Why is everyone so concerned with protecting kids from....?

Question

sexual talk/imagery. I've never heard of it hurting anyone or causing mental health issues. Yet we will say nothing when the news spends all day talking about and displaying the images of killing and death. These things will disturb a child and cause mental health issues.

Answer 1

In America, those "words" pertaining to sex are sometimes considered taboo. The reason we have so much sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancies among teens and young adults is because we don't tell them about their bodies until the changes begin. In Japan, children are taught sex ed at age five (when they enter school) and they live healtier and safer sex lives than Americans. We are taught that something that is beautiful is actually dirty. How can children grow up with the right views and morals if they have this attitude? And the teaching of it all is delayed?
It's wrong that this is our norm. But it's more of a trying to preserve innocence - which really has nothing to do with the knowledge of sex.

Answer 2

Sexual imagery is the most powerful toxin known to man. It might not affect a child early on, but the memory of seeing such images is planted in the brain for life and can resurface at anytime to cause disturbed thinking. The media is wrong for showing death and killing, and they do so for the ratings. Ninety percent of all media personnel are unsaved, so they do not care what they show so long as they do not violate FCC rules. They do not act in your best interest or in the best interest of children because they really do not care. If they cared then they would be responsible in their programming. It is important that children be brought up in the teachings of the Lord and that their fragile minds be protected from the filth and corruption that the adult population of this world seems intent upon assaulting them with. I consider the media to be child abusers, destroying the minds of our youth. Personally, I gave up television and movies three years ago because I was fed up with the content. This has freed me to serve the Lord in a better way than to sit in my living room and have my mind eaten away by the parasites of Hollywood. Jesus is always the better choice.

Answer 3

True. I don't let my kids watch tv meant for adults. They do enjoy watching the news (they are 6 and 8 - girls), and I think it is good that they have a sense of reality about what happens around them. Also, don't forget, there is usually health, fitness, and community news as well, so it isn't all bad.

I do shield them from disrespectful slang talk (often what you find here and on any of the stupid tv shows anymore)...but sexual talk or imagery presented in a natural setting for me is fine. I hope this was half-way informative. I do agree with you...I think you might be hinting at the Western Sex Taboo, where in Europe I think it is the opposite.

Answer 4

Yes sexual talk and imagery DOES affect children just as deeply as killing and death. The REASON you don't hear of the damage done by sexual content is because you are not listening.

What about the teenager that calls his mother a slut and has no respect for her? (because she is a slut)

What about the children that are having sex in their preteens because they see and hear about sex all the time?

What about the child who thinks it's ok for an adult to have sex with them?

What about the child masturbating in school?

What about the teenager that rapes a teacher?

What about that kid that rapes YOUR daughter, and thinks you wouldn't mind because he was over at your house watching porn movies with you and your family last week?

If you haven't figured out that children learn MORE by EXAMPLE than words, then you are in such denial that YOU need help.

Answer 5

I protect my son from it because it's displayed the wrong way. Sex is something sacred and shared between 2 people. I watched girls gone wild for 5 minutes and was so sickened on how these young girls could exploit theme selves and have no moral or sense of self pride. Society has gone too far in a short period of time with all of the crap that is on TV, and it's all for the almighty $$$. It's sad and infuriating to me.

Answer 6

Christianity is responsible for the sexual censorship. The belief that a person should not have sex until after marriage, combined with the American law of adulthood at 18, creates a lonely situation for minors in Christian households.
Common sense, and a growing portion of society, will tell you that sex is good and natural. There is nothing wrong with sex, it does not have to be selfish, and it is not harmful. Why would a person believe that you are ready for sex after your eighteenth birthday when you have been physically driven to need it for years already?
Enough with censorship of the body, we all have one. To imagine the body we live in as evil is ridiculous. Let's get past Puritan ideas, and separate church from state (or from reality).

Answer 7

I have 2 children i do not allow them to watch the news or play violent video games or things like that but yes some sexual talk is harmful to children they don't need to know everything at a young age kids try things they think they know we do not need a whole bunch of young children trying things that they hear about

Answer 8

seeing pictures of war, or of suffering helps a kid realize how serious the issues are. if the kid is old enough to understand suffering, seeing a picture of it will only help him understand the issue. i'm not saying make a power-point presentation, but i am saying that sometimes it's good for a kid to see what's happening in the real world. it affects them, but if it's presented right it makes them think about more than themselves. i'm not saying let you kid see gory movies, i think that those would be just as damaging as a sex movie, but i am saying that seeing pictures on the news and all that brings them into the real world. if a kid is ready to understand what happened on 9/11 and if you are confidant that they can handled the seriousness of it, take them to see united 93. but don't take them to see Saw because they 'can handle voilence.'

images are burned into people's brains, especially kids and we have to be careful about what we put in there.

now, sexual stuff is different. sexual stuff perverts the mind and i think you're a pretty good example of this. who wants a little kid asking adults what masterbating is? why do little kids need to know this stuff? besides making life easier for pervs like you, what good will not shielding these kids do?

i know a few little boys that watch movies with sex stuff in it, and let me tell you, they are hard to be around. one kid is eight years old and he's always saying stuff like, 'oh, kiera knightly is a sexy babe.' and i always feel him starring at me in a yucky way and he's EIGHT YEARS OLD for goodness sake!!!! that's unpleasant in adults, let alone kids who haven't even gone through puberty yet!!

in the end, seeing images of poverty, suffering, and war aren't half as destructive as seeing pornography.

Answer 9

Well, I agree there is a double-standard. Sex is much more taboo in our western culture than violence is. I think we downplay the violence issue at our own peril.

Still, while I'm not sure how you are defining sexual talk/imagery, I'm not sure why you're saying it is not "hurting anyone" or "causing mental health issues."

Sex might not drive people insane, sure. And people usually don't get killed or maimed during sex. (Well, normal sex.)

But our exposure to it helps shape how we view sex and thus our primary romantic relationships, what we expect from others, how we interrelate to the opposite gender, etc. It has a profound effect on how we approach others.

If you're talking actual abuse, man, the case is exactly the opposite of what you state. Kids who are having sex with adults or siblings at a young age are completely screwed up for a long time... if they ever heal. They have trouble setting boundaries, they violate other's boundaries, they struggle with addictions, they often have trouble with responsibility, they have tons of emotional issues. The most messed-up people I know have been the target of sexual abuse as kids.

If you're talking just being permeated by sex... Well, I think the promiscuity has gone way up over the last few decades because everything is sexualized. Sex is commonly used in advertising. Its effects are more indirect than direct.

Our relationships are commonly sexualized now, rather than built on mutual trust and/or respect. People commonly have sex early in their relationships, and then the relationships fail (because sex was the foundation, not the friendship and commitment), and people become wounded by the failed relationship. They search for meaning, security, and identity through sex. Women have sex to try to keep men; men just use women as objects for sex.

The sexual talk and imagery of a culture fosters all of these attitudes.

Having lots of sex has contributed to lots of single-parent families (i.e., sex results in pregnancy without commitment, usually from the man), which cause a nice host of emotional issues in kids. While one parent can do admirably, they simply cannot fulfill the role of two parents in the parents. Kids still struggle with rejection issues, don't see relationships modeled in the home, etc. It impacts them.

I'm far from a prude; what I see, though, is that everything a person experiences, especially over the long term, impacts how people think and act. We can't help it; the stuff in our environment determines how we "frame" our choices later, leading us to recognize some possibilities and not others.

Do you think there really is nothing wrong with Britney Spears' slutty video performances that rocketed her to the top of the charts, despite the fact she's probably only a marginal singer? (She's really just an entertainer... and most of he appeal is based on sex.) Look at her relationship(s)... and tell me that her attitudes about sex have led her to a mature place in life so far. I'm surprised she has held things together as long as she has.

And when you present yourself mostly as a sexual object, men start to treat you as just a sexual object -- which means you are not being viewed as a person. Boys are being honed to view women in terms of sex, not personhood. Shifts in this attitude in adulthood are not easy and demand some real effort, if the guy is ever to form real relationships.

Our cheap, throwaway attitudes about sex in front of the kids really does lead them astray. Sex is not bad in itself, but we've really misused it, and it distorts our thinking.

Kids are particularly susceptible because they are still emotionally immature, have little relational experience, and are going through hormonal changes that have "kicked in" their drive as teens.

Answer 10

Children do not benefit from being exposed to things about sex before they have fully matured. They will not have a full understanding about it, and can easily find themselves in an unwanted situation. As far as violence goes I agree on that issue, children shouldn't be exposed to that as I think it would casue a lot of anxiety