Discussing harmful internet content with your child is strongly recommended as early as elementary school. The average age of kids accessing porn is now 8 years old. Below are 3 perspectives to help start the discussion followed by additional resources for parents.
From a parent:
What parents can say? https://youtu.be/7snp5-AvGQs
From a teenager:
ABC Nightline Special: Teens Addicted to Pornography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ0vuIVZyb8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lzRWxgmyQ#t=14.513
From a victim of sex trafficking:
Ex Porn Star Presents The Truth About Pornography to Students at Christian High School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGdMi-oC9nM
Many of us do not realize all the ‘unexpected’ places where a child can accidentally come across pornography. Here are a few examples that may surprise you:
Amazon, Wikipedia, Children’s Apps (via advertisements or discussion forums), YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Video Games/Chat Rooms, Netflix, Hulu, Snapchat, KiK, WhatsApp, etc.
HELP FOR PARENTS:
Culture Reframed – an online module to help parents respond to child who’s accessing porn https://parents.culturereframed.org/
BUS SAFETY:
Most school buses are not CIPA compliant. Interested in making your child’s school bus a safe internet space? Ask your school district to invest in this technology for the buses (or reduce screen time altogether and don’t add a cellular data plan to your child’s phone):
Kajeet http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/367813/Kajeet-SmartBus-Usage-Report.pdf
LEGISLATION (National & International):
Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act http://humantraffickingpreventionact.com/#legislationbystate
France Bans Smartphones from Schools (France): https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/07/31/europe/france-smartphones-school-ban-intl/index.html
Internet Access for Minors Bill 2017 (Ireland): http://www.thejournal.ie/ban-children-mobile-phones-3381404-May2017/
Porn In Your Pocket: How To Block Adult Content On Phones (UK): https://uk.pcmag.com/bitdefender/94891/native/porn-in-your-pocket-how-to-block-adult-content-on-phones
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Allen, E. Corroding childhood: protecting children from internet pornography. Oral presentation at the 2018 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Global Summit: April, 2018: Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/271364507
Chuang, Janie (2006) Beyond a Snapshot: Preventing Human Trafficking in the Global Economy, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 13(1). Retrieved from http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ijgls/vol13/iss1/5
Covenant Eyes. (2013). What parents can say? (2013). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/7snp5-AvGQs
Dines, G. (2015). Growing up in a pornified culture, TEDx talks. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/_YpHNImNsx8
Dines, G., Jhally, S., & Kanopy (Firm). (2016). Pornland: How the porn industry has hijacked our sexuality. (Media Education Foundation Collection.) Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation
Fight the New Drug. (2018). Retrieved from https://fightthenewdrug.org
Fight the New Drug (2015). Hallah’s story: How porn influenced her sexual abuse. Retrieved from http://fightthenewdrug.org/video-hallahs-story-how-porn-led-to-my-sexual-abuse/
Fight the New Drug. (2018). Your conversation blueprint. Retrieved from https://fightthenewdrug.org/lets-talk-about-porn/blueprint/child-them/?to=child&about=them
Fox13 Salt Lake City. (2018). Utah teacher asks junior high students: ‘What my parents don’t know about social media is…’ Retrieved from https://fox13now.com/2018/03/09/utah-teacher-asks-junior-high-students-what-my-parents-dont-know-about-social-media-is/
Guinn, D. E., DiCaro, J., Captive Daughters Media., & DePaul University. (2007). Pornography: Driving the demand in international sex trafficking. Los Angeles: Captive Daughters Media.
Hald, G. M., Malamuth, N. M. and Yuen, C. (2010), Pornography and attitudes supporting violence against women: revisiting the relationship in non-experimental studies. Aggr. Behav., 36:14–20.
Hilton, D. L., & Watts, C. (2011). Pornography addiction: A neuroscience perspective. Surgical Neurology International, 2, 19.
Moffit, Mitchell and Brown, Gregory. (2013). The Science of pornography addiction. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ya67aLaaCc
Morgan E.M. (2011). Associations between young adults’ use of sexually explicit materials and their sexual preferences, behaviors, and satisfaction. J Sex Res., Nov-Dec;48(6):520-30.
National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). (nd). Retrieved from https://endsexualexploitation.org/
O’Leary, Amy. (2012). So how do we talk about this? When children see internet pornography. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/garden/when-children-see-internet-pornography.html
Sax, L. (2016). Boys adrift: Five factors driving the growing epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men. New York, NY: Basic Books, 169-173.
Struthers, William M. (2009). Wired for intimacy: How pornography hijacks the male brain. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families (2012). Fact sheet: Sex trafficking. Retrieved from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/resource/fact-sheet-sex-trafficking-english
Utah Coalition Against Pornography. (2018) Utah coalition against pornography. Retrieved from https://utahcoalition.org/
Weitzer, R. J. (2011). Sex trafficking and the sex industry: the need for evidence-based theory and legislation. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. 101:1337-1369.
Westen, John-Henry. (2015). Want to stop sex trafficking? Look to America’s porn addiction. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johnhenry-westen/want-to-stop-sex-traffick_b_6563338.html
Wilson, Gary. (2012). The great porn experiment, TEDx talks. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wSF82AwSDiU
Wilson, Gary. (2015). Your brain on porn: Internet pornography and the emerging science of addiction. UK: Commonwealth Publishing.
Kids Before Screens 