By Suzanne Rhodes
Union University news office
John Foubert, professor and dean of the College of Education at Union University, has released a new book to help parents teach their children about the harm of pornography.
JACKSON — John Foubert, professor and dean of the College of Education at Union University, released a new book to help educate parents on the harm of pornography and to guide them in difficult conversations with children of all ages.
Foubert’s second book on the harms of pornography, Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography shows parents how pornography consumption has changed, how it’s affecting their children and what they can do to keep their kids safe.
Foubert, an expert on sexual assault prevention and the dangers of pornography, opens the door for parents to understand the reality of pornography use — how it affects the brain’s anatomy, influences the increase of sexual violence and more.
At the end of each chapter, Foubert also gives parents helpful guides on navigating these difficult conversations with children of all ages.
“I think it’s important to have a very calm conversation with your head and not necessarily your heart because it’s important for kids to get a good idea of how (pornography) can hurt you,” Foubert said.
“It’s not just that ‘I’m saying no,’ but ‘I’m saying no because I don’t want you to get hurt,’ ” he added.
While Foubert offers critical and shocking research about pornography use, he also incorporates the stories of people who have been affected by the pornography industry in various ways. He hopes that readers gain a better understanding of porn’s realistic and personal effects for their children.
Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography helps parents recognize that the industry has drastically changed in the past 20 years. According to Foubert, pornography is more accessible, anonymous and affordable than ever, and parents need to understand the industry’s evolution in today’s culture.
“Kids are living in a porn-saturated culture that they don’t know how to navigate, and so many parents have not stepped up to the plate to help them through that,” Foubert said. “I think parents are a logical source of information, rather than the internet.”
Foubert encourages parents to begin by establishing a healthy relationship with their children that can later lead into calm and factual conversations about pornography.
“Making yourself a safe person they can talk to about anything is the first step,” Foubert said. “If (a child) doesn’t know something, we want them to be able to go to their parents to give them their family’s values about sexual relations without the harms of having to search it on the internet.”
Foubert is a member of Cornerstone Community Church in Jackson.
To learn more about Foubert and his research, visit uu.edu/employee/feature. Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography is available for purchase at Amazon or Moody Publishers. B&R
