Martin Daubney鈥檚 Sept. 25 column in Britain鈥檚 Daily Mail, which describes key moments in his journey from a purveyor of pornography to a proclaimer of its destructive powers, is a must-read for all parents.
Not long ago, Daubney defended pornography, referring to it as a freedom-of-choice issue and citing its benefits to adult relationships. He was also a well-known editor of what the Brits refer to as a lad鈥檚 magazine, which, in his own words, featured 鈥渇requent nudity and lewd photo spreads.鈥�
But all that changed as he researched a documentary on pornography and observed the full reach and grotesque nature of online porn. He describes sitting in a classroom with 13- and 14-year-olds, some of whom had not yet reached puberty.
Yet every one of them had seen sodomy acted out in porn videos.
Another group of teens blandly told him they had watched scenes of bestiality and that Facebook offered them free access to all kinds of porn via its advertisements.
A young girl told him that boys expected 鈥減orn sex鈥� in real life. Some teen boys told him that their lives were now consumed by pornography addiction.
While Daubney was shocked at the extent of the problem, and the ease with which kids conversed about even the crudest and most vulgar notions of sex, his experiences are not an anomaly and confirm what has previously been documented about British kids and online porn.
Kids鈥� sexual views are being shaped in ugly ways. A 2012 parliamentary report found the vast majority of Britain鈥檚 teen boys learned about sex from Internet porn and that this caused them to view their relationships in a strictly sexual context.
A comprehensive study commissioned by the Telegraph showed that almost one-third of teens age 11 to 18 believe that online pornography shows how people should behave in relationships. One in five boys aged 16 to 20 told researchers at the University of East London that they were 鈥渄ependent on porn as a stimulant for real sex.鈥�
A 2010 Australian study showed that exposure to porn 鈥渋ncreases the likelihood鈥� that boys will perpetrate an assault against girls.
Young children and teenagers are consuming online porn to the extent that it is altering the idea of what is normal or acceptable sexual behaviour, and experts believe this correlates with its growing phenomenon of child-on-child sex abuse and child-on-child rape.
Statistics reveal that British cops must deal with an average of five child-on-child sexual offences each day (a minimal figure, since the statistics don鈥檛 reflect data from nine other police districts, including the three largest).
Porn creates an addictive response in the brain, mimicking that found in alcoholics and drug addicts.
Daubney describes a University of Cambridge study by a world-renowned addictions researcher, who studied the brain activity of 19 heavy porn users (and a 鈥渘ormal鈥� test group) by showing them shots of porn spliced into other images. She found that the reward centre of the brain (which produces a sense of pleasure) was highly activated in porn users, as it is in alcoholics or drug users who see images of a bottle or syringe. A similar response was not seen in the test group.
Teenagers are uniquely vulnerable to addiction. An adolescent addiction specialist at the University of Liverpool states that the brain鈥檚 reward centre develops quickly in teens, making them very sensitive to the impact of porn.
But the brain鈥檚 self-control mechanism doesn鈥檛 mature until the mid-20s, making it difficult for adolescents to control their urges. It鈥檚 a dangerous combination.
That Britain has a very ugly problem is clear, but the good news is that its government and Internet providers recognize the problem and are actively looking for solutions.
Daubney says parents must respond by talking to their kids about pornography. Talking to your kids about sex is no longer enough; sadly, parent-teen conversations now have to include deviant sex and porn.
No matter how uncomfortable it may be.
Susan Martinuk is a Calgary Herald columnist.
