was tried, found guilty, and sent to prison. He did his sentence, then got out only to repeat the offense a short time later. He is now currently serving a life sentence, having destroyed the lives of the children he hurt and his own family. I know in my heart that his pornography addiction fueled his drive to harm children.
I ask myself a lot, “what if I had the courage to stand up when I knew something was wrong?” I will have to live with that, yet that is what is giving me the drive to stand up now. As an adult, I now have the courage to fight this fight and will do whatever it takes to end pornography, especially unsolicited pornography exposure to our children.
You too can stand up and fight the fight!
“We need to step up as responsible adults and help the growing generation to discern healthy sexuality from unhealthy . . . Children should not have to be exposed to pornography.”
Heidi Ringham, 2020
Now is the time to be the “responsible adults!” Please join the movement and do what is right to help change our pornography-driven culture.
What You Can Do For WRAP Week
Thousands have participated in WRAP Week by proudly wearing or displaying a white ribbon during the week. This is a great time to be creative and innovative. Other groups have organized protests, letter writing campaigns, call days, support meetings for addicts and their partners, group discussions, sermons at church, and school assemblies, etc.
There are so many ways to get involved!
If you need some ideas, here are three:
1. Help Your Family
Hold a family discussion on pornography and the realities of its harms. We encourage you to talk to children in an age-appropriate way, such as discussing the difference between pornography and family photos. We recommend that you are upfront about your concerns, offer examples from the media and your personal experiences, and practice responses to encounters with pornography.
You can use these conversation starters to help get the discussions going!
2. Help Your Faith Community
Churches and faith-motivated groups play a vital role in the defense of human dignity. Yet there is one issue that is breaking apart families and marriages and increasing rates of sexual violence against women that many churches struggle to address: pornography.
Research also shows that more than half of youth pastors have had at least one teen come to them for help in dealing with porn in the past 12 months. In fact, most pastors (57%) and youth pastors (64%) admit they have struggled with pornography themselves, either currently or in the past.
We have created this flyer with 5 ways you can help your church or faith-community address the harms of pornography, and we encourage you to start putting it into action this week!
3. Help Your Campus
If you or someone you know is in college, encourage them to take a stand about pornography and sexual exploitation on their campus this week!
We have a flyer here with 5 ways you can make a difference in your college campus. For instance, you can host an event on a topic related to pornography, such as its link to sex trafficking and its threat of “Sexual Predation in Dating Relationships.” You can also host an “Online Action Party” where you can send emails together to corporate executives on our “Dirty Dozen List,” which are companies that profit from sexual exploitation.
In all of your WRAP week activities, make sure to tag NCOSE on social media, or share what you’re doing via email at [email protected]!
Also, be sure to sign the petition to Protect Children, Not Porn.
