I allowed my brother to watch porn

Dear Pastor,

I am 15 and having a problem. I live with my parents and have a younger brother. He has his own room and I have mine. He is 12. Both of us are in high school. I have my computer and sometimes I go online and watch pornographic videos. I practise it on myself. Pastor, I masturbate every night.

One evening, my brother came into my room and saw what I was watching and wanted to watch too. I told him no because he was not old enough. He told me that he would tell our parents so I made him look for about 10 minutes. I didn't tell him I masturbate, but he told me that since he saw the movie, he is masturbating too. I told him he should stop, but he still wants to see more porn.

Some of the girls in my school have boyfriends and they are having sex but I have never had sex. I don't have a steady boyfriend, but many boys like me. I look older than my age. My parents always warned me to be careful and not to bring any shame on them.

There is a boy I like. He is in his first year at university. I have to be locking my door to prevent my brother from coming in my room. I lock it when my parents are not at home, but keep unlocked when they are because my mother said if anything happens to me, they should be able to come in the room.

Am I doing anything wrong by watching these movies and masturbating? Even my friends who have boyfriends tell me that they masturbate.

E.T.

Dear E.T.,

You have to learn to stop watching these videos. You have developed a bad habit. As you watch these videos, you are trying to practise some of what you see. If you continue to look at these videos, it is likely that you are going to be tempted to have sex and put into motion what you see in these movies.

It's not going to be easy for you to break the habit of masturbation, but it can be done. Do not go back on these sites. Use that time to study or exercise. Occupy the time in doing something positive.

When your brother came into your room and realised what you were looking at, you should not have allowed him to look at the pornographic material.

He threatened to tell on you so you thought if you allowing him to look for a while would have kept him quiet. Now he wants to see more. Do not allow him to look at any more.

How do you feel knowing that your brother, at 12, is masturbating? It is very sad, though it is not physically harmful. You don't have to ban him from your room, but do not encourage him to masturbate.

Pastor