By Muriel Sluyter

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

Now that we have the wonder of the Internet, we also have the pornography connected with it.

Our son called and informed us he had stumbled into a pornography site; it had taken him several minutes to back out of it because every backward step had opened another site. This from an ex-tremely computer savvy man.

A daughter did the same thing, and it took her 10 minutes be-fore she retained control of her own computer. Until then, she was accosted by one site of extreme pornography after another.

The above explains why parents are taught to tell their children to turn off the computer immediately when this happens, rather than try to back out. Purveyors of pornography link several sites together so a viewer cannot exit without accessing every site on the way out. They know children are often snared by this strategy, because while their understanding is limited, their curiosity is not.

Pornography is not only addictive; it is intensely addictive. Worse, empirical research ("Pornography’s Effects on Adults and Children," Dr. Victor Cline) tells us that those who are exposed to hard-core, non-violent adult pornography for slightly over six weeks become callous toward women, trivialize rape, develop distorted perceptions of sexuality, develop an appetite for more deviant, bizarre of violent pornography; become dissatisfied with six within their marriage, devalue marriage and begin to see non-monogamous sexual relationships as normal and natural.

Young males who are exposed to this pernicious product before the age of 14 are especially at risk of addiction. Worse, they often try out the things they have seen on younger siblings, who either cannot defend themselves or are too young to understand what is happening. Not only does this set up the aggressor to become a sexual predator for life, it can and does destroy the lives of his victims.

Remember what Ted Bundy, the serial rapist and murderer, said about his exposure to pornography? He found a stack of pornographic materials on the side of the road when he was a preteen. He read it all and became obsessed with it, No one knows how many girls and women he killed, nor will we ever.

One would expect mental health professionals to present a solid front against sexual exploitation, but since there are now even sexual predators in their ranks, a debate is growing as to whether children are damaged by being sexually abused. Those who see nothing wrong with adult men sexually exploiting children are gaining in numbers, and therefore, in power. These predators have position, power and advanced degrees on their side, all of which give them credibility.

So, how do we protect our children from this plague? 1. Don’t let them become sexualized by watching shows and movies filled with sex. 2. Never let them have an internet accessible computer in their room. Computers used by children, especially preteens and teens, should always be in a room where the rest of the family works, reads, lounges or plays.

3. Be aware that many school libraries lack pornography filters. Some educators(?) have successfully argued that to install filters would violate student’s first amendment rights.

4. Warn children that the visual sewage at checkout counters of grocery stores is just that, sewage. They need guidelines on what is personally destructive to them. Pornography whets their curiosity, is very much like drug use and can and will destroy their lives.