“What is going on?” were the only words I could pull from my shaking mouth. I will never forget the pain in my gut when I opened the door to find mynine-year-old sister watching a porno.
“I found it in Billys room andwanted to see what it was, Im sorry Jes. ” As I watched tears role down herface, a feeling of rage exploded within me. It was then that I realized thatpornography is not only being watched by adults, but being explored by our youthas well. What has our society come to, and what role does pornography play init? Its definitely not the positive outlet.
I believe pornography can bedangerous because it dehumanizes family values, and leads to vicious acts ofviolence. 1. Family Values The stone first strikes at the very heart of familyvalues. It presents behavior that is immoral and sinful as acceptable. Pornography makes premarital sex, adultery, and a variety of other perversionsnot only permissible, but attractive. It encourages both male and femalehomosexuality, which are lifestyles that are not acceptable to many people.
Itis not only those who come into direct contact with pornography that areaffected. The ripples spread, and with them the effects of smut on the communityas a whole. The Pontifical Councils report cited strong evidence that obscenematerials “corrode human relationships, exploit individuals (especially womenand young people), undermine marriage and family life, foster anti-socialbehavior and weaken the moral fiber of society itself. ” Even nonviolentpornography is harmful according to a study by Dr.
Dolf Zillman and Dr. JenningsBryant. After weeks of exposure to soft-core material, those who participated inthe experiment said they felt “less satisfied with their partners sexualperformance, affection and physical appearance. ” After assessing the resultsof Zillman and Bryants study, sex addiction expert Dr. Cline concluded that”this world suggest that the consumption of pornography erodes material valuesand the institution of marriage itself. ” This may be borne out by escalatingdivorce rates over the years in which pornography has flourished.
2. Young SexOffenders Not only does pornography attack family values, but it also leads manyto violence. Dr. Victor Cline conducted a pilot study for the U.
S. Department ofJustice on the effects of Dial-A-Porn. He found that “in every case, withoutexception, the children became hooked on this sex by phone and kept going backfor more. ” He thought the conclusion was inescapable. He believed Dial-A-Pornhad an “addiction effect. ” Police statistics indicate that an increasingnumber of young people addicted to hard-core pornography are acting out whatthey have learned.
Recent cases include sexual assault on a two-year-old girl bytwo Detroit boys (one was only eleven years old), the rape of a mentallyretarded girl by five New Jersey teenagers using a broomstick and a miniaturebaseball bat, and a gang of boys age twelve to seventeen raping and brutallybeating a women jogger in New York Citys Central Park. Many of these youngabusers have themselves been abused. Sometimes occurring when they are veryyoung, only three to four years old. Sometimes the ones who abused them arefamily members, a babysitter, or a friend of the family. Pornography plays apart in the abuse, either in terms of arousing the molester, attracting thechilds interest, or showing the child what to do.
Former Los Angeles PoliceChief Daryl F. Gates of the Sexually Exploited Child Unit points out that “thefrequent recovery of pornography in sexually exploited child cases is notconsidered to be happenstance. ” It is a part of the pattern. 3. PornographyDoes Not Incite Violent Sex Crime I have realized that there are people outthere that believe pornography is not bad, and that it doesnt lead to sexcrimes.
However what about the convicted murderer that was seriously involved inpornography, Ted Bundy. Bundy, who raped and murdered an unknown number ofvictims, was executed in 1989 for killing a twelve-year-old girl. Shortly beforehis death, Bundy discussed his addiction to pornography with a psychologist. “I would keep looking for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds ofmaterials,” Bundy said, adding finally ” you reach the jumping-off pointwhere you begin to wonder if maybe actually doing it will give you that which isbeyond reading books about it or looking at it. ” Studies by the Federal Bureauof Investigations behavior science unit reveal that “about 80 percent ofkillers who commit sexual crimes have a taste for violent pornography.
Aworkshop conducted by the U. S. Surgeon Generals Office has concluded that”exposure to violent pornography increases punitive behavior towards women. “And the United States Attorney Generals Commission has found that”nonviolent pornography whets the appetite for violent forms.
” With all ofthe evidence shown, how could pornography be good for our society’seeing myyoung and venerable sister exposed to pornography has led me to believe that sheis not the only one being attacked. There are many others out there that arebeing exposed as I speak, and maybe tomorrow, just as Ted Bundy, they willdecide that reading and watching it is just not enough. Our nation will stand orfall depending on its moral values. Pornography, like the larva of a clothesmoth, is eating the fabric of our nation (unseen and generally untouched). However we have the power to bring the dehumanizing pornography into the lightwhere it can be destroyed.
