1

MeredithAllen,EduardoRojas,BradyKalt
KevinEdminster,NathanRiddle,BrightonStoll
English1010
WadeBentley
August,2015
SocietiesDarkestSecret

Pornographymaterialthatdepictseroticbehaviorandisintendedtocausesexual
excitement(
MerriamWebster,1)
.Roughly75%ofmalesand50%offemales,inauniversity
setting,dontconcernthemselveswiththeexcessiveuseofthispractice.Asamatteroffact,they
dontevenviewitasmorallyunacceptable(Wagley,1).Littledotheyknow,itspowerful
influencehasbeentearingoursocietyapart.Families,homesandliveshavebeendestroyed.
OnemanfromUtahsaid
hecontemplatedleavinghiswifeandinfantsonbecausehecouldnot
seemtocontrolhisurges,(Lee,2).
Mentalandfinancialstabilityhasbeenthreatened,inmultiple
cases.Itstimetomakeachange.Againstanindustrythatbringsinapproximately13Billion
dollarsayear,asreportedin2006(CovenantEyes,2),thebattlewillnotbeeasy.However,
viewingporncandevelopanaddictionanditsalreadytakenfartoomanypeoplecaptive.
Statistically,about87%ofyoungmalesand31%ofyoungfemalespartakein
pornographicviewership(Wagley,1).Manyyoungadultsfinditsatisfying.However,itisalso
usedasanoutletforshameoranxiety,aswellasothernegativeemotions.Thisisanultimate
signofaddiction.ManycitizensacrossAmericaareviewingpornographyinshame,behind
closeddoors.Weareheretoexposethismatter.

Justtoseehowprominentitwasinourownsocietywemetwithalocalprofessional
regardinghisworkwithpeoplebeingaddictedtopornography.Weapproachedhimwiththe
questionWhatisthelargesteffectyouhaveseeninpeopleaddictedtopornography?he
responded,Theygainanunrealisticexpectationofwhatbeautyis,andthisleadsthemtostop
pursuinganysortofrelationship.Oftentimesiftheyareinarelationshipandthisaddiction
starts,itwillleadtodisappointmentandevenbreakups.("PornLocally."Personalinterview.2
Aug.2015.)
Whyispornsuchadetrimenttooursociety?Well,letstakealookatsomeconcerning
statistics.Researchers,analyzingfiftyofthemostpopularpornographicfilms,foundthat88%
containedphysicalviolenceand49%containedverbalaggression(FightTheNewDrug,3).Not
onlydothesefilmsencourageviolentsexualbehavior,theycanalsobecorrelatedwithrape,
abductionandevenmurder.WellknownconvictedserialkillerslikeTedBundyandJeffrey
Dahmeradmittousingpornaspartoftheirroutine.TedBundyevenquotesthatpornhada
crystallizingeffectonhisviolenttendencies.UtahconvictedserialkillerArthurGaryBishop
claimsthatpornseffectsonhimweredevastating.(Warner,6)Becausepornographyhas
theoreticallydesensitizedviewers,violentcrimesseemmoreacceptable.
Evenifanactivepornographicuserisabovetheinfluenceofviolence,therearestill
harmfulrepercussionsofthisaddiction.Excessivepornographicusehasbeenproventobe
involvedwithapproximately56%ofalldivorces,foundinstudiesbysociologistJillManning
(CovenantEyes,4).Imagine,justonesimpleaddiction,causingthatmuchtrialandheartache
withinafamily.Itdoesntseemworthittous.However,theaddictedcanonlyseethrough
tunnelvision.Butdontthesemenandwomenwanttoprotectourchildren?Weknowwedo.

Nineoutoftenmales,andsixoutoftenfemaleswillbeexposedtopornbeforetheage
ofeighteen(CovenantEyes,2).KSLlocalnewsreported,
Childrenareviewingandgetting
addictedtopornographyonsmartphonesandotherdevices,sometimesasyoungas7yearsold.
(Richards,1).
Theseyoungmindsarebeingmutilatedbywhatappearstobeasocially
acceptableactivity.Atthispoint,itisalmostimpossibletoavoid.Kidsofallagesaresurfingthe
internet,communicatingthroughsocialnetworkingandaccessingexplicitcontent,daily.
Throughtheclickofabutton,yourchildsscreencouldbefloodedwithfreepornographic
content.
Therehasneverbeenamoreimportanttimetospeakoutonthismatter.Recent
availabilityhassentpornographictrafficthroughtheroof.Whatwasonceapriceyand
inconvenientaddiction,evolvedintooneofthemostaccessibledrugsintheUnitedStates.
Today,absolutelyanyonewhohasinternetaccesscouldbecapableofviewingpornography.
Wewanttotellourselvesthatwetaughtourchildrenbetterthanthis.However,the
influenceofthemediaisdominatingus.Inrecentfilmssuchasthepopular
FiftyShadesofGrey
,
pornographicrelationsareportrayedasdesirable.Themediaisconstantlyobjectifyingwomen,
depreciatingsexualintercouse,andpromotingpornography.Yet,somehow,itiscontinuously
displayedasaharmlesspractice.

Thepornographyindustryhasbeendeemedunstoppable.Pornographywebsitesgetmore
visitorseachmonththanNetflix,Twitter,andAmazoncombined(Klienman,3).Itsbeen
runningforyears,withvirtuallynooutsideregulationsorcontrol.Lawmakersarewalkingona
thinlineoflegalandillegalpracticeswhendealingwithpornographicproduction.Obviously,
prostitutionisillegal,however,consensualuseofonesbodyisrightful.Thisleaveslawmakers

staringthroughaglasswallwhileproductioncompaniesareproducinganddistributingfreely.
Wecannotsaythatpornographyisdirectlycorrelatedwithillegalpractices.However,pornhas
beenconsideredoneoftheprimarygatewaysinsellingwomenforcommercialsex,accordingto
SharedHopeInternational
sreportregardingsextrafficking(CovenantEyes,2).Inaddition,
80%ofprostitutionsurvivorsreportedattheWHISPEROralhistoryproject,thatpornography
wasoftenusedtodemonstratethesexualactstheywererequiredtoperform(Russel,5).
Althoughwecannotcompletelyabolishpornography,weneedtodevelopasolutionto
thisincreasingaddiction.Flippingbackthroughhistory,wecanseethatlawsandregulations
arentalwaysthemosteffectivesolution.In1973,inMillerv.California,pornographywasnot
consideredobsceneandthereforecantbepunishablebylaw(Head,14).
Currently,therearesomecampaignsattemptingtoraiseawarenessonthedangersof
pornography.Wecameacrossafewdifferentwebsitesthroughoutourresearch.In2009,agroup
ofcollegestudentsdeveloped
FighttheNewDrug
,a501nonprofitorganization.Travelingto
schoolsanduniversities,thegroupusesscientificevidencetoeducatestudentsandraise
awarenessonthisfrighteningnewaddiction(FighttheNewDrug).Thecampaign
StopPorn
Culture
,wasformedafteryearsoffeministsfightingagainstpornography.Thegroup
participatesinactivistworkandofferseducationalprograms,aswell(SPC,1),.These
campaignshavetheabilitytobeextremelyeffectiveinraisingawarenessforthecause.Itis
importanttoadvertisetheincreasingpornaddictiontothegeneralpublic.However,weare
desperateforamoreimmediateandcommandingsolution.
Ideally,thereareprogramstohelpourpreviouslyaddictedpeers.AddictionRecovery
Programsarereadilyavailableforthoseseekinghelp.Locally,therearemultipleplacesanaddict

canseekassistance.LifeStaroffersanintensiveoutpatientprogram.UtahValleyCounselingalso
hasaneffectivecounselingprogram.HopeandRecoveryevenofferstheirservicesonline.Of
coursetherearemanyaddictsindenialoftheirproblem.Wecanonlyhopethatoneday
someonewillheartheircryforhelp.Untilthen,wemustconcernourselveswiththefuture:the
children.
SexualEducationhasbeenaroundfordecades.Reformingourcriteriatoinclude
necessaryinformationonthedangersofpornographycouldhelpmakeourchildrenawareofthe
effectsthisharmfuladdiction.Itwouldneedtoallowparentalconsentbeforethecoursewas
taught,likeanysexualeducationtopic.Clearly,itistimetoaccesstheworldthesechildrenare
growingupin.Itisimportanttounderstandthatchildrenbeingborninthisdecadearegoingto
beexposedtomediasoonerthananygenerationyet.Allowingteacherstoeducateourchildren,
betweentheagesoffourteenandeighteen,willhelpraiseawarenessofthistoxicaddiction
beforeitcanevenbegin.
Asforthecurrentunderageusers,thesolutionmustcomestraightfromthesource.Itis
crucialthatonlinepornographicdistributorsdevelopsomeformofsecuritytopreventaccessof
minors,undertheageofeighteen.Anetworkfiltercouldbedevelopedrequiringtheusertoenter
somesortofdisclosure,possiblyavalidIDnumber,beforeenteringthesite.Thiswouldbeable
tocalculatetheageoftheuser,aswellastracktheirgeneralinformation.Atfirstthisideamay
seemunreasonable.Peoplecouldportraythisasaninvasionoftheirprivacyrights.However,
adultsshouldbewillingtoprovidethisinformationinordertoprotectunderageusers.This
wouldbeanextremelyeffectivewaytokeepchildrenoffexplicitsites.

Pornographyhasbeennonchalantlyslippedundertherugfortoolong.Itisbecomingan
aggressiveissuethatneedsimmediateattention.Inordertoofferhelptocurrentaddicts,weneed
tomaketheissueknown.Itisextremelyhardtoseekhelpforanaddictionthatispartially
viewedassociallyacceptable.Weneedtoshowsocietyhowunacceptablethisbehaviortrulyis.
Althoughitisportrayedasharmlessbythemedia,ithasbeenrepeatedlyproventostimulate
violenceandaggression.Mathematically,nearly500,000marriageshaveendedyearlydueto
issuesrelatedtopornography(4).Itisimpossibletomaintainahappyandhealthyhomewhen
thisaddictionisdevelopingbehindcloseddoors.Itisimportanttoeducateourchildren,in
schoolsandinhomes,aboutthedangersofpartakinginthispoisonousactivity.Distributorsneed
tosecuretheirsitesfromchildren.Weveallowedthistocontinueforfartoolong.Weoweitto
ourselves,andtoourchildren,tomakeachange.

WorksCited

"FighttheNewDrug."
FighttheNewDrug.
N.p.,n.d.Web.04Aug.2015.<
http://www.fightthenewdrug.org/
>.

GuestAuthor"TheConnectionsBetweenPornographyandSexTrafficking."
CovenantEyes
.N.p.,07Sept.2011.
Web.04Aug.2015.
<
http://www.covenanteyes.com/2011/09/07/theconnectionsbetweenpornographyandsextrafficking/
>.

Head,Tom."HistoryofPornographyAShortTimeline."
HistoryofPornography
.AboutNews,n.d.Web.04Aug.
2015.
<
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/freespeech/tp/HistoryPornographyTimeline.htm
>.

Klienman,Alexis."PornSitesGetMoreVisitorsEachMonthThanNetflix,Amazon."
TheHuffingtonPost
.The
HuffingtonPost,05Apr.2015.Web.04Aug.2015.

Lee,Jasen."AntipornographyConferenceProvidesSolutionsforAddicts,."
KSLNews
.KSL.com,18Apr.
2015.Web.04Aug.2015.<
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=34293612
>.

"PornographyDefinition."
MerriamWebster
.MerriamWebster,22June2015.Web.04Aug.2015.
[2]
Wagley,RachelL."PornographicEthics|Opinion|TheHarvardCrimson."
TheHarvardCrimson
.
HarvardUniversity,28Mar.2011.Web.04Aug.2015.

"PornLeadstoViolence."
FightTheNewDrug.
FightTheNewDrug,04Aug.2014.Web.04Aug.2015.
<http://fightthenewdrug.org/pornleadstoviolence/>.

Richards,Mary."ByEndofHighSchool,NearlyAllKidsHaveSeenPornography,ExpertsSay|KSL.com."
By
EndofHighSchool,NearlyAllKidsHaveSeenPornography,ExpertsSay|KSL.com
.KSL,n.d.Web.04Aug.
2015.<http://www.ksl.com/?nid=370&sid=33531063>.

Russel,Diana."FactsAboutProstitution."
FactsAboutProstitution.
N.p.,n.d.Web.04Aug.2015.
<
http://www.rapeis.org/activism/prostitution/prostitutionfacts.html
>.

SPCEditor."Pornland."StopPornCulture,24Sept.2014.Web.04Aug.2015.
<
http://stoppornculture.org/2014/09/24/pornlandhowthepornindustryhashijackedoursexualityadocumentaryt
railer/
>.

Warner,Russ."WhatSerialKillersandMurderersThinkaboutPornography."
TheNetNanny
.TheNew
YorkTimes,02July2013.Web.04Aug.2015.
<https://www.netnanny.com/blog/whatserialkillersandmurderersthinkaboutpornography/>.