‘Pornography is a public health hazard and it is crippling our teenagers’, a writer in The Telegraph has said.
In an article published on Monday, Jane Wilson revealed that a shockingly high percentage of young people, some as young as eight, have viewed pornography.
She was responding to a recent resolution in the US state of Utah which declared that pornography is creating a “public health crisis”.
Research
In her article, Wilson cited research from the International Institute for Trauma & Addiction Professionals.
It found that 90 per cent of 8 to 16-year-olds have viewed pornography, many while completing their homework.
Disturbingly, the organisation also found that the average age children first view pornography is eleven. The largest group to access pornographic content was found to be 12 to 17-year-olds.
Addiction
Wilson relayed the story of a close friend of hers, a 37-year-old man with a successful career and a severe addiction to pornography.
She wrote that the man is “crippled with shame about his reliance on porn” and has struggled to have a romantic relationship.
Reflecting on pornography’s “deadening effect” on her friend, she asked what it is doing to “young men during their formative years?”
Toxic
She went on to assess the move in Utah last week which declared pornography to be a “public health crisis”.
Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert signed a non-binding resolution which states that pornography “perpetuates a sexually toxic environment”.
The resolution urges changes to education, research and policy at the “community and societal level” and was described as a “voice of warning” by Governor Herbert.
Wilson concluded that the Utah resolution “raises important questions about what effect early exposure to pornography is having on children and young people”.