Is internet porn ruining our next generation? Is censorship the answer?

This internet porn thing is reminiscent of the warnings we had and ignored about that evil swivel-hips Elvis character and his demon cohort Buddy Holly. They not only ruined the moral fabric of an entire generation of American youth they set the stage for the free-love hippy demon-morality generations to come totally destroying the very underpinnings of moral American society.As a consequence we ended up with a totally screwed up society just like all the others in generations past ... but with better music.

Maybe Jon is right. Nah.But, you do need to get out more. Three of the biggest most popular porn sites on the net are free and they contain, so I'm told ... by other people, so many "categories" as to keep a dedicated 10-year old enthralled until he gets out of high school. That continues, in spades, I'm sure. The most interesting thing to my eyes mind is the literally tens of thousands of young ladies and old ladies and young couples and old couples who upload their cell phone videos to these places unpaid, unexploited. The porn producers have got to be pissed that sooo much good stuff is being produced outside their business model.It's a human thing and there is no stopping it. So true.

Are you really this naive, Jon?

Does it? Does Porn Hurt Children?

quote:

---

It turns out that the research suggesting that teenagers and pornography are a hazardous mix is far from definitive. In fact, many of the most comprehensive reports on this subject come to conclusions that amount to we can’t say for sure shrugs.

---

But everyone just knows that porn leads to sex addiction and violence.

quote:

---

(Children’s Commissioner for England) In May, the commissioner released a report titled Basically ... porn is everywhere, which examined 276 research papers on teenagers and pornography.

​

After sifting through those papers, the report found a link between exposure to pornography and engagement in risky behavior, such as unprotected sex or sex at a young age. But little could be said about that link. Most important, causal relationships between pornography and risky behavior could not be established, the report concluded.

---

So the only link between porn and bad behavior is that so many kids engage in both. Kids also eat ice cream and kids often masturbate. Causal?

quote:

---

American scholars have come to nearly identical nonconclusions. By the end we looked at 40 to 50 studies, said Eric Owens, an assistant professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and co-author of The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents: A Review of the Research, published in Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. And it became, ‘O.K., this one tells us A, this one tells us B.’ To some degree we threw up our hands and said, there is no conclusion to be drawn here.

---

But everyone just knows that porn leads to sex addiction and violence.No one is saying there is no effect. But to what extent?

quote:

---

Among the most prolific and revered researchers to examine teenagers and pornography is a duo in the Netherlands, Jochen Peter and Patti M. Valkenburg.

​

when teens watch more porn they tend to be more dissatisfied with their sexual lives. This effect is not really a strong effect, though. And teens with more sexual experience didn’t show this effect at all.

---

So, is there a real problem between kids and porn?Yes, but apparently the real problem is not what we all seem to just know.

quote:

---

There are lots of teenagers who will tell you that they know the difference between pornography and sex in real life, in the same way, and for the same reasons, that they know World of Warcraft isn’t an actual world. But researchers like Professor Horvath say it’s a bad idea to hope that kids intuit what is fake or misleading about pornography.

​

One of our recommendations is that children should be taught about relationships and sex at a young age, Professor Horvath continued. If we start teaching kids about equality and respect when they are 5 or 6 years old, by the time they encounter porn in their teens, they will be able to pick out and see the lack of respect and emotion that porn gives us. They’ll be better equipped to deal with what they are being presented with.

---

If our next generation is being ruined is the cause porn or cell phones or music or TV or parenting or ...?

Could do a whole lot worse. Could end up like ... someone else.

There you have it. All that porn as a kid led you to chasing bugs with a camera.Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Then you misread my message, the article and, if you had wanted to follow the cites, the studies.

quote:

---

American scholars have come to nearly identical nonconclusions. By the end we looked at 40 to 50 studies, said Eric Owens, an assistant professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and co-author of The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents: A Review of the Research, published in Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. And it became, ‘O.K., this one tells us A, this one tells us B.’ To some degree we threw up our hands and said, there is no conclusion to be drawn here.

---

There is a reason I lifted this quote from Dr. Owens for my message. I saw you coming. You can list a dozen cites for A, someone else can counter with a dozen cites for B.What this means is that there is no settled consensus by the experts in the discipline. In other words, We ... don't ... know! We ... don't ... know! (presuppose much?)We ... don't ... know, is a terrible excuse to put limits on the First Amendment.

quote:

---

Message 52

​

You can list a dozen cites for A, someone else can counter with a dozen cites for B.

---

The point is lost on you. Since the topic is the effects of viewing internet porn by teens your clutching at exploitation of sex workers is just smoke and mirrors to obfuscate the science that is out there on that specific topic. Clutch all you want. The science remains inconclusive.

OK, not here. This is a family thread. We need to get back over to your Costa Rica thread and have a talk about those bug pictures you're NOT showing us.

Politicians playing emotion on a national stage? Is that your evidence?Note also that the British debate never mentioned the science, mentioned a lot about child porn and even more about rape-culture porn.That IS NOT what this thread is about. You do remember the OP you wrote, don't you, DL? Maybe you should go back and re-read it to remember what this thread is about. Does it mention, anywhere, about the dangers to a child in pornography? Does it mention, anywhere, about the trauma of rape-culture pornography? You do know that both of these are banned already in the USA?Does it mention, anywhere, about the the abuse of sex-trade workers?Your basic premise, since you need reminding, is that teens are being ruined by seeing adult porn on the internet. I have shown you where the experts, the smart people who study this stuff as a discipline, are of the firm convinced opinion that they really do not know!Again with the smoke and mirrors trying to hide the loss of your pet theme.Child porn, rape-culture porn, abuse of sex workers belongs in another thread. There is real harm there. Again, the science is inconclusive on the effect of adult internet porn on young teens. We cannot say that it is harmful (and to what extend, major or mild) or that it isn't.No smoke or mirrors necessary. No obfuscation required.You asked the question and now you have your answer. Answer to what? Is censorship the answer to a problem you can't show actually exists?Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.Edited by AZPaul3, : better explanations, I hope

What you have shown is that you assume a problem exists and that it is "ruining" (whatever that is) an entire generation of young. Porn vs teen is not a new controversy. The issue has been studied for decades. You cannot have shown a problem exists because no one, after decades of study, can show a problem exists despite increased availability on the internet. One of the things science has taught us over these past few centuries is that personal testimonials are notoriously bad as evidence. No matter how many there are they can only point to a possibility of an issue, they are not evidence of an issue.The plural of anecdote is not data. Once we establish what the facts on the ground are (and the facts in this case are: we don't know) then we can have this discussion on whether we should impose restrictions anyway. That becomes a political discussion and is a matter of opinion.You and I will disagree on this part of the discussion.I cannot agree to limiting First Amendment rights, imposing censorship on the entire population of a nation of such diverse cultures, without there being a compelling, nay, an overwhelming body of evidence that makes such a drastic curtailment of personal freedom justifiable and necessary.I find that to err on the side of caution, as you would suggest in this case, is insufficient reason to warrant such a drastic step into censorship and the curtailment of personal freedom.You will disagree and that's the way the world works. We will agree to disagree and can now go on to bigger and better things.Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

You have shown no such thing. Message 41 and Message 52After decades of study the evidence in the discipline turns up inconclusive. You have shown no such thing. Considerably higher than your no-show.