I recently made a trip to a local high school to visit with some female students. It was only second period and they already looked exhausted, but who could blame them?  This group of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds were shouldering a tremendous responsibility. They had all recently given birth to babies. I was invited as a guest to their parenting class, and, after forming a circle with our chairs, we began talking about issues surrounding dating, sex, and motherhood.

The young moms had a lot to say. For starters, they couldn’t understand why the media makes sexual activity seem so glamorous and fulfilling. In their experience, sex was more like an obligation than a thrill. They were also dealing with the reality that, even though it “took two to tango,” they received little or no help at all from the fathers of their babies.

You would think these negative experiences would motivate the girls to seek higher standards regarding sex and dating. Surprisingly, there was an obvious sense of hopelessness hovering in the room as they expressed their belief that this was simply the plight of young people today. After all, they were expected to have premarital sex.

Where would they get such a preposterous idea?

The answer is all around us. The media, in all of its of attractive, loud, and ever-present forms, is continually seducing the next generation into believing the lie that premarital sex is inevitable, even commendable. As parents, however, we tend to think that our kids know better than to believe the perverted messages permeating mainstream music or be influenced by the trendiness of casual sex celebrated in most of today’s popular sitcoms. After all, our kids have been raised in Sunday school and know what the Bible says about sex and marriage.

But what about us, parents?  Are we upholding Biblical standards of purity? More to the point, are we expecting our kids to adhere to Biblical standards regarding sex while we ignore Biblical principles as it pertains to our household media choices?

While there are multiple things we can do to inspire our kids to pursue God’s plan for sexual purity, taking a stand against perverse, sexually course media is essential. No matter what youth purity programs our kids attend or how much we discuss godly principles with them at home concerning sex, if we have weak standards regarding our media choices, we will seriously undermine the message of purity in our kids’ lives.

Family Guy, Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, Modern Family—are these kinds of TV programs welcome in your home? (Yes, I went there!)  If so, from one believer in Christ to another, may I lovingly warn you that you are sabotaging your child’s view of sex. Furthermore, we are deceiving ourselves if we think that our kids are not affected by what they see on TV. Even if they don’t watch these programs with us, the fact that we view them sends a clear message that Scriptures like Ephesians 5:3 are mere suggestions as opposed to commandments worthy of life application—“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality . . .”

It’s one thing to forbid our kids access to certain songs, movies, and TV programs; it’s another thing to disciple our kids in the truth so that they understand why these media influences are toxic. Parents, let us each prayerfully consider how our media choices are affecting our kids and focus on counteracting the lie that premarital sex is inevitable. I know you’ll agree with me that there’s no movie, TV show, or radio station that’s worth compromising our kids’ view of sexual purity and premarital abstinence.