Pornography Becoming 'Moral Standard' of Younger Generations, Professor Fears
New Campaign Aims to Stop Problem
Pornography is destroying the morality of younger generations who are exposed to explicit and sometimes violent recreations of sexual encounters, leading to a distorted view of healthy sexual relationships.
William Struthers, Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, who has written widely on the issues surrounding pornography and the effect it has on younger people and brain function, understands the seriousness of the problem.
"Pornography is a violation of the childhood mind, creating expectations that anybody and everybody is willing to engage in sex on demand … pornography is setting a moral standard for young people, Struthers recently told Christianity Today.
"Internet pornography demonstrates the act but never the consequences. There are a variety of potential consequences that are never explored such as sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and the impact of sexual exploitation," he added.
Struthers recently voiced his support for the new Safety Net campaign in the United Kingdom which aims to get internet service providers (ISPs) to block pornography at the network level and gives the choice for the internet account holder to "opt-in" to those sites.
The new initiative is a joint function created by Premier Christian Media and the Safer Media campaign group, and is advocating that households have access to adult material only if they specifically request it, making it harder for children to be exposed to illicit material.
The Archbishop of York recently joined the growing list of prominent religious leaders in their fight to curb illicit and pornographic content that is freely available to all users regardless of age.
"In our modern world parents have an increasingly hard time protecting their families from online dangers and it is right that we put proper protections in place … In our society there is a growing loss of innocence caused by increased sexualization on TV, in films, music, magazines, even in the products on our supermarket shelves," Dr. John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said in a statement published in the Daily Mail.
