Porn in the US of A

Luke Gilkerson, is the internet community manager at Covenant Eyes accountability software, a company that helps people overcome their addiction to online Porn. Over the next few days, Luke is going to be sharing with us a ton of information about how deep this sin problem is.

PART 1:  Is porn a problem in America?

In short, yes

There’s no debating the size of the pornography industry. Worldwide, porn brought in $97 billion in 2006. That year, people in the U.S. spent about $13.3 billion on porn (that’s more than the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC, by the way). No one debates the enormity of the industry.

Neither does anyone debate how widespread pornography is viewed.

• On average, there are 4.2 million pornographic web domains (12% of all websites).
• 25% of total search engine requests are pornography related.
• 42.7% of Internet users intentionally view pornography online.
• On average, every month there are 1.5 billion pornographic peer-to-peer downloads (this is 35% of all downloads online).
• The largest consumer of Internet pornography is the 35-49 age group.
• 90% of children from ages 8 to 16 have viewed porn online (most while doing homework)
• Average age for the first-time exposure to porn is 11.

  

So, the question isn’t how big the industry is or how much pornography is accessed by people in the U.S. The question is: Why is this a problem? Why is viewing pornography an issue that we should be concerned about?

Viewing pornography is a problem because of how it negatively affects those who view it. When it becomes so widely viewed (as in a sufficiently pornographized culture like ours) it negatively affects cultural mindsets. Lastly, viewing pornography endorses an industry that negatively affects those who work in it. Pornography, as an industry, creates problems psychologically and sociologically. Oprah calls pornography America’s #1 addiction.

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