By Randall Murphree
July 24, 2002

(AgapePress) - A better parental handbook than Protecting Your Child in an X-Rated World will be hard to find.

Frank York and Jan LaRue have drawn from their own life experiences and decades of professional experiences to produce a volume that should be required reading for every parent.

"After 25 years in the business of fighting pornography, this is as good a resource as I’ve seen," says Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of American Family Association. "It is a comprehensive look at the dangers of pornography and the entertainment media. But more than that, it’s a very practical how-to book for parents to help them protect their children from porn, or find help if pornography has already done its damage."

Protecting Your Child (Tyndale/Focus on the Family, 2002) sounds the alarm on an issue that should be alarming to every parent. The authors point out that there has been a 500% increase in rape over the 19-year period from 1980 to 1999, the decades during which the U. S. porn industry grew from a $4-billion annual business to a $10-billion business. Worldwide, it is estimated that pornographers profit $56 billion a year.

York and LaRue document countless law enforcement records that tie pornography to sex offenses. Other disturbing statistics add to the cause for concern. For example, the authors write, "A report in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1993 noted that nearly half of the nation’s child molesters were children. In addition, in 1983 there were only 22 juvenile sex offender programs nationwide; in 1993 that number had grown to 755. Today there are more than 1,200."

Readers should not overwhelmed by the barrage of statistics and tragic stories told in the opening pages. LaRue and York always provide an antidote along with the startling symptoms of the porn disease. Though some would say it’s a cliché , the authors believe strongly that prayer should always be the parents’ first line of defense. It is a spiritual battle, they say, but they always offer concrete steps for action.

Both authors are honest and straightforward in sharing how they were themselves victims of pornography at a young age. LaRue shares that she had been molested by four different men before she was eight years old. As a teenager, she was promiscuous and alcoholic -- classic behavioral symptoms of a sexually abused child.

But a childhood dream of being a lawyer never died. She became a Christian, and eventually went to law school. She is now a member of the California and Supreme Court Bars, and works with Concerned Women for America.

"I am fighting pornography for the sake of our nation’s children who are becoming the primary consumers of pornography," says LaRue. The book documents how children are, indeed, being exposed to hard-core pornography at younger and younger ages.

York was first exposed to pornography as an 11-year-old in 1955 when a local drugstore began carrying the brand new Playboy magazine and other porn titles. "Pornography was not widely accessible in those days," he says, "or I might have become a seriously addicted child. I would struggle with the temptation to use pornography for decades as it was."

Today York is editorial director of Traditional Values Coalition. The Nashville-area resident is a former editor with Focus on the Family and has served as staff writer for Tim and Beverly LaHaye.

In Part 1 of Protecting Your Child, York and LaRue detail why pornography is a danger to families, then take a look at its pervasiveness. They illustrate how it has infiltrated even our homes, public schools, and libraries -- largely via the Internet.

Part 2 gives practical responses for the challenge to stop pornography from destroying our children and communities. Wildmon says the chapters on how to oppose porn in your community, how to keep it out of your home, and how to help the child who has already been exposed to porn are invaluable resources for parents. Appendices include a section on porn and the law, and a section listing many other resources covering every aspect of the problem.

Protecting Your Child may paint a scary picture of the present, but it also offers a vision of hope for the future.