FCS Issue
Effects of Pornography on Children
by Rebecca Boaz
Graduate Student and Adjunct Instructor
The pornography debate has been going on for years. Is it recreation or reprehensible? It is virtually impossible in our current culture of "sex sells," not to be affected by pornography. This is especially true for our children, who are being exposed to sexual material before they have the mental capacity to fully understand what they are seeing.
Children are receiving sex education from the media and the Internet instead of their parents, churches or schools. Research has shown that pornography and its messages are involved in shaping attitudes and encouraging behaviors that can harm individual users and their families. (www.centerfordecency.org/pornprob.htm, 2003)
The image projected by the pornography industry is that sex is something you can have anytime, anywhere, with anyone, without any consequences. The lies that are promoted by pornography are told to attract the audience and sell the product. The following is a list of untruths that pornography would have you believe:
- Women are less than human. They are Playboy "bunnies" or Penthouse "pets," for example.
- Women are a "sport." Porn depicts sex as a game to win, conquer or score.
- Women are property. Porn displays women like merchandise in a catalog.
- A woman's value depends on the attractiveness of her body. Porn doesn't care about a woman's mind or personality, only her body.
- Women like rape. "When she says no, she means yes."
- Women should be degraded. Porn is often full of hate speech against women.
- Little kids should have sex. Women are made up to look like little girls by wearing pony tails or little girls' shoes, or holding a teddy bear.
- Illegal sex is fun. Porn suggests that you can't enjoy sex if it isn't weird, illegal or dangerous.
- Prostitution is glamorous. In reality, many of these women are runaway girls, sexually abused, infected with STD's, who take drugs to cope. (www.everystudent.com/wires/toxic.htm, 2003)
These images and ideas can pollute the perceptions our children hold in terms of what true, meaningful relationships are. Pornography portrays unhealthy or even anti-social kinds of sexual activity, such as sado-masochism, abuse and humiliation of the female, involvement of minors, incest, group sex, voyeurism, exhibitionism, bestiality, etc. (www.moralityinmedia.org, 2003) The more exposure children or teens have, the more accepting they are of the deviance, and the more normal it becomes in their mind. In a study by Drs. Davis and Braucht, exposure to pornography was found to be the strongest predictor of sexual deviance among the early age of exposure subjects (young teens). (www.centerfordecency.org, 2003)
As parents, how do we know if our sons or daughters are at risk? The following are signs that your child may be viewing pornography:
- Sudden changes in habits or behavior.
- Spends less time with friends and family members and more time isolated.
- Spends large amounts of time on the computer.
- Changes password without your knowledge.
- Is secretive about instant message (IM) buddies.
- The cache (short-term list of sites visited each day located in the pull-down menu of the address line) of your computer is emptied after your child has been on the computer.
- Internet history file (long-term list of sites visited, downloads, etc.) is erased after your son or daughter uses the computer.
- There are multiple ISP (Internet service providers) dial-up services on the desktop of your computer.
- Minimizes the computer screen when you walk into the room.
- Gets lower grades in school while Internet use increases.
- Accesses your Internet account from a friend's house.
- Changes in sexual behavior (becomes active).
- Spends an inordinate amount of time at school or the local library.(www.nationalcoalition.org, 2003)
What can we do as parents to protect our children from pornography? Filters can be helpful in deterring or retarding children from accessing Internet porn. However, no filter is absolutely foolproof. A child with computer savvy can eventually beat a filter. Filters should be used, but other precautions should be taken as well. Place the family Internet computer in an open location where use can be supervised and monitored.
Web sites for more information:
www.centerfordecency.org
www.everystudent.com
www.forerunner.com
www.moralityinmedia.org
www.nationalcoalition.org
www.cfchildren.org
www.parenting-ed.org
www.talkingwithkids.org
www.generationoflight.org
www.mediafamily.org