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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPornography risks should be taught to children as young as five, say parents
No, this is NOT referring to that South Park episode, but rather a survey of British parents:
It reveals that the majority of parents do not want it to be left to them alone to educate their youngsters about the issue, and a large proportion think pupils as young as five or six should be given lessons on the subject.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which conducted the poll, said many young people were exposed to explicit materials online and on mobile phones, and needed to know how to cope.
The survey, which questioned about 1,000 parents, found that six in 10 are worried, or very worried, about their children seeing violent or sexual material on the web. But the poll also reveals that the majority (80%) of are confident in protecting their children online.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)if they did see it.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)Think please everyone.
1st: In an pedophilia relationship someone is an adult. In order to protect our children from adults like that, we need to teach our children to recognize said adults.
2nd: Things we see and that we see our parents do influence us through our entire lives. And some porn confuses the hell out of some adults. If our children had some tools to cope with the (more often that not) idiocy of adults, the idiocy of adults in the next generation can be reduced. After all spousal abuse is a learned skill.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)... as opposed to freaking out that a pedophile might be behind every tree.
Holy Christ people.. This really is a South Park episode...
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)playing with their friends, coloring, building stuff with Legos.....
I don't think starting a kid out really early staring at a screen is the way to go.
Dash87
(3,220 posts)I couldn't until I was around 10, and it was heavily filtered using AOL filtering tools. I didn't mind, as long as I could go on the Nickelodeon website. I certainly wasn't allowed to chat with adults.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)I never said teach the children fear. Teaching fear leads to the sort of shit we have now.
I said make tools available, make more sophisticated tools available as the age increases.
The best tool is attentive parents, no internet or TV until 5 years old. Play with your children, both your and their lives will be richer. Remember, these are the people who will pick your retirement home someday.
Pelican
(1,156 posts)Being an attentive parent and playing with your children fall neatly in the category of "duh."
They have nothing to do with what you said though...
2nd: Things we see and that we see our parents do influence us through our entire lives. And some porn confuses the hell out of some adults. If our children had some tools to cope with the (more often that not) idiocy of adults, the idiocy of adults in the next generation can be reduced. After all spousal abuse is a learned skill.
I have no idea what the second one even means...
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)The British survey indicated parents were in favor of some sort of education regarding porn as soon as children began using the internet. I agree with that, the internet has many pitfalls only some of them are sexual (Tea Party Sites). However there are a couple of issues I want to address.
Rehash of point 1: Dangerous adults, an adult can pose both a danger and a solution in cases of pedophilia. As Parents we need to give our children safe age appropriate ways of understanding, dealing with and reporting suspicious adult behavior. As second tier caregivers (teachers, neighbors, grandparents, etc), we need to do the same in regards to child/parent cases (the worst case scenario).
Rehash of Point 2: Porn out of context, persons without sexual curiosity (not the noticing of body differences, the urges associated with reaching a level of sexual maturity), I think would find the visuals of porn confusing. What looks violent may not be. The things adults do for completely acceptable reasons, can look weird. How can a child accept the don't bite rule confronted by pictures of love biting. I am concerned because a great deal of porn looks like naked pro-wrestling. If a child doesn't understand that pro-wrestling is fake, the potential for learning sex as only violent sex is increased. As a bit of empirical evidence I offer, that spousal abuse runs in families, the children learn it from observing their parents interacting.
I hope I cleared up my message.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)Religion kills more people than pron ever could.
demwing
(16,916 posts)what does it add to the OP?
Dorian Gray
(13,496 posts)total non-sequitor
zerosumgame0005
(207 posts)why not include the most popular snuff/kiddie/rape porn book of all time?
Tseko
(26 posts)Let alone learning about pornography.
And if you're going to be teaching children of that age about pornography, wouldn't that also include sex education?
Could children at that age even comprehend sex? They're still playing doctor and exploring their bodies, trying to understand girl bits and boy bits.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Kids are exposed to porn by friends, or in public (adults consuming it with no regard for anyone around them), etc.
It's not just pictures of pornily posed women anymore.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)You see people out in public watching porn on their smartphones?
Luckily there are self help groups out there
opiate69
(10,129 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)Posing in a way that we've been condiioned to not recognize as ridiculous when women do it, but when men are posed that way, we see the ridiculousness immediately.
Caricaturization, objectification, and dehumanization are all linked. But I know you don't give half a shit about any of that.
opiate69
(10,129 posts)for someone who fancies themselves as soooo intelligent, one might think you would be familiar with words such as "pornographically", "suggestively", "obscenely", or a host of others, and wouldn't need to resort to making up words like a 5th grader.
d_b
(7,463 posts)all the good porn can be found free of charge if you look hard enough.
Atman
(31,464 posts)I obtain from any "hard" jokes.
Turbineguy
(37,331 posts)do "Head Teachers" teach?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Bizarre.
surrealAmerican
(11,360 posts)It might be more useful to teach them how to find what they are looking for.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Atman
(31,464 posts)Dorian Gray
(13,496 posts)Porn Creep
For children? the answer is much more serious and potentially damaging.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Dorian Gray
(13,496 posts)is real! Beware the porn creep!
But seriously, children should be protected from viewing porn. Especially the crazy varieties on the internet. Especially the availability of child porn.
Studies? Do your really need studies to prove that viewing something of that nature would be problematic for children? One of the obvious problems would be that viewing child pornography at a young age actually conditions a child to believe that such sexual behavior is a normal expression. It can groom a child for a sexual relationship.
I mean, how would one do an actual study on children of five and the affects of pornography on them? Would you sign your kid up for that?
A quick perusal took me to this site: http://www.protectkids.com/effects/harms.htm
It mentions a few different studies, but mostly with older children.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)opiate69
(10,129 posts)(or, refound him or something.. ) and has been palling around with the usual right-wind fundy suspects (Judith Reisman, et al)...
DanTex
(20,709 posts)Especially for children.
Not sure what can be done about it, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)going to teach? IMHO this is a parental issue and should not be "taught" in any classroom.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)Like you say, what are they going to teach? About porn to 5-year olds?
And it could easily morph into some kind of "sex is bad" or "masturbation makes you blind" thing.
I think it is a complicated topic, and I don't know what the answers are. It's kinda too bad that on DU it doesn't seem possible to have a nuanced and non-polarized discusion.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Other than a sex ed class (around 6th or 7th grade) I don't think teachers should be saying anything about porn in the classroom. I think it's a parent's job.
edit to add - I also agree with wht DanTex said in post 35. This comes dangerously close to a 'sex is bad, be ashamed' kind of thing.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)and introducing them to the difference between people caring for each other and having sex and people that rut and do stupid things and stick things in their stupid holes just to entertain other stupid people.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)views on sexuality. No harm possible.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)and no matter how many times you patiently explain that kids see this stuff in other places besides on their family computers at home with mommy and daddy... or that porn today is much worse than just posed, objectified 'women arefor sex' male-gaze pandering images... they will still pretend they simply don't get it.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Dash87
(3,220 posts)A 5 year old does not need to learn about porn. They can be protected from it by using filtering. That's what my patents did with me. The Internet is a dangerous tool, and like with anything, it requires supervision.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)such as the great feminist/social conservative plot to ban naked breasts?
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)That's what's known as a deflection.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)To the jury---no, seriously, that's an actual fallacy....
http://www.logicalfallacies.info/presumption/cum-hoc/
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I learn-a something new a-every day.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)Those who feel that pornography is dangerous and want to scold those who like it. Those who feel that anybody who thinks pornography is dangerous are scolds, and want to, well, scold the scolders.
Pornography does encourage the objectification of potential sexual partners. A real woman or man will have their own emotions and life things they are going through. A porn woman or man won't. And, particularly in immature folks, porn encourages unrealistic expectations.
Bryant
Response to Warren Stupidity (Reply #11)
Dash87 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)...that children shouldn't be exposed to sex.
One very eye opening thing for me, when I started visiting other countries and working with immigrants on various projects, was how well versed and open fairly young children tend to be about sex. It's often not a taboo subject at all. I was a bit shocked until someone pointed out to me that, in most of the world, entire families live in homes and apartments containing no more than one or two rooms. From birth on, most children see and hear their parents having sex on a regular basis. If they visit a friend, they may see the friends parents having sex. It's a normal thing for them.
Westerners, since the 1800's at least, tend to believe that children should be shielded from all-things sexual. Pornography violates that shield and upends a cultural norm.
hootinholler
(26,449 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)JVS
(61,935 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)For one thing, little kids shouldn't be on the internet by themselves. I don't think a 5 year old can spell enough words to even get very far on the internets.
Any little kid should be supervised by a parent if they are going to use the computer, and the parent should use the parental controls that are available on the computer.
Dorian Gray
(13,496 posts)If I thought it was a problem, I'd prefer to handle that education (at five years old) myself. But I don't think five year olds should be searching the internet on their own.
JHB
(37,160 posts)...("programme", I suppose, since it's about a British poll and their education system).
I'm not sure how possible that is in areas where "abstinence only" is what passes for the equivalent program.
Dorian Gray
(13,496 posts)Do they generally teach abstinence only there?
JHB
(37,160 posts)I was thinking about how it probably be a bit harder to implement here in the US, without it being reduced to hare 'em scare 'em "Reefer Madness"-style uselesness.
tridim
(45,358 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)There are some sick, disturbed people out there, and they post a lot of stuff on the net for other sick, disturbed people. And once you see one of the images or videos those types of people post, you cannot unsee it.
That might keep a few kids away from the kid whose overly permissive or simply thoughtless parents haven't bothered to restrict the kids' phone access, who shows off the shit in school to his friends.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Yeah, it would.
But that wouldn't provide the sort of Gail Dines/Judith Reisman culture war point-making payoff that this thread is really about, now, would it?
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Five seems early to me, but this should happen before middle school. Before fifth/sixth grade actually.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)I guess it's worth a shot, but I don't think you're going to get 14 year old boys not to watch whatever porn they can get their hands on. And then there's the risk this will morph into some kind of "masturbation makes you blind" thing.
I guess it has to be done carefully.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)How after years of using porn heavily, they were unable to function with a real woman. How hard it was for them to break the habit so they could have actual sex with another person.
Not all boys and men become so dependent on it, but that is one of the harms. The articles I've read by men who've tried to quit betray the claims that it's not addictive. Same thing goes for the hair on fire overreactions anytime anyone says anything critical of porn.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)Maybe starting at age 5 is a little young, but in middle school that would probably be OK.
I would object, though, to telling young boys that wanting to look at porn makes them bad people, which is where this could easily end up. There's always the risk that this sort of thing takes a turn towards puritanism and "Christian values".
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Educate them about what it means so they don't grow up to be people who think it means treating women like furniture.
But honestly I wonder if older people are just too lost / brainwashed to even try to get it. I have more hope for younger people. I saw a young man, a high schooler, who had no idea about feminism and didn't give half a shit about it, who, after seeing just the trailer for Miss Representation, was out there raising awareness.
woolldog
(8,791 posts)It's very unladylike....
redqueen
(115,103 posts)woolldog
(8,791 posts)There are also kids reading these boards. Think of the children.
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Yeah. Fuck them, too.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Orrex
(63,212 posts)datasuspect
(26,591 posts)i was checking out my dad's playboys and hustlers way before i could even spank.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)datasuspect
(26,591 posts)lighten up.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)datasuspect
(26,591 posts)RC
(25,592 posts)When are the kids supposed to learn to read, write and do math, when the teacher is already too busy teaching to the test or be fired?
I can see the mandatory state test now: Which of these pictures is porn? A. B. C. D. E- All of the above.
How are you supposed to teach kids to avoid porn without examples so they know what they are supposed to avoid? Just what we need, legal porn in the classroom, so the kids 'know' it is supposed to be bad and not get curious about it at home. And what about the kid that starts asking questions, like why is that porn? Do those black things make it porn? Do they have to be blonde to be porn? When I take a bath, am I porn too? Or the kid that pipes up and says, "I know what is under those black things! I saw my mommy/daddy in the shower!" They must be porn too. Am I suppose to hide from them now?
But, more than likely, any examples will be censored pages cut from a Sports Illustrated, Swim Suit issue. That outta help'em to have a healthy view of their own sexuality when they get older.
This is just more prudish bullshit, brought to you by the "Sex is dirty and everyone must act like it is, because I do" crowd.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)and eroticism. They could get Annie Sprinkle and Barbara Carellas to help educate them properly
hunter
(38,313 posts)I also saw plenty of naked people of all ages in real life skinny dipping, breastfeeding babies, etc. The funniest thing I ever saw was my great grandma's mean old rooster chasing my naked grandpa. My great grandma was trying so hard not to burst into laughter but I can't help it, I still laugh whenever I think about it.
My dad's an artist, he draws naked people sometimes. If we had any questions about sex as kids, my mom would answer and my dad might draw a sketch.
I remember going to an art exhibit with my parents as a kid and one of the artists had created a display that was nothing but photographs of vaginas. (It was the 'sixties, and no, the exhibit was not restricted to adults.) I wonder if I couldn't find the artwork on the internet today, but I've no interest in seeing what bing images, safe search off, might dredge up.
My wife and I are not the hippies my parents were, but we've always been open and direct with our kids. There is no "secret knowledge" of sex.
Looking back to my own childhood I think that being knowledgeable about sex kept me out of a lot of trouble. The bullies in school might have called me "queer bait" but it seems likely sexual predators avoid kids like me because I'd have been telling a responsible adult exactly what had happened.
Before our kids had their own computers we had the family computer in the living room. (When they were in high school having their own computers was almost a necessity since they were both honors students doing a lot of writing.) There were occasional "oops" moments, but it was never a big deal.
Now that they are young adults I don't want to know about any porn they are looking at.
One of my sister's kids is an artist in San Francisco with a blog that would set a fundamentalist's hair on fire. Frankly the blog makes ME uncomfortable and my kids think it's amusing to see dad blush. But I know this sort of thing has been going on in my family for many generations. When my siblings and I were adults, my great aunt started telling us stories from her youth in roaring 'twenties Hollywood that made us blush.
Addison
(299 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Excessively hairy hands, failing eyesight?
datasuspect
(26,591 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)check out the final report of the Meese Porn Commission
http://cultronix.eserver.org/califia/meese/
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)or rather first-hand was the limit of his experience.
Apophis
(1,407 posts)Otherwise, there's no porn danger for adults, unless you're a porn addict.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)How about this: Some things are for adults, and some are not. The internet is FULL of things that are not for kids.
Oh, and here's some links to net nanny software for your parents to install.
Anything else- and yes, it is- is thinly veiled religious right "culture war" moralizing.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Of different sexes, for the purpose of procreation! It is a private matter between God, you, and the person you are doing it to!
Or something like that.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)I hate when he's just being a creep off in the corner heavy breathing and shit.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)ForgoTheConsequence
(4,868 posts)But I do think there is a lot of porn out there that promotes abuse, pedophilia, misogyny, etc. I'm not for prohibition of anything really so I don't know what the answer is, but I think it starts by not hiding sexuality from your kids that seems to leads to complexes about themselves and other.
Teach them respect for their own sexuality and teach them to respect others. Call me old fashioned but I also believe that sex although not hidden should be taught as something special that belongs to you and should be on your terms. Its not something you should ever feel pressured to give away.
I think a healthy attitude also helps prevents abuse. IMO it leads to confidence in being able to speak out if someone is doing something that makes you uncomfortable.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)It causes date rape! It's addictive!"
wait, sorry, that's the crap drug warriors try to peddle off about pot.
Oh, well, same difference. Just replace "pot" with "porn", and carry on!
opiate69
(10,129 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)the bitter old man I yam today.
O lord if only I hadn't looked.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)What do you think the kids will do? First time they get a chance, they'll seek porn.
Let them figure out porn on their own, or at least wait until they're old enough that it's relevant.
LostOne4Ever
(9,288 posts)I avoided anything to do with romance or men and women kissing. Maybe most kids weren't like me, but if they were they would naturally avoid those types of websites and would think they were disgusting.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Cooties!
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)With their cell phones. So if your 7 year old has a phone, or plays with another kids phone, they might wonder to porn sites. Google I Love Horses, and see what you get. It's the "real" love for horses, and kids unknowingly may see something real graphic innocently.