Youngsters must know the lethal implications of porn

Abhishek Clifford (left) at the conference at Press Club yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Yesterday, this paper highlighted a survey done by a non-profit centering around the impact of hardcore pornography on college students. It was a statistics-based report but those who conducted the survey stressed how it debunked beliefs like porn being a useful outlet to stop sexual violence. It also revealed that many college principals did know that their students as young as 16 or 17 are sexually active. It showed most disturbingly that there was a high incidence of boys watching violent porn, and these images and surfing actually led to violence with young men fantasising about taking part in rape.

It is time to redouble all efforts to hammer home the message that sexual violence is abhorrent. While that is one initiative, people in the youth space can take, there is the other more urgent one of trying to curb access to porn. The organisers of the conference said that government is trying and a great many porn pages have been shut down. However these pages can be changed and brought back again with speed. It is the entire website that has to be shut down. The message has to be sent that porn is not love, it is not romance. In fact, it is a very prominent reason for divorce.

The organisers made sense when they claimed that porn was still a taboo and many children were simply told that it was bad. Yet, the lethal and very disturbing implications of pornography need to be highlighted and explained to youngsters. This is not happening with the gravitas and urgency that is needed.

There should be a greater push for safeguards and accelerated efforts to develop and use porn blocking apps. When it comes to technology, we see a huge digital divide between GenNext and parents. Bridging this is vital, and parents must arm themselves with some knowledge about apps that can be useful in blocking porn. The report in the paper was shocking, embarrassing, revealing and highly uncomfortable. But inconvenient truths need to be stated and acknowledged, because only then can solutions be found.

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