Citing Betteridge's law of headlines, I'm going to say no. Scientists are having a hard time proving that porn even has an impact, let alone that the impact is negative. What are they even looking for? That children will somehow start practicing BDSM after stumbling on porn? That their "precious minds" are tainted by the Real World?
I know you don't mean it, but the air of judgement in the way you've used BDSM there, shouldn't be. People who do practice BDSM are not somehow damaged, and would be the first to state that the "dominant" person is in fact not in that relationship.
Does Porn Hurt Children?
21–30 of 69 posts
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#22Does porn cause harm? That it does is indisputable. There are many cases where men report decreased sexual performance as a result of watching too much porn (that is a harm particularly if it interferes with close intimate relationships). If nothing else, that is a harm. Does it cause harm on the balance? That, however, is unknowable.
But the harms which are readily documented don't match the harms which are posited. The harms which are posited are also readily observed but a causal connection is impossible to draw. Our culture has for the better part of a century (since probably the 1920's or at least 1930's) slowly been decoupling sexuality, marriage, and reproduction. Pornography may be seen as a consequence of that separation, but it certainly cannot be seen as the primary cause given the timing. Whether it furthers and further entrenches a pattern of hedonistic sex may indeed not matter -- it is only one small piece of a much larger cultural pattern.
So in the end, I don't know if it causes the harms portrayed. What is clear is that a failure to deal with the context rather than the technology is a much larger problem.
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#23my suspicion is that governments don't really care that much about teenagers (maybe a little about children, but parents still care more). porn is just an addictive product like alcohol and tobacco and governments want to tax it (more), and they can't if it's so plentiful and easily accessible on the internet. maybe these are just first small steps towards restricting supply and imposing taxes.
Addiction to alcohol leads to cancers and withdrawals can lead to death. Psychologically, addiction can make folks violent or take unnecessary risks. Cigarettes cause cancers not only in you but in those around you. They smell to high hell too. Porn is not physically addictive and is not physically harmful. It's just as addictive as video games, television, or any other form of entertainment. If your argument against…
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's wrong with BDSM? You say it like "practicing BDSM" is a bad thing.
because BDSM hurts ? (I really don't know, I only guess that's why the OP used BDSM as an example)
I find it saddening that people should be ashamed of their fetishes and whatnot, like it's a taboo. Why couldn't we just express our sexuality openly and the way we want to without social stigma surrounding it?
If there's something I think which needs disruption in our Western societies, it is human sexuality. What's holding us back and with what arguments?
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#25"It turns out that the research suggesting that teenagers and pornography are a hazardous mix is far from definitive." [Devil's advocate] If you had children, would you need peer-reviewed literature to inform your decision to allow them access to pornhub? And similarly, if you were a politician elected by people with children?
I would certainly want peer-reviewed literature to make either decision. Granted, that's not always available, so sometimes you have to make default decisions without good evidence.
That sounds flippant, perhaps, but behold: I knew lots of kids growing up whose (usually extreme Southern Baptist) parents tried to prevent them getting hold of porn, but I didn't know even a single one whose parents succeeded at so doing; those who couldn't get it themselves, and who didn't have friends willing to share, at the very least had acquaintances willing to be paid or otherwise persuaded to serve as brokers.
This held true even during the year I spent in a Mississippi reform school which operated as an arm of a Roman Catholic monastery, and where getting caught with such outrageous contraband bought you a half-dozen wallops on the bare ass with a razor strap from a monk who was serious about it, the sort of thing that'd leave you sitting lightly for the better part of a week.
I'm not sure whether anyone actually believed this had any dissuasive effect on the older students' desire to possess pornography, but anyone who did so believe was destined to be disappointed; indeed, the only effect such punishments had was as a strong incentive to develop the skills of misdirection, concealment, and lying with a straight face. (Me, I'm a cynic, and I half suspect that that was the whole point. If so, whoever designed the curriculum deserves some sort of award for unparalleled effectiveness in pedagogy.)
The point is, even in an environment which was by design totally inimical to it, everyone who wanted it had as much porn as he could keep hidden. (Which, in a couple of memorable cases, was a three-ring binder full.) In a more permissive environment, where hiding one's stash was a simple matter of keeping it out of sight -- rather than, say, getting hold of a contraband razor blade and waiting until after lights-out to carefully slit a mattress seam where it didn't show -- the question didn't even arise, even for those of us not so fortunate as to have what was then the rare prize of unmonitored access to the Internet. Now? You'd have to not only homeschool your kids, but keep them locked up in the basement all the rest of the time, and even then I wouldn't lay odds against their finding some way to get hold of porn -- after all, in extremis, all it really takes is a hormonally overheated imagination and a pencil, and the pencil is optional.
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#26Only if it falls on them. Stack your DVDs and magazines carefully, folks. More substantively: When divided into "pro-impact" and "no-impact" groups for the "improvised debate" mentioned in the article, the former camp is described as having essentially parroted all the various arguments their elders make for pornography being bad for teenagers, while the latter camp had no such arguments for the position they were as…
This stood out for me as a very weak part of the article.
Cite studies and meta-studies that substantiate some relatively minor impact of porn on personal development and then turn around, toss the scientific way of thinking and take some random sample of teenagers in a non-controlled environment as the ultimate measurement.
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#27Citing Betteridge's law of headlines, I'm going to say no. Scientists are having a hard time proving that porn even has an impact, let alone that the impact is negative. What are they even looking for? That children will somehow start practicing BDSM after stumbling on porn? That their "precious minds" are tainted by the Real World?
I know you don't mean it, but the air of judgement in the way you've used BDSM there, shouldn't be. People who do practice BDSM are not somehow damaged, and would be the first to state that the "dominant" person is in fact not in that relationship.
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#28"It turns out that the research suggesting that teenagers and pornography are a hazardous mix is far from definitive." [Devil's advocate] If you had children, would you need peer-reviewed literature to inform your decision to allow them access to pornhub? And similarly, if you were a politician elected by people with children?
No. My (currently hypothetical) children will grow up with as few barriers to consuming unsavoury weirdness as I did. I'll be doing it deliberately though.
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#29my suspicion is that governments don't really care that much about teenagers (maybe a little about children, but parents still care more). porn is just an addictive product like alcohol and tobacco and governments want to tax it (more), and they can't if it's so plentiful and easily accessible on the internet. maybe these are just first small steps towards restricting supply and imposing taxes.
Addiction to alcohol leads to cancers and withdrawals can lead to death. Psychologically, addiction can make folks violent or take unnecessary risks. Cigarettes cause cancers not only in you but in those around you. They smell to high hell too. Porn is not physically addictive and is not physically harmful. It's just as addictive as video games, television, or any other form of entertainment. If your argument against…
Such a knee-jerk reaction, you are seeing an argument where none was being made.
There's a quite active community in Reddit(r/nofap, 100k subscribers) who try to abstain from porn and masturbating altogether, reading their stories is very much alike to the stories one would read from for example ex-alcoholics. It's very fascinating stuff, I think. From what I can tell based on personal experiences and reading the said subreddit, porn for many is a form of escapism and a tool to relieve anxiety. The true causes are elsewhere, but excessive porn consumption causes further problems, especially in how many excessive consumers view and perceive women(including possible significant other) and their own sexuality. Some argue for higher productivity, better mood and self-confidence for breaking the habit. YMMV, I don't think there have been large-scale scientific studies on this subject, so it's all anecdotes. Don't believe me but check for yourself. I still argue there could be something to this in some scale.
I definitely am against blocking porn or controlling it's usage, but I'd prefer people to be more mindful about their habits surrounding the use. Same goes for video games, gambling, television and whatnot.
Re: Does Porn Hurt Children?
#30Minor nit wrt. the first paragraph: the UK's mandatory "family-friendly filters" only apply to consumer internet accounts. It's possible to get a BT Infinity business account without any company letterhead or ID -- it just costs a bit more (and a provides a better quality of service, with no net nanny in the way because your IT department is supposed to do that for you). And there are ISPs (Andrews and Arnold -- http…
But there are people who think that porn does change behaviour. They might. Have a point - hairlessness seems to have come from porn.
While it's weird that breasts are displayed in a national newspaper (not because they're breasts, but because that paper is so judgemental about s lot of things. See also Daily Mail "all grown up" while shreKing about paedophiles) unclothed breats are not the "problem" that filters should be addressing.
1) it easy to find extreme, graphic, porn for free.
2) some parents find it difficult to filter that porn.
3) we don't want health or sexuality etc information to be filtered.
These are hard problems to solve and it is immensely frustrating that Government ignores all the expert advice they get about the difficulties. I tend to welcome a "can do" attitude ("you're Google! You can do this!") it should be realistic.
I have a child and I honestly have no idea how I am going to talk to them about porn.