Kids addicted to Web Porn

[keyshawn]

[link]

Are kids addicted to Web porn?
Easily accessed sex sites prompt troubling trend, experts say
Sunday, April 17, 2005

Diana Keough
Plain Dealer Reporter

Every day, Daniel couldn't wait to get home from school so he could turn on his computer. Once it booted up, he typed "naked women" into Google, settled in and took his time to pick through the 5 million hits those two words brought to his screen.

Once in a while, he would turn around to make sure his mom, making dinner in the next room, couldn't seewhat he was looking at. With the coa
st clear, he turned back to enjoy the view, his mom none the wiser. The Internet blocker that his parents installed prevented him from viewing some pictures or videos, but not many. "I still had tons of choices," he said.


All for free.

Scrolling through the photographs, he felt the familiar rush of pleasure and guilt. When his mom walked in, he flipped the screen to check his fantasy football standings or to respond to the instant-message boxes filled with friends' banter about teachers they didn't like, what would be on tomorrow's test and embarrassing stuff that happened at the lunch table. As soon as his mom left, he switched back to the porn -- just as he did every day from 3:30 until he went to bed around 11. Daniel said he was hooked.

"It was kind of like being an alcoholic, and you can't get enough drinks, and you want to keep drinking. I couldn't get enough of it, and I wanted to keep doing it, and it got worse, and I needed to see better stuff," said Daniel. First it was more skin. Then it was more sex. He watched as women were beaten as part of sex and had sex with animals.

Even after his parents caught him, he didn't stop.

"I knew I was probably going to get busted again, and I didn't care. It was like I craved it," he said. Daniel's grades dropped, and he stopped wanting to hang out with his friends. His mom, Jean, said he even asked if he could quit the football team. (Jean spoke to us on the condition that we did not use hers or Daniel's last name).

"All I wanted to do was look at pornography," said Daniel, 15, of Twinsburg.

Finding online porn

without even trying

Experts fear Daniel is not alone. Recently, many psychologists and sociologists report a surge in the number of young males displaying symptoms of obsessive compulsive behavior to Internet pornography, also known as I-porn. In the past, objections against pornography were primarily moral ones, raised by religious and political opponents who warned against the impact of pervasive pornography. Now, an additional wave of opposition is warning about the impact of pervasive porn, arguing it is transforming teenage sexuality and relationships -- for the worse.

Others, like psychologist Gary Brooks, go one step further, calling what he's seeing lately, addiction. Brooks defines addiction as "a compulsive inability to not do it and the need to continually reach new levels of eroticism."

"What used to get them excited no longer does it," said Brooks, author of "The Centerfold Syndrome" and a psychology professor at Baylor University. The upward trend is so new, there's no definitive data on the number of teens who may be affected or what their ability to maintain relationships in the future is. But with the ease of access and I-porn's ubiquity, experts think the addicted teens coming through their doors now are just the beginning.

In 2001, over 17 million youths between the ages of 12 and 17 used the Internet, representing 73 percent of those in that age bracket. [rmc: 2001 study by Pew Research and American Life Project : ]-NT%>On average, kids were on computers two to three hours per day. But four years later, James Samad, senior vice president for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, says the number of teens using the Internet has grown, as has the time they spend on it. The more time spent, the more likely it is they will be exposed to porn, he said. In fact, one polling group reports 91 percent of the first exposure by a teen to pornography was during benign activities, such as research for school projects or surfing the Web for other information.

Fourteen-year-old Patrick, of Hudson, couldn't believe it the first time pictures of people having sex popped onto his computer screen. One minute he was researching the Internet for his history paper; the next, pornography. That first glimpse was all he needed. The ninth-grader said something in him clicked.

"It was like Wow.' It's weird and hard to explain, but it was like I just had to see more," he said. (His parents asked that his last name not be used.)

Before long, the free stuff didn't satisfy him. When an instant message from "jenluvssex" asked him to come see pictures from her Web cam, he clicked on it. After hitting " yes" when asked if he was 18 and then "yes" again when it asked if he was aware of the charges, he was on a paid site named "Hot Teen Sex." No credit card needed.

He came back to the site every day for a month. That is, until an $800 phone bill and $400 Web charge showed up in the mailbox. His parents banned him from the computer. But he couldn't stop.

"I knew the bill would come a month later, and I knew I'd get in trouble, but I just had to keep doing it," he said.

"Downloading porn on the Internet is like consuming cocaine. It's that addictive," said Samad.

Research on porn's effects

in its infancy

Vanessa Jensen, director of pediatric psychology at the Cleveland Clinic, said addiction to pornography does not have the same physiological effect as an addiction to alcohol or drugs, where withdrawal affects you physically.

"Internet porn addiction is a behavior that when it becomes excessive, either in amount or degree, it affects other parts of your life," she said. Though research is in its infancy, she said psychologists are beginning to understand there may be brain changes associated with viewing highly stimulating sexual images.

Psychologist Brooks said teenage boys are particularly susceptible to porn's pull.

"They're already dealing with higher levels of physiological arousal, as well as a lack of comfort in intimacy in relationships anyway," Brooks said. He said psychologists know that when adult males have a steady diet of pornography, they begin to display an obsession with visual stimulation that makes it difficult for them to have a healthy relationship. It also prompts obsessive fetishes over body parts, the rating of women by size and shape and a fear of intimacy.

"There's an inability to get beyond centerfold images of women to have a real relationship," Brooks said.

In young males, Brooks has discovered in his practice, viewing porn teaches them to wall themselves off from too much emotional intimacy in sex and to sexualize all feelings of emotional and physical intimacy. Because their closest approximations of emotional intimacy and most intense exposure to sensual pleasure occur almost exclusively in the context of rapid-orgasm sexual activity, male adolescents learn to closely associate sex with intimacy. Many men are unable to be aroused without porn.

Kids aren't ready

to handle it'

When young men do not learn to distinguish the two sets of needs, they will be highly restricted in their capacity to develop and maintain relationships, Brooks said.

Daniel said he began to feel very uncomfortable around girls at school.

"I knew what they looked like without clothes on and wanted to have sex with them. I couldn't turn it off," he said.

Georgette Constantinou, a pediatric psychologist at Akron Children's Hospital, said viewing pornography at that age "puts boys into a constant hyper-sexualized state."

"Do you want someone who is like that baby-sitting your children or sitting next to your daughter in school?" she asked.

Some curiosity about sexuality and seeing the opposite sex naked is normal. But Brooks warned that "the nature of the sexual thinking and sexual arousal that goes with Internet pornography is unlike the normal sexual psychological cycle."

"Kids that age aren't ready to handle it psychologically because they're still in the developmental stage. They're still children," said Constantinou.

Daniel admitted he watched a video clip of a woman being murdered during sex. Patrick has watched people and animals together. Experts say such images can frighten, disgust and confuse kids.

Jensen said that often sex portrayed on the Internet is not consensual.

"Having a 14-year-old watch a 55-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl have sex, thinking that's acceptable to meet that man's needs, is very concerning," Jensen said.

"There are sounds and images that may seem like someone is emotional, when, of course, they're not. And a child doesn't have the context or maturity to make sense of all those things," said Jensen. She said children begin to think that's what sex is. And now they're seeing it at an earlier age than before.

"Your kids are seeing things they've never seen before, and whether he's masturbating or whatever he's doing, the thrills he's getting, he's got to be so confused about it. Why am I needing this?' Why do I want this so badly even when it's getting me in trouble?' " said Constantinou.

Studying attitudes

about women

Social scientists have been unable to establish any cause-and-effect relationship between the simple viewing of pornography and negative attitudes about women or violence against women, said Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology at Stony Brook, State University of New York.

"But that doesn't mean we should stop trying to find that link because we know that obviously the things we see do have some impact on us," he said, pointing to numerous studies that link viewing violence with committing it.

But Kimmel said pornography addiction is not just a male problem. Net Trends reported that 47 percent of computer users going to explicit Web sites were 12- to 18-year-old females. Since children tend to learn sexual cues early, Kimmel said pornography trains boys to respond only to images shaped by porn stars while girls may learn that leather, submission and Brazilian bikini waxes are the keys to pleasing men.

"Looking at pornography excessively gives young men the distorted view that says, Women are so sexually voracious, so sexually aggressive, they're just constantly wanting sex, they want it all over the place, and you can't stop them,' " said Kimmel.

Watch for changes

in children, parents told

But how are parents to know? At school lunch tables, teens share secrets on how to get around the filters their parents have installed and swap their favorite sites. Constantinou advised parents to look for the following: Changes in your child's mood, excessive secretiveness, a drive or need to be on the computer.

"When it's starting to absorb their world and taking over their world, and it's more important to them than any relationship or any other person outside their home, it's gotten too big," Constantinou said.

Samad tells parents to use their intuition.

"If you have a feeling something's changed with your son or daughter, pursue it," he said. Daniel's parents have allowed him back on the computer in limited doses. Still, he admitted that every time he signs on, the draw to look at porn is overwhelming.

Patrick is still grounded from the computer. His parents disconnected their computer from the Internet. To do homework, Patrick has to do it on the school's computer.

"I still think about looking at porn every day," he said. Constantinou advises parents not to use the word "addicted."

"Addiction has this lifelong quality to it, and I don't want to pin that on a 14-year-old," she said. But then again, she said the trend is so new and research so scarce that it's impossible to know if it will be a lifelong problem or not.

Also contributing to this story was researcher Cheryl Diamond.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

dkeough@plaind.com, 216-999-4927


© 2005 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.

.....For a kid to actually quit the football team and spend 7.5 hrs on the comp a day - that is an addiction. I notice among my own generation, often, how obsessed they are sex, even beyond the general curiousity of it. Did you ever know any kids that had this addiction when you were growing up [or even presently] ? I wonder how much the web actually plays into it, since magazines could only provide a limited resource and were costly, if you didn't steal them from your father The web is a key reason for this - no price
has terabytes of it, and in contrast of the mags, there's no regulation of it [I don't want to debate if or how it should be regulated, I'm just stating this fact].
I'm surpised he could actually hide it from his parents for that long. I almost cringe when the kid said he fantisized at all the girls he [not even a teenager] saw and wondered how well they were



What's your opinion/thoughts on this ?

At school lunch tables, teens share secrets on how to get around the filters their parents have installed and swap their favorite sites.

God, I actually remember doing this when I was in junior high....Delete temporary internet files, history, and cookies ! [Back in my day, We didn't have firefox with all the extensions - we actually had to click on each and every picture and click save on them ! ]

[skinnymofo]

my opinion is that big deal. once the kid gets laid for the first time porn will lose most of its appeal because he will have the train of thought "why should i be stuck in this room sneaking playing with myself when someone else can with with myself for me"
atleast thats what my train of thought became, but i never looked at it for 8hrs at a time. just 20minutes or so
i suspect its the whole danger aspect of getting caught that intrigues this kid.

[Furry]

Mmm, worrying.

Good thing this LAN link is filtered on about 10 different levels... I'm safe.

*Goes back to his Anime stock*

This is probably still going to be an issue when I'm a parent. I wonder how much things will have changed then?

[Slavakion]

Kids have been sneaking porn ever since lewd woodcuts were invented. Nothing to get worried about.

[guthmund]

I think if you're going to allow the internet, cable television and video games to raise your children, you have no right to bitch and bemoan when said children develop social and psychological disorders.

Case in point....

just as he did every day from 3:30 until he went to bed around 11. Daniel said he was hooked.

Over 7 hours on the computer and nary a parent in sight that questions why a 15 year old boy is spending all that time on the computer. Nobody has that much 'research' to do, do they? How fucking clueless do his parents have to be?

"Do you want someone who is like that baby-sitting your children or sitting next to your daughter in school?" she asked.

They already do.

Daniel said he began to feel very uncomfortable around girls at school.

"I still think about looking at porn every day,"

Welcome to adulthood, Danny. Here's your key to the washroom and the secret handshake.

It's no doubt that pornography has a much broader reach than it did in my day when all the dirty magazines were behind plain brown paper by the counter, but to call this an addiction...Well, it's just silly. It's just another attempt to demonize sex and all that goes with it. Call it an 'addiction,' talk about the cost (*gasp...money) and scare the crap out parents. Use fear filled language implying that these perverts could....be...right....next door. (i.e. the babysitting reference). Fill it full of official sounding shit like 'pornography affects boys more than girls.' The entire article is hyping an epidemic that doesn't exist in an attempt to get us to feel ashamed for our sexuality. Another swipe at making us feel dirty about masturbating and fantasizing about the big breasted girl next door needing help with her homework...she's willing to do anything, anything if you help her.....where was I?

Kids are kids. In today's society where the vast majority of parents are perfectly happy to let Cinemax, Playboy, and BigAsses.com explain the facts of life to their children, is it any wonder that the current crop are overly curious and fixate on sex?

You want to solve this problem, fix the parents as they appear to be broken.

[rainheart]

Haha out of that entire article this must have been the quote which was most stupid:

"Do you want someone who is like that baby-sitting your children or sitting next to your daughter in school?" she asked.

OH NO, The baby sitter's going to RAPE YOUR KIDS because he/she has been viewing PORN.

Social scientists have been unable to establish any cause-and-effect relationship between the simple viewing of pornography and negative attitudes about women or violence against women, said Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology at Stony Brook, State University of New York.

"But that doesn't mean we should stop trying to find that link because we know that obviously the things we see do have some impact on us," he said, pointing to numerous studies that link viewing violence with committing it.

I don't exactly enjoy that idea either, I mean you can create a correlation with almost anything if you try hard enough, and it'll seem to make sense but never actually be true.

[chickentribs]

What a joke. I love online articles spouting the dangers of the internet. "If your child is reading this it is already too late!" Irresponsible journalism + money hungry psychologist with a book to sell = CRAP. The quotes from the boys were so obviously fed to them it was shameless.

"It was kind of like being an alcoholic, and you can't get enough drinks, and you want to keep drinking. I couldn't get enough of it, and I wanted to keep doing it, and it got worse, and I needed to see better stuff," said Daniel.

Hey mom and dad, you may want to help Danny out with the hooch problem he has developed before taking away his masterbation. One brick at a time, folks...

Samad tells parents to use their intuition.

"If you have a feeling something's changed with your son or daughter, pursue it," he said.

Sage advice, Doc - is that chapter 2 of your book?

Somebody should investigate why this clown decided to make a career out of watching porn with young boys and asking them what turns them on. Interesting way to get to stop thinking about all the T & A.

[Slavakion]

This kind of FUD reminds me of that joke article where Quake was an online chatroom where hackers met to trade viruses and drugs.

[braisler]

Guthmund hit the nail on the head with this one.

Originally Posted by guthmund

to call this an addiction...Well, it's just silly. It's just another attempt to demonize sex and all that goes with it. Call it an 'addiction,' talk about the cost (*gasp...money) and scare the crap out parents. Use fear filled language implying that these perverts could....be...right....next door. (i.e. the babysitting reference). Fill it full of official sounding shit like 'pornography affects boys more than girls.' The entire article is hyping an epidemic that doesn't exist in an attempt to get us to feel ashamed for our sexuality. Another swipe at making us feel dirty about masturbating and fantasizing about the big breasted girl next door

While the child may have an addictive personality, equating porn to snorting cocaine is just stupid. The problem as I see it is that the kids don't have the perspective to see the implications and impact of their behavior. They are a product of society that leaves them blameless for their actions while espousing the joys of spontaneous gratification. These kids need to be taught that their escapist behavior of using porn exclusively for sexual gratification is keeping them from forming meaningful relationships with their classmates and peers that will eventually lead to opportunities for real-life sexual gratification. But that kind of parenting takes a lot of time and input and frank discussions about sexuality. Not likely to happen when the parents are so self-concerned that they don't check on why their son is spending 7+ hours per day on the computer.

That kid that clicked on a Web Cam site and generated $400 phone bills etc. First of all, the parents are IDIOTS if they didn't reverse those charges and make the porn "company" eat the difference. Second, Johnny needs to get a job mowing yards every afternoon for $10 a pop until the $400 is paid back. But I would bet my $400 that is not what happened. "You are banned from using the computer, son." Wait one week..."Well, except for school projects. And except for email. And except for..." Wait one month... "What is this $1100 charge to FatGrannies.com!?!?" Yeah, that is probably more like it.

[Rlyss]

It looks like I'm the only one who sees some truth in this article.

I don't think it's as simple as that at all Slavakion. The difference is that getting porn back in those days was difficult (compared to now). If you didn't have to trawl through the attic to find your dad's Playboys then you had to wait until somebody else did and passed them around at school. There was a finite amount of porn, so even if you got addicted to it as the article is saying, if there's none around then you can't do too much about it. Obviously some kids probably had rich friends who seemed to have a never-ending supply, but it doesn't even begin to compare with the amount that's on the internet now, and how easy it is to get. The article even has the paragraph heading "Finding online porn without even trying".

I think what the article is getting at is that in the old days (whenever they were) porn was around and kids were curious, but that it was so much more difficult to get addicted, as the kid in the article certainly is. Sure he's an extreme example but it's really not too far fetched and I don't think many kids are that far behind him.

I also don't see how people can claim that isn't addiction. We can become addicted to drugs and gambling but not pornography? It looks like there are more and more studies showing the chemical changes occuring in the brain, and people admitting that they can't get off on what used to satisfy them. Aren't they signs of addiction? " Brooks defines addiction as "a compulsive inability to not do it and the need to continually reach new levels of eroticism."

I've got no problem with porn at all, but sometimes I do get the feeling that parts of society are sick of sexuality's negative image (or of porn being shameful etc.), and the claims that it's natural and should be embraced and more acknowledged and talked about are getting louder. I wonder if that leads to things like this, where a kid who is seems to me to be addicted is defended (or the blame is shifted to his parents) because we want so badly for porn to be accepted. Of course, these are extremes, but so is this kid.

I don't think there is ever going to be a clear link between viewing porn and commiting rape, but the sentences ""I knew what they looked like without clothes on and wanted to have sex with them. I couldn't turn it off," he said." and "Georgette Constantinou, a pediatric psychologist at Akron Children's Hospital, said viewing pornography at that age "puts boys into a constant hyper-sexualized state" worried me. Of course all teenage boys are full of beans anyway, but the fact that viewing porn apparently doesn't quell those feelings and satisfy them makes me wonder how long it might take for pornography alone to become boring.

[MooseMan3000]

I see no problem with calling this kid's behavior an addiction. It has all the signs of it: He couldn't stop doing it, he thought about doing it all the time (note: he didn't think about sex, he thought specifically about looking at porn), his grades dropped significantly, he stopped seeing his friends... that's what an addiction is. They're not physical, they're psychological. You can be addicted to anything.


The article, however, is still a load of shit. The juiciest quotes have already been extracted, so I'll just expound upon them:

Originally Posted by This silly ass article

"Do you want someone who is like that baby-sitting your children or sitting next to your daughter in school?" she asked.

Get used to it. Just about everyone you've ever met has looked at porn at least once in her life. And with the readily available supply, that percentage will only go up. There is nothing wrong with this. People like sex. Liking sex is our biological purpose. If you can't come to terms with that, you're welcome to die and erase your genes from the pool.

Originally Posted by Some retarded social psychology professor who obviously has only taken a very basic introductory statistics class, and has no idea what they actually mean

Social scientists have been unable to establish any cause-and-effect relationship between the simple viewing of pornography and negative attitudes about women or violence against women, said Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology at Stony Brook, State University of New York.

"But that doesn't mean we should stop trying to find that link because we know that obviously the things we see do have some impact on us," he said, pointing to numerous studies that link viewing violence with committing it.

The "link" he refers to is obviously a correlation. For any not familiar with statistics, basically "When you have A, you have x probability of having B." What this guy obviously doesn't understand is that it works the other way around, too: "When you have B, you have x probability of having A." The correlation doesn't change.

Example: You find a high correlation between viewing pornography and having a negative attitude toward women. The obvious conclusion is that viewing pornography leads to having said negative attitude. However, an equally valid conclusion is that having a negative attitude toward women leads to viewing pornography. Neither explanation is better than the other based on this correlation.

Side note: For those of you who do understand statistics, don't bother correcting me. I know what I said is not exactly right. I couldn't think of an easier way to explain it in less than 3 sentences. You got the idea, right? Good.

[chickentribs]

Originally Posted by MooseMan3000

Side note: For those of you who do understand statistics, don't bother correcting me. I know what I said is not exactly right. I couldn't think of an easier way to explain it in less than 3 sentences. You got the idea, right? Good.

Except that your conclusion is wrong. Correlation doesn't prove a thing other than a similar influencing factor. Ice cream and Ice cubes both sell better in the summer. You can't predict any relationship consistently between cream and cubes. To use your example, if there is only a proven correlation between porn and attitudes towards women that only shows something influences them both, like a low-income neighborhood. If the porn goes away, the poverty still perpetuates the attitudes. if all the women leave the neighborhood, the porn shops stay. No effect on each other at all from your example. Just wanted to be clear because it is a common ploy that politicians and corporations use to when they want to sell the new brand of fear.

Just like allowing Doctors to use the word 'Addiction' as a marketing gimmick to sell more books. If you watch too much porn or gamble too much you have a behavioral disorder, not an addiction! It is an important difference and people shouldnt think that it requires the facilities of a drug rehab center. He is demonizing sexuality to line his pockets with more money - and probably doing some real damage.

I would throw money on the table right now that says his two little boys in the study don't even exist. No statistics, outright admits that there is no proven data linking porn and violence but then warns against it, oh - and the mothers of both the boys, the ONLY "case studies" he has, have requested that names not be used. Anyone who has ever gotten even $20 to take a pill at a university knows that you sign a release. VERIFIABLE INFORMATION.

Sorry - my pet peeve.

[flamingdog]

That whole article is a scaremongering joke. Its bias is written all over it.

[guthmund]

It's not that it isn't an addiction. These kids actions say otherwise.

It's an addiction, it should be treated as such. It can be broken or, at the very least, dealt with. We have alcoholics, prescription drug abusers, and people addicted to smoking (just to name a few of the more prominent addictions), but we've yet to declare alcohol, prescription drugs, or tobacco to be the scourge of the nation and the downfall of our youth, which is what this article is sort of implying by trying to incriminate pornography.

Coincidentally, it's the very same argument I hear coming out of the mouths of anti-pornography groups. Porn is bad, it's addicting, corrupts children, and although we've found no hard evidence, there's a good chance it's turning your children into little perverts that will ravage society with their sexual deviances later on.

If it's an addiction, and I believe that it can be, then treat it like one. We limit purchase of alcohol and tobacco by age, we limit the availability of prescription drugs with doctors, is it too much to put the responsibility of limiting the access to pornography on the parents?

Is that really too much? If you don't want your kids watching Cinemax, don't order it. If you don't want your kids reading Playboy, don't hide them under your mattress. If you don't want your kids racking up $1200 worth of charges at porn sites, get up off your ass, show a little initiative and get involved. God forbid, they parent their own children.

I like porn. Don't take it away or attempt to villify me because you can't be bothered to pay attention to your own kids.

[Xell101]

That child doesn't represent other children. This article is charged hoopla.

[Fourtyrulz]

Daniel admitted he watched a video clip of a woman being murdered during sex.

What the fuck kind of porn sites is this dude surfing?

[rainheart]

Originally Posted by Fourtyrulz

What the fuck kind of porn sites is this dude surfing?

Hah even I've never found that kind of thing, and I've seen some very crazy stuff on the internet.

[htemaj]

Originally Posted by Fourtyrulz

What the fuck kind of porn sites is this dude surfing?

yep, what the fuck at that line

[Strange Famous]

Maybe if a more healthy attitude to sex was prevalent in the country, teenagers wouldnt feel this guilt/obsession complex with regards to sexual imagery.

[d*d]

I knew what they looked like without clothes on and wanted to have sex with them. I couldn't turn it off,

feeling you there bro,

This is a an over reaction using an extreme example to point out that porn is more readily available through the internet (which without the porn industry, would still be pretty much in it's infancy) all it highlights the sexual repression in society which turns sex and erotisicm into a guilty pleasure. Who is it that decides what kids can and cannot handle physcologicaly, are boys not supposed to see a naked woman until age 16 when they can 'handle it'

[MooseMan3000]

Originally Posted by chickentribs

Except that your conclusion is wrong.

I know that... that was the point. What I was saying is that correlation doesn't imply causation. Sheesh.

[Nimetic]

I agree strongly with Rlyss.

This is different to how porn was in the past. Different does not necessarily imply bad. However, it is reasonable to wonder whether this massive change in the nature (type of images available) and accessibility of porn might affect young people and society.

In my opinion now - the changes have already started. Call me a wowser (ie easily disturbed), but in my experience, adults/workmates are now occasionally but openly sharing images of women with animals. At work via email.

Surely - if kids are getting the same or similar files in their emails then it is not comparable to the occasional pics of a naked women that I saw handed around the schoolyard as a boy.

At the same time, female "role models" are changing. Look at Paris Hilton, Britney, Pamela, Ms Jackson. Or don't look at them. I wonder how their images and accidental movies of these celebrity products slot into the minds of young girls, and how this behaviour fits with the images of women in hardcore porn.

[ChistledStone]

The world is changing. Not always for the better, but not always for the worse.

I can't predict the future, I can't tell you what the weather is going to be tomorrow, but I can tell you that no matter what, there are always extreme cases of everything.

These are what 'Current Affair' shows (e.g. 60 Minutes yada yada yada) prey on. Using bias and "Big" creditals, and "real" statistics, they shape your opinion on the world.

People, realize that there is more then one way to look at things.

Some of those kids were twisted, but it wasn't porns fault. I mean, if we didn't have porn, would it really affect society that much?

And now I bid you fairwell, as I have forgotten what I am arguing.

[BigBen]

I will never forget the first time I saw a skin mag.

I was at my uncles farm, sitting in the rocking chair in the living room, and saw a national geographic. I picked it up and was about to read a story on how the environment was fucked and we would all be dead in 20 years (this was 20 years ago) and HEEEEELLLLLOOOOO!! There was a Playboy underneath. I knew what the magazine was, and there was noone around. I looked closely and remembered the exact position of the book so that I could put it back where I found it.

I picked it up. The woman on the cover was looking at me. My palms started to sweat, and there was a lump in my throat like I had swallowed a pound of cotton real fast.

I opened the magazine, and it naturally went to the centerfold... It was as if God had turned the pages.

There was a naked woman in soft light. She was smiling and wearing really nice lingerie. I was in love. I soaked in the 9-year-old-male impromptu anatomy class as fast as I could, and put the magazine back. I will never forget that feeling. I was a bad boy for looking at a man's magazine, but somehow I felt like I was more of a man for seeing it. I had just fulfilled a right of passage. That was something that every guy does... eventually.

I was also the coolest kid in school once I told my buddies what I did that weekend.

What would I have been like if I had access to internet porn? Shit, I would have given myself a severe rash and needed medical treatment. Not from this psychologist quack though.

Here is a surprise... young boys are obsessed with sex. Hey, while you are doing research, why don't I save you some time and tell you the truth... ALL MALES ARE OBSESSED WITH SEX, YOU FUCKING DUMBASS.

[eeef2]

Originally Posted by BigBen931

Here is a surprise... young boys are obsessed with sex. Hey, while you are doing research, why don't I save you some time and tell you the truth... ALL MALES ARE OBSESSED WITH SEX, YOU FUCKING DUMBASS.

I concur. I remember those days. Wait...these days
The kid was a selfish ass for spending $1200

[hrandani]

I am confused as to how he managed to charge money to his internet account ??

Or he stole a credit card . but I can't see them ommitting that.

[raeanna74]

I remember finding my Grandpa's stash of magazines when I was about 15. I was intrigued and looked at them for hours when I could. It didn't harm me then.

The problem is see with this "issue" is that he was hiding things from his parents and his parents had no clue till they outright caught him. Kids on computers need to be monitored quite closely. It's too easy to get into trouble over the internet for an ADULT let alone for a naive kid. Blockers are really quite useless I've found.

1. Watch the kid.
2. Limit time spent on the computer. The recommended time that kids spend on the computer daily is no more than 1 hour.
3. Check up on them. If the cookies and history are clear be warned and insist that things not be cleared.

There's lots a parent can and should do. If you do find out that the kid has been curious (not the addicted kind though) then don't freak out. Kids are drawn to the things that are denied them.

[d*d]

it's this blame culture we have which abdicates all blame from the parents, if the kid cut himself with a knive they left on the kitchen counter they'd blame the knive manufacturer.

[mikec]

problem is, most kids know more about computers than their parents do. another problem is that most parents are fucking clueless to what their kids are doing.

people should require a license to make babies.

and it should be tons easier to filter pr0n0 out - for the parents who just aren't computer saavy. I've found most parental filtering software to be ineffective at keeping the bad stuff away from kid's eyes.

[raeanna74]

If a parent is getting a computer for a kid to use they really should educate themselves in how to use it. When my parents first got our first computer my mom took a class on how to use it. She has since taken 2 more classes on using the computer and the internet. She wanted to know what her kids were getting into. The classes only took an hour 2 nights a week in a local school. Most were enrichment or continuing education type classes. If anything this is only gonna help the parents resume and help them protect their kids. Why wouldn't a parent want to take something like that.

Plus if time spent on there is limited then the kids aren't gonna get addicted quite so quickly.

[Martel]

Addicted to porn? Please.

You know what? Every single boy in school at a certain age is looking at all the girls, wondering what they look like with no clothes on, or what they would sound like in bed. Nothing new here, folks. This doesn't make them rapists.

[Nimetic]

Chiselled stone said:

The world is changing. Not always for the better, but not always for the worse.

This is true. Lets forget good vs bad for a sec (or a sub-thread) eh, it clouds our minds.

Lets look at the more typical case and wonder. This is very interesting I think. I'm curious... We have a hypothetical young teenage male, and a young teenage girl. <Hetrosexual only because that's all I really know...>

For the sake of argument, they both have a fairly average upbringing, as much as there can be such a thing.

At the same time I will assume that they both watch "pole dancing" amongst other video styles on MTV (they have different preferences in music). Both have seen porn the internet. Maybe the guy has looked at a little more porn than the girl, maybe a fair bit more. Does that seem probable?

How does this affect their interaction with each other. At a high school party for example. In class. In a first (weekend job) say? What are their opinions of each other?

Does the fact that the guy has access to video entertainment matter? Does it take more to excite him? Does the girl need to wear less to catch his eye? Is she wearing less? What is the current fasion anyways? If she's wearing less, is it a fashion thing, because of guys expectations or because of images she sees. What about the guy - is he acting any different in order to start a relationship. Grooming more? Waxing? Lifting weights? Contemplating enhancement surgery?

How do they regard each other these kids?

And is there any serious studies out there. Studies.... not analysis. Obviously the tabloid stuff is just bullshit really.

[pattycakes]

shit, i am addicted to web porn,

i know most kids are.

but who cares, its in our nature to want to start having sex as soon as we hit puberty. you may not agree, but if we didnt treat kids like kids when they hit puberty then they wpould have sex ....ALOT of it

[Menoman]

See, the problem isn't what you posted, you won't find the problem anywhere in that article, nor 10000 other articles.

The problem is MUCH SMALLER than the media (scare tacticians) would let you believe.

The problem IS, that there are a select FEW people in the world, that have some sort of mental deficiency, and let certain things effect them in certain ways. A hundred thousand kids a day look at internet porn (At the lowest insanely stupid guess possible)

How many do you think become addicted to the point they can't go outside because they need more more more?

The problem is parents like that douchebag, who was out cooking dinner, or watching TV, or going to a friends house, or whatever the fuck the bitch was doing, and not monitoring the kids computer activity.

If anything this is only gonna help the parents resume and help them protect their kids. Why wouldn't a parent want to take something like that.

Because they are lazy.

I think it's safe to say, and I would hope after all these years of internet, that if you have a porn blocker/a netnanny/whatever, kids will find a way around it.

That's why there is a history on the computer, there are cookies, there are programs that won't allow your kid to delete the history, there are programs that LIMIT the time spent on the computer.



All in all its the retarded parents fault for letting a 15 year old kid sit on the fucking computer from the time he gets home from school to the time he goes to sleep EVERY DAY.




So obviously the news is gonna make it out that Big Boy Bushy, and his FIGHT ON TERRO.... err I mean PORN! Is the worthwhile thing to do.

Go ahead and set us back 50 years on sexuality.

[shakran]

Originally Posted by guthmund

Over 7 hours on the computer and nary a parent in sight that questions why a 15 year old boy is spending all that time on the computer. Nobody has that much 'research' to do, do they? How fucking clueless do his parents have to be?

Yup, you nailed it here. This is a clear case of parents trying to blame pornography for the fact that they're idiots.

And this reporter lapped it up because, well, the kid's looking at NIPPLES so it MUST be the sex aspect. Besides, this provides a perfect double whammy of playing on people's fears. They're scared of kids getting on pornography, and they're scared on what kids do on the evil internet.

[Lucifer]

So the kid is looking at internet porn. Whoopee! 70 years ago, he would have been sneaking out to the woodshed with the SEARS catalogue1

[ObieX]

There's only so much porn a person can watch before it just doesnt work anymore. I, myself, have not yet reached that point.. but I'm trying !

[stevie667]

Originally Posted by ObieX

There's only so much porn a person can watch before it just doesnt work anymore. I, myself, have not yet reached that point.. but I'm trying !

Lol, agreement there. The number of times ive desensitised myself to porn is rediculous. Fortunatly, it only lasts about 5-10 minutes, and then everythings funky-dory again


As for that kid, he's a prat, how can you spend that much money for porn when it's so easy to find it for free? It's idiots like him that give porn a bad name...

[Demeter]

The kid does have a problem..but one that came before the porn, as obviously he spent a great deal of time on the computer to begin with. The spyware & virus that kids must have gleaned from all those sites would be phenomenal. I would assume he was an expert at running spyware & weeding out worms, or the PC would have died on him long ago.
The parents are totally at fault here for not supervising what their kid is/was doing.

And the whole babysitter comment infuriates me. I've looked at internet porn, does that mean I'm not a suitable parent? What a load of crap.

[JumpinJesus]

I detest the suburban fear families more than anything else in the world. These fucks are the reason I have to read on my stove a warning label telling me not to crawl inside while the heat is on. They are the reason I have to be told my coffee is hot. They are the reason that, before any kid can play any sport, they have to be wrapped up in guaze and padding like the Michelin Man. They are the reason I'm an ass if I don't wear a helmet on my bike. They're the reason I have to be given a big fucking sign informing me that a marble can be a choking hazard. They're the reason I have to prepay for my gas at the pump before I know how much it will cost. They're the reason I have to have CD art ruined with a black and white label telling me that there are dirty words in it. They're the reason I have to be told that big macs aren't good for me. They're the reason there are big fucking signs on vending machines telling me that if I tip over a 500 pound box, it could hurt me. They're the reason I have to be told that shampoo isn't supposed to be ingested. They're the reason the internet is one big fucking shopping mall instead of the wealth of information is was promised to be. They're the reason I'm writing this reply.

These useless hat boxes move to the suburbs, pump out 5 kids named after Disney characters, build fences around their yards, guard their shit from every conceivable intrusion possible, and are convinced that there is a boogey man around every corner. They want this world watered down so their stepford children are "safe". They want everything to be "safe" and perpetuate this stupidity on the rest of us.

If you're worried that your kid is looking at naked women on the internet, then watch your fucking kids. Better yet, don't allow them internet access on their computers and if they are using the internet on your computer, then watch what the hell they're doing.

/end rant.