Dan Jarboe, university counselor, and Michael Cox, director of resident life, are co-leading a men’s group being formed to help guys who are struggling with an addiction to pornography.
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“OBU is a normal school and in any normal school, there’s going to be guys, lots of guys, that have been exposed to pornography,” Jarboe said. “A certain percentage of those are going to become powerfully impacted by it and its addictive characteristics.”
Madison Trammel, associate editor for Christianity Today magazine, wrote in an online article that, “60 percent of Christian men have sought some form of pornography.”
This statistic may be shocking for many students at Ouachita, but the truth remains that Christians are not exempt from this temptation.
Jarboe said that many of the men who are addicted to pornography were exposed to it at an early age, and “the impact of that is really profound.”
Some men on Ouachita’s campus have expressed interest in the men’s group, and are ready to overcome their addiction.
“The guys that are really wanting to be a part of this are not guys who just come in saying, ‘Yeah, I’ve been doing this bad stuff, and I just figured I probably ought to quit,’” Jarboe said. “These guys are really serious about wanting to be pure.”
Jarboe said the addiction is hard for a person to overcome on their own and the men will help one other by being mutually accountable for each person in the group as well as sharing what works for them individually to resist pornography.
“Another one of our goals is that guys will be honest,” Cox said. “Obviously, it’s a secret thing. It’s something that guys don’t want to advertise or don’t want other guys to know about. There’s a lot of healing that comes with being honest and confessing.”
A great aspect of the men’s group is that it is completely confidential. No one will know who the members of the group are except for Jarboe, Cox and the other men in the group.
The only way to know when the meetings are and where they are going to be held is to join the group by e-mailing Jarboe or Cox.
Shame and embarrassment might try to persuade men not to join, but Cox urges those men to “let people in to their struggle” and that “this is certainly going to be a safe place for [them] to do that.”
“The group’s purpose goes deeper than just being free of addiction to pornography,” Jarboe said. “Our focus is to help young men become the men that God wants them to be.”
If you have any questions about pornography addiction or want to join the men’s group, e-mail Jarboe at jarboed@obu.edu or Cox at coxm@obu.edu.
