This awareness day will give us an opportunity to address the harmfulness of pornography in marriages, families, and our culture as a whole, while providing helpful resources to both individuals and families. It is an opportunity for us to take a proactive approach in equipping parents so they may better protect and safeguard their homes.
The family home is to be a safe haven. But the inappropriate use of technology in the home deprives it of this role, and is the greatest threat to the sanctity of marriages and families today. Pornography and other online threats are often one click away, and parents can feel overwhelmed with not knowing how to best protect their children in our fast-paced digital world.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ formal statement, Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography, states, “We must see our role in protecting children from pornography as our sacred duty, as well as an aspect of our work to create safe environments in accord with our ongoing implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” Together we can address this issue by teaching those who have been entrusted to our care about pornography’s effects and to share resources with them.