Sexy Porn Videos

Is there an effective way of blocking pornography from your computer? Many people with children ask that question everyday. This article will introduce you to a software product that will show you how to block porn.

One of the major hazards of the Internet era is the threat of unsolicited pornography infiltrating your computer and your children being exposed to this undesirable product.

There is clear evidence of good reason to be concerned about this problem. The people operating the adult entertainment industry are sophisticated in the methods they use to ply their trade. Indeed, organized crime has a strong presence in the marketing of online pornography. The adult entertainment industry has a great deal of money behind it and will do almost anything to ensure that their unwanted content arrives on your computer screen.

Consider the following statistics:

- As many as one in four children are exposed to seriously explicit unsolicited pornography while using the Internet. – As many as one in five children between the ages of 10 and 17 have been the recipients of indecent sexual solicitation while using the Internet. – As many as 70 per cent of the sexual advances occurred while the children were using the Internet on a home computer. – As many as 21 per cent of teenage children have admitted to viewing images on the Internet that they would not want their parents to know about. – There are up to 2.5 billion e-mails sent on a daily basis that contain pornographic images.

There is a product named “My Porn Blocker” that blocks several types of unwanted content – including pornography. It also gives you the power to monitor and ultimately control all information that passes through the family computer.

America is facing a problem with pornography of epidemic proportions.  Thanks to the Internet, it is no longer necessary to sneak porn magazines under the mattress or travel into the city to the local peepshow.

Now anyone and everyone can access endless amounts of pornography at the click of their mouse and in the complete privacy of their own home.

Anyone without a porn filter installed on the computer is more than likely to be exposed to pornography at some point. The average child sees internet porn by the time they are eleven years old!

As a society, we tend to see the issue of pornography as a free-speech issue — victimless entertainment for consenting adults. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. But a new  report from the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, N.J., raises some red flags we should not ignore. “The Social Costs of Pornography” musters new social science and brain research, and shows evidence that pornography is harmful. Porn is not just private entertainment. It “functions as a teacher, a permission-giver and a trigger of … negative behaviors and attitudes,” according to Mary Anne Layden, coauthor of the report and director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

And even more troubling, is that graphic porn creates a real risk of addiction. Recent advances in neuroscience make clear that frequent exposure can actually alter the brain by hyperstimulating its appetitive pleasure system. For some men, porn is the start of the path to child pornography.

65 percent of 16  to 17 year old boys say they have friends who regularly download pornography. Even pre-teen boys are reporting compulsive porn behavior.  This is happening right under the nose of parents who are not aware of how their children are using the Internet. Behind closed doors, late at night or while parents are at work, countless teens and children are looking at porn. This will not change until either the government figures out how to protect us from the porn content that we do not want in our homes or each parent, takes the responsibility to install a porn filter and stop porn on their own. For now, a porn filter is the only realistic solution.

An efficient web blocker can make all the difference to the health and safety of your family when using the internet.

Pornography is widely acknowledged to be a high profit industry. Unfortunately, porn traffickers see the internet as a personal playground and a tremendous source of revenue. Pornography peddling is indiscriminate and targets people of all ages. The content that pornographers sell is tailored to appeal to just about any individual and a menu of x-rated images might flash onto a computer screen at any time, impartial to the age of the person using the computer. This person could be your Grandmother or your seven-year-old.

To stop pornography from entering your home and taking hold of your children, your elderly parents or even you, invest in a good quality web blocker. A web blocker will take charge of your internet to any extent you wish and you may elect to ban pornography completely or at least eliminate it from your internet environment. The web blocker may be used only for younger members of the family if you wish or be used to totally block unwanted websites by filtering the credentials of the websites your are accessing before they appear.

The Porno industry is professional at gaining access to private homes via the internet and do so with confidence as they know pornography is addictive. Once pornography has formed a habit, it is notoriously difficult to overcome, especially if the habit is formed in early life. Children are therefore amongst the most vulnerable members of the family and should be effectively shielded from pornography with a web blocker that is able to detect pornographic content and block it completely.

Addiction to pornography in childhood is a sorry indictment on those responsible for a child’s well being. Capable adults who take stringent care of their children’s security and would not dream of leaving them unattended in a park or allow them to view an X-rated movie will nonetheless allow them unsupervised use of the internet, where they are prey to the worst possible XXX adult content and where they might even be subjected to hard core porn such as bondage and perversion. To give your children the best possible protection against addiction to pornography, install a web blocker and have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your children are secure and safe from harm.

I wish it weren’t true, but unfortunately for us all – sex, immorality, and immodesty sells. As a few greedy individuals and companies make a profit from this sleazy material, the realistic and sad result is that – thoughts are corrupted, commitments and responsibilities are discarded, selfishness and temporary gratification become more important than self control, sins and crimes are committed, addictions are developed, families are torn apart, and slowly our society’s very foundational values have disintegrated.

Keeping thoughts clean, turning away from temptation, or altogether avoiding pornography is becoming increasingly more difficult considering the fact that – the vast majority of movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, advertisements, and websites are immoral, immodest, sexual, and pornographic in nature. We are daily bombarded … and thus daily fighting a battle. It is a battle to keep our thoughts, actions, habits, and character clean and pure and chaste.

Thankfully, however, despite this fact – it is possible to conquer in this daily battle. But how? Let me suggest 10 tips that are simple in theory, and yet extremely difficult in practicality; but if applied, will literally help anyone to obtain the peace, true freedom, confidence, happiness, purity, and success that living a chaste life will inevitably bring.

1) Daily Effort: It is of utmost importance to remember that although continuous actions for good result in habits that are good, temptation and pornography will still abound … often daily. Thus, the necessity of controlling our thoughts and developing self control must be a daily effort.

2) Remove Yourself From Temptation: Unfortunately, the reality is that there is absolutely no way for us to completely remove ourselves from situations and mediums that will tempt us in regards to our chastity. Pornographic images always seem to find us, regardless of where we are and what we are doing.  However, with that said, we also can be a little more proactive to limit that temptation. Don’t visit that website, watch something else on TV, don’t go see that movie, don’t pick up the magazine, don’t enter the pop-up or advertisement, turn the channel during that commercial, etc. It’s hard, it takes discipline, and everyone else may seem to be doing it … but you must not!  For your sake and your family’s … you must not!

3) Control Your Thoughts: Do you actually realize the power of your thoughts.  Thoughts literally convert into actions. Thus, whatever it is that we entertain on the stage of our own minds, will in time become our very actions, habits, and character. Do you truly understand and believe that you literally can (and must) have complete control over your thoughts? You may not have asked or chosen to view the image, but you certainly have the choice as to whether or not to keep that image playing on the screen of your mind.

4) Remember the Consequences: Realize now that the fruits of pornography are: momentary gratification and lustful pleasure followed by immediate shame, guilt, sorrow, fear, and embarrassment. Eventually addictions form, curiosity heightens, people become past feeling, and the result – marriages end, families are torn apart, and crimes are committed only to satisfy a temporary gratification and almost impossibly avoidable addiction. (And let’s not be ignorant of the possible consequences and responsibilities that also could result … such as diseases, caring for a child or significant other, or paying child support, etc.).

5) Understand What ‘True Love’ Is: The world’s portrayal of ‘true love’ is often seen and interpreted two ways. First, ‘true love’ is ‘happily-ever-after.’ For anyone who has been married and experienced true love, they will be the first to tell you that ‘true love’ requires work, effort, change, sacrifice, compassion, and unselfishness … not just riding off into the sunset with prince charming to live in unending bliss. Secondly, ‘true love’ is most often unfortunately portrayed as ‘true lust.’ Love certainly is physical, combines attraction with affection, and is wonderful and beautiful. But ‘true love’ is far more than the physical and sexual joy such marital relationships can bring. ‘True love’ is the epitome of unselfishness. It is caring, it is thoughtfulness, it is service, it is work, it can even be trying, difficult, and hard at times. But ‘true love’ is committed, makes it work, never gives up, focuses on the positive, endures through challenges and weaknesses, and thinks of the concerns and needs of their spouse above their own.

6) Discipline the Natural Sexual Tendencies & Passions: We live in a society that demands that we discipline our physical bodies, our minds and intellects, and our social capabilities. The person who can not eat properly, keep their bodies fit, get an education, and socially interact are viewed and treated literally as either mis-fits, inferior, or lower class. Even if one wants (or does) eat unhealthily, is lazy, drops out of school, etc. – they know that they will be either ridiculed or limited by our society. On the other hand, however, our society (generally) makes no effort – in fact, quite the opposite – to require us to discipline our sexual passions and tendencies. Why is disciplining our sexual passions any different than our eating habits, intellect, or social abilities? It isn’t, and should not be! Just as we would go on a diet, work hard to exercise, or strive to obtain an education – we too should strive just as hard to discipline ourselves sexually and control and keep in balance a tendency just as (if not much more) difficult to manage as our eating, exercising, educational or social habits.

7) Idle Minds & Actions are the Seedbed for Disaster: The moment you find yourself idle either mentally or physically, you must know that this should be the first warning sign of possible danger ahead. ‘Surfing the web’ alone, or with nothing else to do; watching a movie that perhaps should not be viewed; or flipping through a magazine just out of ‘curiosity’ is the first idle step to inevitable temptation. Decide now to have integrity when alone, and make a rule to never ‘surf the web’ when you feel alone, down, frustrated, or with nothing else to do.

8) Deciding in the Moment of Temptation is Too Late: Decide right now that you will NOT enter that website, rent that movie, or watch that TV show.  Decide now what your limits are, and never cross them. Write your decision down on paper, put it in a place seen often and review it daily, and completely commit to the decision made in the moment of clarity of mind (not when you must decide in that fleeting hour of lust, selfishness, loneliness, temporary gratification, and temptation).

9) Tips for Parents: The most important tip for parents of teens or children – you must be the example. Do not expect anything of your child unless you are living it yourself. Next, set family rules (i.e. computer times, what can/can’t be watched, place the computer in high traffic places, talk about online safety, etc). And lastly, but certainly most importantly, parents must be involved in their children’s lives (in regards to friends, sexual activity, peer pressure, etc).  Start early to develop trust with children so they will come to you with questions and concerns. Make time regularly to just ‘talk.’ Don’t be ignorant, don’t expect the school system or friends to ‘teach them’ – be a real parent, proactive, and be involved with and talk to your children.

10) Absolutely No Excuses: Always remember that the media, individuals, and companies everywhere have one goal – to make money. Thus, they entice us to buy their product by luring us in with sexually exciting, pornographic, and addicting images and messages. Regardless of this fact, there is never an excuses for looking at, falling for, and becoming involved in this filth. It does not matter if you are just ‘curious’ – don’t look, don’t go into that advertisement, don’t watch that show or visit that website. And realize that the moment you hear yourself saying or thinking these things that you are headed for trouble, addictions, misery, and possible punishment:  it won’t hurt anyone, it’s my choice, everyone is doing it, I am just curious, I need to know so I am not ignorant, my friends want/force me to, etc. No! Be proactive. Be disciplined. Don’t give excuses. Just turn away and don’t get involved.

Never forget, however, that this is much more than not looking at pornography – this is about maintaining integrity, developing self-discipline, preserving our marriage or relationships, and especially ensuring that our families do not fall apart. When the temptation to look confronts us, as it constantly does, we must look away immediately! Doing so will allow us to avoid the consequences that come from participating in this selfish and evil act: a lack of confidence, guilt and shame, mental and spiritual abilities weakened, addictions formed, relationships ruined, and possibly our very families torn apart.

And perhaps therein lies the great secret as to why pornography is so destructive – those who participate and look at this filth wrongfully assume that doing such only affects them, and is only known by them. Wrong! The effects of this addiction change our very mentality and perspective, develop selfishness and lust within us, weaken foundations of trust, and will certainly – in time – destroy the very most important relationships in our lives. We must not look and get involved. For ours and our family’s sake – we must not look!

I wish it weren’t true, but unfortunately for us all – sex, immorality, and immodesty sells. As a few greedy individuals and companies make a profit from this sleazy material, the realistic and sad result is that – thoughts are corrupted, commitments and responsibilities are discarded, selfishness and temporary gratification become more important than self control, sins and crimes are committed, addictions are developed, families are torn apart, and slowly our society’s very foundational values have disintegrated.

Keeping thoughts clean, turning away from temptation, or altogether avoiding pornography is becoming increasingly more difficult considering the fact that – the vast majority of movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, advertisements, and websites are immoral, immodest, sexual, and pornographic in nature. We are daily bombarded … and thus daily fighting a battle. It is a battle to keep our thoughts, actions, habits, and character clean and pure and chaste.

Thankfully, however, despite this fact – it is possible to conquer in this daily battle. But how? Let me suggest 10 tips that are simple in theory, and yet extremely difficult in practicality; but if applied, will literally help anyone to obtain the peace, true freedom, confidence, happiness, purity, and success that living a chaste life will inevitably bring.

1) Daily Effort: It is of utmost importance to remember that although continuous actions for good result in habits that are good, temptation and pornography will still abound … often daily. Thus, the necessity of controlling our thoughts and developing self control must be a daily effort.

2) Remove Yourself From Temptation: Unfortunately, the reality is that there is absolutely no way for us to completely remove ourselves from situations and mediums that will tempt us in regards to our chastity. Pornographic images always seem to find us, regardless of where we are and what we are doing.  However, with that said, we also can be a little more proactive to limit that temptation. Don’t visit that website, watch something else on TV, don’t go see that movie, don’t pick up the magazine, don’t enter the pop-up or advertisement, turn the channel during that commercial, etc. It’s hard, it takes discipline, and everyone else may seem to be doing it … but you must not!  For your sake and your family’s … you must not!

3) Control Your Thoughts: Do you actually realize the power of your thoughts.  Thoughts literally convert into actions. Thus, whatever it is that we entertain on the stage of our own minds, will in time become our very actions, habits, and character. Do you truly understand and believe that you literally can (and must) have complete control over your thoughts? You may not have asked or chosen to view the image, but you certainly have the choice as to whether or not to keep that image playing on the screen of your mind.

4) Remember the Consequences: Realize now that the fruits of pornography are: momentary gratification and lustful pleasure followed by immediate shame, guilt, sorrow, fear, and embarrassment. Eventually addictions form, curiosity heightens, people become past feeling, and the result – marriages end, families are torn apart, and crimes are committed only to satisfy a temporary gratification and almost impossibly avoidable addiction. (And let’s not be ignorant of the possible consequences and responsibilities that also could result … such as diseases, caring for a child or significant other, or paying child support, etc.).

5) Understand What ‘True Love’ Is: The world’s portrayal of ‘true love’ is often seen and interpreted two ways. First, ‘true love’ is ‘happily-ever-after.’ For anyone who has been married and experienced true love, they will be the first to tell you that ‘true love’ requires work, effort, change, sacrifice, compassion, and unselfishness … not just riding off into the sunset with prince charming to live in unending bliss. Secondly, ‘true love’ is most often unfortunately portrayed as ‘true lust.’ Love certainly is physical, combines attraction with affection, and is wonderful and beautiful. But ‘true love’ is far more than the physical and sexual joy such marital relationships can bring. ‘True love’ is the epitome of unselfishness. It is caring, it is thoughtfulness, it is service, it is work, it can even be trying, difficult, and hard at times. But ‘true love’ is committed, makes it work, never gives up, focuses on the positive, endures through challenges and weaknesses, and thinks of the concerns and needs of their spouse above their own.

6) Discipline the Natural Sexual Tendencies & Passions: We live in a society that demands that we discipline our physical bodies, our minds and intellects, and our social capabilities. The person who can not eat properly, keep their bodies fit, get an education, and socially interact are viewed and treated literally as either mis-fits, inferior, or lower class. Even if one wants (or does) eat unhealthily, is lazy, drops out of school, etc. – they know that they will be either ridiculed or limited by our society. On the other hand, however, our society (generally) makes no effort – in fact, quite the opposite – to require us to discipline our sexual passions and tendencies. Why is disciplining our sexual passions any different than our eating habits, intellect, or social abilities? It isn’t, and should not be! Just as we would go on a diet, work hard to exercise, or strive to obtain an education – we too should strive just as hard to discipline ourselves sexually and control and keep in balance a tendency just as (if not much more) difficult to manage as our eating, exercising, educational or social habits.

7) Idle Minds & Actions are the Seedbed for Disaster: The moment you find yourself idle either mentally or physically, you must know that this should be the first warning sign of possible danger ahead. ‘Surfing the web’ alone, or with nothing else to do; watching a movie that perhaps should not be viewed; or flipping through a magazine just out of ‘curiosity’ is the first idle step to inevitable temptation. Decide now to have integrity when alone, and make a rule to never ‘surf the web’ when you feel alone, down, frustrated, or with nothing else to do.

8) Deciding in the Moment of Temptation is Too Late: Decide right now that you will NOT enter that website, rent that movie, or watch that TV show.  Decide now what your limits are, and never cross them. Write your decision down on paper, put it in a place seen often and review it daily, and completely commit to the decision made in the moment of clarity of mind (not when you must decide in that fleeting hour of lust, selfishness, loneliness, temporary gratification, and temptation).

9) Tips for Parents: The most important tip for parents of teens or children – you must be the example. Do not expect anything of your child unless you are living it yourself. Next, set family rules (i.e. computer times, what can/can’t be watched, place the computer in high traffic places, talk about online safety, etc). And lastly, but certainly most importantly, parents must be involved in their children’s lives (in regards to friends, sexual activity, peer pressure, etc).  Start early to develop trust with children so they will come to you with questions and concerns. Make time regularly to just ‘talk.’ Don’t be ignorant, don’t expect the school system or friends to ‘teach them’ – be a real parent, proactive, and be involved with and talk to your children.

10) Absolutely No Excuses: Always remember that the media, individuals, and companies everywhere have one goal – to make money. Thus, they entice us to buy their product by luring us in with sexually exciting, pornographic, and addicting images and messages. Regardless of this fact, there is never an excuses for looking at, falling for, and becoming involved in this filth. It does not matter if you are just ‘curious’ – don’t look, don’t go into that advertisement, don’t watch that show or visit that website. And realize that the moment you hear yourself saying or thinking these things that you are headed for trouble, addictions, misery, and possible punishment:  it won’t hurt anyone, it’s my choice, everyone is doing it, I am just curious, I need to know so I am not ignorant, my friends want/force me to, etc. No! Be proactive. Be disciplined. Don’t give excuses. Just turn away and don’t get involved.

Never forget, however, that this is much more than not looking at pornography – this is about maintaining integrity, developing self-discipline, preserving our marriage or relationships, and especially ensuring that our families do not fall apart. When the temptation to look confronts us, as it constantly does, we must look away immediately! Doing so will allow us to avoid the consequences that come from participating in this selfish and evil act: a lack of confidence, guilt and shame, mental and spiritual abilities weakened, addictions formed, relationships ruined, and possibly our very families torn apart.

And perhaps therein lies the great secret as to why pornography is so destructive – those who participate and look at this filth wrongfully assume that doing such only affects them, and is only known by them. Wrong! The effects of this addiction change our very mentality and perspective, develop selfishness and lust within us, weaken foundations of trust, and will certainly – in time – destroy the very most important relationships in our lives. We must not look and get involved. For ours and our family’s sake – we must not look!

Section III

(xii) Sexting

“Sexting”, the term that refers to preteens and teens sharing nude photos of themselves via cell phones, emails or on the Web, is illegal and could land the perpetrator in serious trouble with the law. This could include jail time and could carry the stigma of being a child molester well into adulthood. The practice can also have serious mental effects on young people so preteens, teens and adults must think seriously and consider the possible consequences before they push the send button on whatever device they are using. Taking, sending and receiving nude and/or semi nude pictures of a child is against the law. Whether the intension is innocent or not and even if the perpetrator is a minor the law is not grey; it is black. and white so far as current statutes are concerned. Sexting is considered to be child pornography and is one of the most dangerous communication medium on the web today. The admonition to preteens and teens seem to be going on deaf ears, perhaps because of peer pressure or the need to be popular. Parents are particularly challenged in this specific arena since one misstep on the part of their precious child could put him/her in jail with the added stigma of being branded a child molester even though the perpetrator may be a child. Certain terms such as doing jail time and child molester may seem repetitious. This is intentional and is meant to impress on the reader the seriousness of actions pertaining to Sexting.

Look at the following cases and consider if you would like to be caught up in this dilemma:

Three teenage girls in a town in Pennsylvania who sent nude photos of themselves via cell phones to three male classmates have all been charged with participating in child pornography. The girls were charged with manufacturing and disseminating child pornography and the boys were charged with possessing it. In Wisconsin, a 17 year old boy was charged with child pornography after posting nude pictures of his 16 year old girlfriend on the internet.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy recently published a study suggesting one in five teens had sent or posted images of themselves in various stages of undress. Another disturbing factor is that 15% of those involved in Sexting have sent nude photos of themselves to people they only met on the Internet. The craze is not relegated to the United States alone. According to Reuters in London, “A growing number of British teenagers are swapping sexually explicit images of themselves on mobile phones leaving them open to bullying and victimization by their peers…”

This phenomenon is so wide spread that teens may be caught up in its web unintentionally. The long range effects on perpetrators and victims, beside the current laws and possible consequences are far reaching and cannot possible be analyzed and evaluated by the immature minds of our preteens and teens. I recently warned my grandson that he must separate himself immediately from anyone involved in Sexting no matter how enticing looking at pictures of a naked girl or boy may be.

Consider the following case and think critically before you push the send button on whatever devise you are using.

A teen age girl sent nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend with whom she was very much “in love”. A few months later they broke up. The boyfriend was angry over the break up and to get back at his former girlfriend, sent the nude pictures all over the Internet. He is currently facing a considerable time in prison for distributing child pornography in addition to being branded a child molester until age 43. We can only imagine the embarrassment and long term effects this will have on the hapless teenage girl whose nude pictures can be archived and disseminated “ad infinitum” (indefinitely).

Sexting is always a bad idea and must be discarded as soon as it comes to mind or as soon as someone makes the suggestion.

This article is not intended as a source of legal advice but only as suggestions, tips and ideas on keeping our children safe in this world in which we live:

Sexting is Illegal: Do not take or send nude or sexually suggestive photos of yourself or anyone else. If you do, you could be charged with producing or distributing child pornography. If you keep them on your phone or computer you could be charged with possession. If they go to someone in another state, it’s a federal felony.

Non-legal consequences: Consider the emotional damage that can come from having intimate photos of yourself go to a friend who can become an ex-friend and send it to everyone you know.

Any Medium: Sexting can be done on any media-sharing device or technology – including email and the Web. Teens have been convicted for child porn distribution for emailing sexually explicit photos to each other.

Reasons for Sexting: In some cases, children are responding to pressure in a form of cyber bullying or pressure from a boyfriend or girlfriend (they break up, and sometimes those photos get sent around out of revenge). Sometimes it’s impulsive behavior, flirting, or even blackmail. It’s always a bad idea.

Parents: Talk with your children about Sexting in a relaxed setting. Ask them what they know about it. Express how you feel in a conversational, non-confrontational way. A two-way dialog can go a long way toward helping your children understand how to minimize legal, social and reputation risks.

Tips for Parents:

If your children have sent any nude pictures of themselves, make sure they stop immediately. Explain that they’re at risk of being charged with producing and distributing child pornography. If they have received nude photos, ask if they have sent them to anyone else Try to contain the damage and tell them to delete the images from their phones and/or computers. Also tell them to transmit the message to the friends to whom they have sent the images. Continue to engage them in conversation. Stay calm and be supportive. Learn as much as you can and try to determine the origins of the behavior such as if it were impulsive behavior, teen flirting or some form of harassment. Consider talking with other teens and parents involved, based on what you’ve learned. Some experts advise that you report the photo to your local police, but consider that, while intending to protect your child, you could incriminate another – and possibly your own child. It is usually good to talk to children and their parents first. If malice or criminal intent is involved, you may want to consult a lawyer, the police, or other experts on the law in your jurisdiction, but be aware of the possibility that child-pornography charges could be filed against anyone involved.

Teens:

If a Sexting photo arrives on your phone, first, do not send it to anyone else (that could be considered distribution of child pornography). Second: Talk to a parent or trusted adult. Tell them the full story so they know how to support you. And do not become alarmed if that adult decides to talk with the parents of others involved – that could be the best way to keep all of you from getting into serious trouble. If the picture is from a friend or someone you know, then someone needs to talk to that friend so he or she knows Sexting is against the law. You’re actually doing the friend a big favor because of the serious trouble that can happen if the police get involved. If the photos keep coming, you and a parent might have to speak with your friend’s parents, school authorities or the police.

These tips and suggestions are not exhaustive and parents should use common sense in dealing with these issues. Seek legal advice if you think your child is culpable and could be charged with being involved in child pornography.

Pornographic addiction is not accurately described by an occasional urge to look at one or two saucy pictures now and again. It is a more serious approach; the desire to view pornographic images and an inability to stop doing so.  Baby boomers in middle and old age might have taken little interest in such images in early life, yet display an obsession late in life that they cannot overcome.

 

How do you know if you are addicted to pornography?  It is a simple analysis of your own behaviour:  Are you able to make the choice to do something else, or does the urge to view pornography take precedence over other social activities?  Are you secretive about your interest in pornography?   Does the secrecy element contribute largely to the attraction?  Do you masturbate more often?  Do you deliberately introduce the subject of sex into general conversation? Does time slip away as you enter a world of pornographic fantasy?  If the answer to these questions is yes, you have a problem to overcome.

 

Baby boomers who have been recently widowed might turn to pornography in an attempt to deal with loneliness or isolation.  Although a person might not be ready to take the necessary steps to begin a social life again, pornography is something that is readily available in magazines and online, to pass the time and provide excitement without having to involve others.  It becomes harmful when the person is unable to interact normally as a result of a pornographic addiction.

 

For baby boomers who understand that they have a problem, there are a number of solutions that might be applied to eradicate their difficulties.  If the pornographic material is being viewed online, purchasing an efficient web blocker will help enormously.  Easy to install and password linked, it enables a third party to program a blocking facility that precludes the viewing of pornographic material.  Such applications are traditionally used to block certain sites for children but they may be used with equal effect to help adults.

 

Increasing the social activities of the addict is another way to help reduce the urge to view pornography.  By filling the hours that are usually set aside for pornographic entertainment, it is possible to reduce certain urges, especially when physical exercise is included. 

 

An unhealthy interest in pornography is rarely without its drawbacks and may even affect a person’s ability to perform sexually.  Baby boomers of a certain age might attribute a lack of sexual competence to progressing age when in fact the problem lies in pornographic addiction.  Elderly pornography addiction is increasing, probably due to free use of the internet and to the increased competence of the elderly in using internet tools.  

 

As with most addictions, half the battle lies in understanding that the addiction exists in the first place and admitting that help is needed to stop.  When seeking professional help for addiction to pornography, or for any other psychological disorder, check the credentials of your psychologist carefully.

In a world dominated by computers and technology we take a look at what effect the Internet has had on people’s attitude towards sex and pornography.Pornography and prostitution is nothing new to the world, it has been around for years and years and will carry on to do so, of recent times it appears to be everywhere, sex shops in high streets, top shelf magazines in newsagents, recognised red light zones, legal brothels, mobile phone videos and even porn star name t-shirts are used to promote pornography.Pornography has had many effects on society, it has recently been suggested that violent porn should have a blanket ban due to rapists being influenced by such films. A rapist also admitted that a girl wearing a FCUK t-shirt inspired him to rape her and these are just some of the bad effects of having a wide range of highly accessible porn.Whether it is legal or illegal there will always be prostitution in society due to there being a high demand of men willing to pay for sex and women prepared to accept that money. Brothels have a mixture of good and bad press as they are seen to confine the issue to a particular area, cut curb crawling and sexual activity in public places.If you go back to the early 1900′s sex before marriage was looked upon as the devil’s work, the many unwanted pregnancies due to the lack of protection were dealt with down back alleys in an inhumane fashion. These abortions were a very painful experience and managed to keep many women away from pre-marital sex. Instead of sexual intercourse many lovers decided to perform what was referred to at the time as safe sex, this was a form of foreplay involving the man simulating sex with the females arm pit. Even though this did manage to cut down the unwanted pregnancies the view of pre-marital sex and pornography amongst the world was looked upon in bad light.In these days porn was in literature with racy stories and even these were viewed upon as revolting and unnatural by most, there were few pictures and drawings that existed but nevertheless they did exist, even dating back to the Egyptians with hieroglyphics.The 60′s was a start for sex becoming more acceptable due to the free love period and hippy influence, cannabis was a factor as roadies and hippy’s turned to cannabis to relax and lose their inhibitions. Pornography snowballed from there sparking a huge industry that started out in theatres where nudity was allowed on stage if there was no movement, it then proceeded to still images strung together to simulate movement. Then along came pornography magazines which became popular amongst many ages of men with titles such as playboy and mayfair dominating the market, the amount of money in this industry is clear to see if Hugh Hefner’s playboy mansion is anything to go by. Pornography by this time had a following as single men used it to release any sexual tension built up, although many men were too embarrassed to buy pornography magazines and still the market was socially viewed as inappropriate and looked down upon by many.The internet became main stream in the mid nineties which opened a gateway for people to access pornography anonymously and in the privacy of their own home in the years to come. This proved successful with money in the industry reaching a record high, and pornography reaching the homes of millions of people, the current figure in the UK is that a quarter of Britons view porn across the internet.Men across the world viewed pornography across the internet and felt more confident about viewing such images and movies as they could see the global demand for this market and people started realising that it is perfectly natural. Men had started to openly chat about porn, some found it funny, some informative, some repulsive and for some it became their life.With just soft-core porn available, UK residents visited European countries like Holland and Germany where they were years ahead of the UK in the social acceptance of porn. Hardcore porn was banned in the UK until September 2000; the popularity of internet porn had played its part in the decision to legalise hardcore porn. The breakthrough of playing and transferring media through mobile phones enforced the fact that porn HAS become acceptable in many walks of life as 60% of men own pornography on their mobile phones. This figure without the internet would be considerably lower without the internet as the internet is over 90% of the population’s source of porn.Amongst some, pornography and prostitution are viewed upon similarly although there is a definitive difference, in the majority of countries pornography is legal whilst prostitution is not and then there is the fact that most pornography is viewed/created in privacy whereas prostitution can be a very public affair, although both are welcomed by people across the world.There can be no arguments that pornography has become socially acceptable, the internet has had a major impact on this due to being able to access adult content of any nature anonymously in the privacy of your own home. This has paved the way for other areas in the porn industry to grow alongside internet porn and help turn this market into the multi billion pound industry that it is today.Like it or not porn is now socially acceptable amongst the majority of people under the age of 30.

     

  A TALK FOR GIRLS ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY      

Dear sweet daughters of God, I am blessed to share some important thoughts with you.  I have daughters and granddaughters and know there are some things that we girls would rather not have to know about.  I’m sure our Father in Heaven would rather we didn’t need to know either. He loves his daughters and wants to protect us from the evil things of life, but because of the reality of Satan and the ways of the world it is important that I discuss a disturbing topic, so we can protect ourselves.  I will talk to you about Pornography.

What it is and what can it do to you?
How you can avoid it.
How you can overcome it, if it has become any part of your life.

What is pornography? – Pornography is any entertainment that uses immodest or indecent images to stimulate sexual thoughts and feelings.

We often think of sexual feelings as being bad or dirty but Heavenly Father didn’t intend for them to be that way.  Some people have made them appear that way with dirty talk and jokes, but proper sexual feelings are not bad; they were given to us by our God who loves us, for a good purpose.  In “The Family:  A Proclamation to the World ” we read, “The sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between a man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”  President James E Faust, said,” When these sacred gifts are exercised as the Lord intended, within the bounds of a temple marriage, they bring us our greatest joy and happiness. We become co-creators with God in having family and posterity. Chastity before marriage followed by fidelity after marriage is a sacred passport of self-respect and happiness for everyone.

Giving birth to your children will be one of the happiest things you will ever do, knowing that together you and your husband helped create those little babies, through your love for each other and your gift from Heavenly Father, of procreation. This great desire that brings the two of you together will bring you so much happiness. It is not bad, it is not dirty it is a beautiful gift from God.

The one who makes sexuality appear wrong is Satan. He knows what happiness it can bring to God’s children and he will do everything to make it evil.

One of the ways he does that is through Pornography. He tempts us with bad things, like indecent pictures, which produce those feelings and encourages you to use those feelings in ways that are against what God teaches. He substitutes the natural feelings of love with lust. When people have lust, which has nothing to do with love, those sexual feelings can be used in the wrong way to produce babies out of wedlock, cause diseases and even result in abuse.

Another horrible consequence of using pornography is that the feelings it produces can become addictive.  When constantly looking at those pictures and images the chemicals in your brain change, so eventually you must continue using pornography or you will go through withdrawal symptoms, just like someone who is on heavy drugs, like Cocaine.

 People turn to pornography and drugs to create those feelings when they want to avoid facing problems and handling life. After they have had their fix of pornography and drugs, they still have the problem. Nothing has changed but now they feel guilty and depressed. Now they have a new problem on top of the old one.

So if pornography is so bad what can we do to avoid it? What have I done?           

First: Speak up against eviI.         

I am very thankful; I have always had a natural instinct to stay away from evil things. When I was a little girl, I would go to the movies and if there were bad things in them I would complain to the manager of the theater. I am still the same today, not afraid to speak up.

 I hope you can develop that quality in yourself, so that you always know what is right or wrong. You can just feel it. When something is evil you must speak up or walk away.  You must guard yourself from evil.

I learned, very young, just like President Hinkley said, “Avoid Pornography like the plague.”

Second:  Stand up for the right.                                                                   

One night, when I was older and had children, I took them to a drive-in movie. That night they were playing a terrible movie with pornography in it.  I had not known this as it was billed as an animated movie.  We immediately left for home.  I was so angry that I wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper to warn others.

 I guess my letter was a good one because a lot of people responded, many from other churches. We formed a group called -Citizens against Pornography – It was very successful. We got all of the porno magazines off the shelves of the grocery stores and other stores had to put them up where children couldn’t get them. We also had laws passed in Canada, against Child Pornography.

I hope you won’t be afraid to do what you can to stop evil and promote good.

Third: Be an example of Righteousness

I hope when you are a mother you will do as I have done. I have never had bad reading material in my home for my children to pick up. I have always tried to be an example of righteousness for my children to follow. If Jesus walked into my home I would not be embarrassed. In my home we can stand in Holy places.

Surround yourself with good things:  the scriptures, spiritual, decent and pleasant movies, righteous books, uplifting music. You can train your mind to enjoy lovely things and get bad things out of your thoughts and life. You can choose good friends. You can look for the good. You must guard your purity. You can choose the right (CRT).

Remember: “no unclean thing can enter The Kingdom of God.” Remember also, that Satan wants to destroy you in any way he can. Don’t let him!

I can testify of this:  pornography will never bring you happiness.  It will only bring you pain. I have witnessed the consequences of addiction because my husband and I head an addiction recovery program, at our church.  The people who come to our classes who have addictions  are very unhappy people. They have lost their spirituality and often their families.  They live in constant fear that someone will find about their addiction and they hate themselves because they can’t control themselves. Whatever good feelings they thought they had when they started their addiction was not worth it. 

You now know what pornography is and how to avoid it but what if you already have the problem yourself?

If images trigger sexual feelings in you, you should avoid them. If you have just started looking at pornography, you must stop immediately before it gets a hold on you. If it does have a hold on you must get help. It is not easy to overcome. You must talk to your parents, your Bishop or church leader and get help so you can be free. Girls are not immune to this terrible addiction. Pornography addiction is a progressive addiction which just keeps getting worse if you don’t get help.

Jesus Christ loves you and wants us you to be happy and He will help you overcome this problem.

President Faust said. “These are challenging times.  I believe your spirits may have been reserved for these latter days, for you righteous influence on others.”

You righteous daughters of God must stay clean and pure and be examples to your friends and family and live righteously so you will avoid the terrible pain of addiction and also so you can be free to have a happy righteous future.

Now you know for sure what Pornography is and how to avoid it and how to get help if you have been affected by it.

I hope you will share this message with your friends.

Thank you for letting me share with you this important topic. I pray that it will help you make good choices.

I know God loves you and wants you to be happy. I love you too.

 I know the things we talked about are true.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Introduction

 The quest for information is growing daily and the relevance of media as a supplier and disseminators of information to large populations cannot be overemphasized.   The Media is recognized as a powerful tool that is indispensable and capable of presentation of factual and balanced information that can shape public opinions and enhance structural change in human behaviour.  However, their roles today are becoming more worrisome and misunderstood especially in the area of sexuality.  There exist today raging controversies surrounding the way sexuality is being portrayed in the media in respect of the way the media tends to reinforce stereotypes and coverage of sexual issues (Tiemoko, 2006. p.6-10) and the extent of religious silence over these media activities.

Today, a publication might be regarded as incomplete without featuring a scantily clad girl or presenting sex figures (Suzanne, et al (2006). The preponderance of sexual attractive scenes inform of entertainment is becoming appalling and called for concern especially in this age that the younger ones are the closest to such media especially the visual media (e.g. television, video, etc).  The effects of uncontrolled, uncultured and illicit sexual behaviour such as HIV/AIDS, unwanted/unplanned pregnancies, dropping out of school, unemployment, poverty, crimes, and overall consequences on economic development cannot be overemphasized.  Thus, there is need for adequate assessment to discover and filter out wrong information and the sources of such information in the lives of these adolescents who are supposed to be the future leaders of our society. 

Regulation of sexual behaviour supposed to be the general concern of many religious groups at all times and in every setting.  But the extent to which any religious group can regulate sexual behaviour of her congregation or society depends on  whether such religion is world–rejecting in its response to the prevalence of societal values or whether it has become world affirming (Ojo, 2007).  The side in which the religion belongs determines the perspective of sexuality as well as her response to the society in which it operates.

While some evangelical groups have succeeded in conservatism approach to sexual behaviour, several have veered away from this traditional religious conservatism.  The Oneida community of New York in the mid-eighteenth century practiced free love with common wives and single family structure and the Mormons practice of a form of polygamy that encouraged mating to populate the world with godly children (Foster, 1994).  Also the Odumosu Emmanuel, the Jesus of Oyingbo’ saga at Maryland, Lagos is another vivid example of possession of sexual privileges over female members and wives.  There are therefore several initiatives that encourage sexual latitude in the Christendom today with yet untold effects on the new generation of adolescents among which is the global news of recent ordination of homosexual gays as priests and Bishops in Anglican sect.  All these are pointers to the sexual latitude being permitted by the church.  The manner in which religious groups especially christianity permits, is silent on adult entertainment and all its associate influencing factor of sexuality raises questions on what the moral responsibility of churches is regarding sexuality and it also raises question about the new societal perspective of responsible sexuality.

According to Monroy de Valasco (1982), the developing countries have over 1 billion adolescents who are physically old enough to reproduce but who are far too young to be responsible healthy parents of healthy children (Monroy de Valasco, 1982).  The above assertion could not be unconnected with the absence of the vital sexuality information in homes and uncontrolled access the young folks are having to mostly uncensored scenes.  Ill-informed children especially in the areas of procreativity could engender irresponsible adults/parents with great adverse effect on their siblings and the circle might continue if nothing is done to salvage the situation.  Thus, this research was instituted to break the circle of misinformation and misperceptions regarding adult entertainment in our society.

The globalization of western culture, although with positive advancement in economic development, has engendered infiltration of this culture into fabrics of Nigeria system with visible dominance (Rodney, 1976).  This is more pronounced in some lifestyles like dressing, speaking, work ethics, mode of entertainment and views on sexuality.   One of the sources of this is adult entertainment pivoted and propelled by the media.  Adult entertainment comprises all activities where predominantly women perform sexual acts for payment that include all sex shows, live sex shows – lap and pole dancing, sports bars, stripping, saunas (with extras), prostitution.   It also includes ‘pay-to-view’ internet access and TV/DVD’s, pornography, telephone sex lines, sex shops, etc. (YWCA, 2006).   It is no gain saying that these activities have crept into Nigerian society and remained till date due, amongst others, to the hunger for westernization. 

In all spheres of life, sexuality is considered vital and unavoidable especially in the religious arena where it is traditionally affirmed to be a divinely bestowed blessing for expressing love and generating life and for mutual companionship and pleasure but it also so much bedeviled with misuse, exploitation, abuse, and suffering (RAND Health, 2007).  This therefore implies that sexuality matters require wisdom which should begin to develop from childhood.  Inasmuch as it is vital for the young people to know about their sexuality, it is equally vital that the sources of such information should be unbiased, free from misconception and thoroughly monitored by the older people like the parents.  Thus, this study was therefore carried out to examine the effect of adult entertainment, assess its level of pollution and its potential magnitude in terms of influencing adolescents’ sexual behaviour.  

Testable propositions were proffered to ascertain whether adult entertainment has adverse effect on young adolescents’ sexuality, to confirm parents’ style in Nigeria as encouragement to accessing obscene materials and test whether sex education can serve as a substitute to adult entertainment in the sex lives of adolescents.

The apriori expectation was that the study will help in providing solution to wrong and inappropriate sex information brought about by exposure to adult entertainment by young adolescents.   It is conceived that adult entertainment could implant misconceptions about sex into the young folks and lead to wrong and inappropriate demonstration of such sexual activities that may inadvertently degenerate to unimaginable delinquencies such as teen-parenting, abortion, masturbation, rape, exhibitionism, voyeurism, to mention but few.  This pilot study would however lay foundation for a bigger study from which other generalizations can be made

 

Literature Review

 

Adolescence and sexual development

According to Dehart, Sroufe & Cooper (2004), adolescence can be thought of as a second revolution in human development, the first occurring during the toddler period, when a child emerges from an infant.  During adolescence, a child is transformed into a young adult and qualitative advances can be visible in all developmental areas especially the physical changes.  Just as toddlers lose their former babyish shape, so do adolescents lose the look of children.  Not only do they grow taller, heavier and stronger, but their body proportions change and secondary sex characteristics develop.  For males this includes a broadening of the shoulders, enlargement of the genitals, and growth of hair on various parts of the body.  For females it includes widening of the hips, development of breasts, and the growth of pubic and underarm hair.  Both sexes, of course, acquire the capacity for reproduction.

Adolescents develop a much greater feeling of autonomy, which is why psychoanalytic theorists refer to adolescence as a second individuation.  The first individuation occurs in toddler hood, when children come to understand their basic separateness from parents (Dehart et al; 2004). In adolescence, the individuation process is carried much further.  Now young people come to understand they have inner feelings that even parents cannot know.  Accompanying this individuation is deidentification with parents (Dehart et al; 2004).  Teenagers are moving towards their own ideals, goals, and values, their own unique characters.  They are establishing a sense of personal identity; a knowledge of who they are as separate from their parents, and of what their place in the world is.

Most adolescents do not receive any information about reproduction or contraception from their parents.  It was established that the level of discussion on sexuality between children and their parents is a function of the quality of the relationship they have with them (Papini, et al, 1998) as well as their levels of self esteem and individuation (Papini et al; 1998).  This last point suggests that young adolescents especially, will not bring their sexual concerns to their parents because they are still in the early stages of the process of individuation.  Because of this, they tend to turn to some other sources of information on their sexuality.

 

Obscenity and sexual behaviour

There is widespread belief that a causal relationship exists between an allegedly increased dissemination of obscene material and the increase of juvenile delinquency rates.   Observations show that most children begin viewing television in early childhood the major cause of fears among the parents regarding its adverse effects.  For the pre-school child, television in modern America now fulfils the function that the grandparent is said to have performed in a less hectic age—- that of an amusing babysitter. Children on the average watch television for two or three hours a day (Himmelweit et al; 1958).  Many view even the late evening programmes.  Nielsen ratings show that of an audience of 100 at 10 p.m., eight are teen-agers and six are children; as late as 11:30 p.m., five teen-agers and three children are still in the audience (New York Times; 1960) The other media are pale in significance when compared to television. Radio as a source of entertainment has been largely supplanted by the newer medium; it is in places where television cannot reach that radio listening is widespread. Only comic books begin to compete with television for the child’s interest. One research team found that 83 per cent of the children in their sample; under 11 years of age, and 50 per cent of those between 11 and 17 years,  read more than two comics a week (Lazarsfeld, et al,1948-9).

 

Religion and adult entertainment

A major characteristic of adult entertainment is nudity and scanty dressing and the two traits could be used interchangeably to describe adult entertainment as being shown by the media.  It has eaten deep into the fabric of the society today and represents a common way of life of most adolescents.  Pornography per se connotes any material depicting or describing the human body or sexual conduct in a way that arouses sexual feelings.  It is distributed through many media, including magazines, books, television, movies, music, and the internet. It is as harmful to the spirit as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs are to the body

In recent past, relaxation on dressing habit was not as visibly rampant as experience today, especially among young girls in Nigeria. The sanctity of proper dressing was always adhered to few years back.  Until now, proper dressing was regarded as socio-cultural and normal moral standard that required no instruction or advice before it is followed by every man and woman.   It was normal to find young girls appropriately dressing in a manner that represents dignity and respect for womanhood.   Nowadays, the event has been overturned and conspicuously replaced by obscene habit of half nakedness and nudity.  While the phenomenon would have been regarded as mere advent of new culture or cultural imposition from the western world, it is surprising that it’s excessively display in common and ‘reserved places’ calls for concern.  Also, the fact that the category concerned falls in the specific younger age groups and especially among the young adolescents girls make it a worrisome development that could have some specific effects in the future development of these groups and perhaps a damaging missile into the lives of the adolescents who are the most vulnerable group. 

Religiously, clothing should be regarded as an invitation to virtue rather than being an incitement to sin.  It is therefore a surprise to see different things around in the world today.  The purpose of clothing has been lost in the society today and the seemingly sneaky behaviour in the past has permeated the nooks and crannies of religious centres, especially the church.  But while some clerics or religious houses frown at this phenomenon, several sanction this trend either by omission or commission and it is now looking like a common thing to gaze virtually into parts of the human body network from the dressing habits of some adolescents and even adults.

The traditional central tenet of Christian perspective on sexuality has been chastity.  This gives rise to the morality of abstinence from pre-marital sex, healthy boy-girl relationship and higher value for virginity.  However, the observable uncontrolled permissiveness in terms of the ‘ingredient of promiscuousness’ in some highly referred places calls for concern and this has been, among others, preventing ordinary observers in classifying the churches as either pro-healthy sexuality or anti-healthy sexuality.    

 

Pornography

There exists a world of difference between pornography and obscenity irrespective of the way and manner they are being used interchangeably.  While pornography implies films, pictures, magazines, etc that present or contain sexual activities or information that intend to make people sexually excited, obscenity refers to the offensive behaviour and languages conditioned by such pornography  (Macmillan English Dictionary, 2006 Edition).  According to the Encyclopedia of Ethics, pornography is defined as “the sexually explicit depiction of persons, in words or images, created with the primary, proximate aim, and reasonable hope, of eliciting significant sexual arousal on the part of the consumer of such materials.” (VanDeBeer 1992, 991).  But while the illicit, erotic arousal caused cannot be easily determined on the spot it will eventually transform and manifest in sexual mis-behaviour.  This thus calls for serious concern because it would eventual develop and constitute a social problem that portends great danger for a transiting economy like Nigeria.

The question of how pornography affects human behaviors and attitudes has been a considerable source of controversy and public concern. Vehement oppositions to pornography are based on the fact that it encourages immorality, sexual violence and negative attitudes toward women notwithstanding the support it gained as harmless diversion that may serve to relieve sexual tensions for adults.   In 1986 U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography concluded that violent pornography “bears a causal relationship to antisocial acts of sexual violence” and that degrading pornography “bears some causal relationship” to violence, sexual aggression, and negative attitudes, such as the myth that women enjoy being raped.   Studies indicate that men who viewed films that were both violent and sexually explicit recorded the highest levels of aggression, followed by those who viewed sexually explicit but nonviolent films. Men record the highest levels of aggression after viewing pornography that portrays women as being sexually aroused by the violence perpetrated against them. According to American researchers Edward Donnerstein, Daniel Lenz, and Steven Penrod, “It is this unique feature of violent pornography—the presentation of the idea that women find sexual violence arousing—that plays an important role in producing violent pornography’s effects.” However, studies have found little correlation between purely erotic nonviolent films and violence or aggression against women (Downs, 2007).

 

Cultivation theory

Cultivation theory suggests that frequent viewing increases the likelihood of the adoption of expressed values and beliefs that will ultimately alter actual behavior (Brown, 1993; Brown, et al, 1995; Gerbner, et al, 1986). When applied to adolescents’ television consumption, it implies that higher rates of viewing could bring about greater changes in values, beliefs, and resulting behaviors.  In this context, greater exposure to sexual content could lead to greater acceptance of the gender stereotypes (Walsh-Childers, et al, 1993).  Notwithstanding, other evidence suggests that exposure to media content is not equivalent to paying attention to that content (Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999), especially in an adolescent population where multiple media consumption is common and television use acts as a background to other activities like homework or eating.  However, Grube and Wallack (1994) assumed the level of attention and emotional response given to televised alcohol advertising can mediate the influence of a message as well as the level of identification with the communicator. 

The theory therefore supports the premise that constant exposure of adolescents to adult entertainment such as pornography would eventually lead to their adoption of such practices as well as cultivating them as habits.  This may lead to juvenile delinquencies and vices such as rape, masturbation, prostitution and so on.  Hence, it is deduced with the help of this theory that adult entertainment (which is for adults by the way) could have adverse effects on young adolescents’ sexual behaviour.  As such, entertainment is not targeted for consumption by people of their age.   Also, an earlier study by Healy and Brumer, it was concluded that delinquents were more frequent among movie-goers than other who don’t (Healy, et al, 1936), a finding that was also corroborated by Gluecks (Glueck and Glueck; 1950).  While it is not unlikely that they established a causal relationship between motion picture viewing and juvenile delinquency, it could be assumed that a person who attends movies more often could likely have a stronger urge than the non-delinquent boys for exciting outlets.

 

Research design

A survey research technique was employed in the study that was carried out in Lagos State of Nigeria and the study population consists of adolescents who fall within the ages of 12 and 24 years inclusive.  Both sexes were included in order to identify the various perspectives of both sexes on the subject matter and to offer opportunity for assessing the influence of the variable on all categories of adolescents.

Although a systematic sampling technique was used in selecting respondents who are adolescents in the study area, the choice of the study areas was very subjective.  The prevalence of constant supply of electricity and other social amenities were considered as the basic determinants of access to the medium of watching or reading materials relating to adult entertainment.  Thus, the resident Districts of Ikeja (GRA), part of Oshodi and Yaba were purposively selected.  In this area, simple random sampling method and Primary Health Care (PHC) house numbering guided the selection of respondents who were interviewed on face-to-face approach. Only 10 houses were selected in each of the 4 enumeration areas chosen in each district.  Overall, 114 questionnaires were processed out of the 120 respondents interviewed by well structured questionnaires.  Two separate focus group discussion (FGD) were organized in these locations for more findings and confirmation of interview outcome

 

Data analysis

Distributive statistics were employed to assess the socio-demographic characteristic of the respondents and inter-dependent association amongst identified variables and indulgence in adult entertainment.  Data collected were analyzed with SPSS. The frequency distribution, cross tabulations and regression techniques were employed and the empirical results presented in tabular forms.  The hypotheses were tested using the Chi- square (X2) method of analysis, at 5% level of significance, and the appropriate degrees of freedom.  All tables are appended to this paper.

 

Results and Discussions

 

This section focuses on discussions of the results from the data analysis.  Several cross- examinations were also made among the identified factors responsible for adolescents’ motivation in indulging in adult entertainment. 

 

Demographic characteristics of respondents

Sex ratio of Nigeria was purposively used in apportioning quota for both sexes and about 51 males and 63 females were selected as our total sample.  The study revealed that an overwhelming proportion (72%) of respondent’s parents are living together as at the time of survey (82%) while about 10% were from divorced homes (table 1).  This implies that majority of respondents are from stable homes adjudged capable of providing information on sexuality.    The level of rapport within the family is below average (32%), about 11% relates at distant with their parents while about 48% held close tie to parents just because of financial needs. The “Parent-Child-Rapport” is quite below average in the study area.  This could be influenced by the working nature in the environment where several parent will have to leave home early and come back very late in the night.  This situation does not however appear conducive for close parental care or relationship except on holidays.  Also the study area belong to high social classes where most childcare are entrusted into the hands of nanny, house girl / boy or in some cases the grannies.

Sexuality communication is relatively absent in Nigeria or perhaps below expectation especially among the respondents studied. It is expected that highly educated parent would always be able to communicate adequately with their children on such a matter but the study revealed the contrary.  Only a quarter of respondents have ever received sexuality information from their parents.  About the same number (25%) have it on a continuous basis while only 28% have never discussed it with their parents (table 1).   Among those who have ever received such enlightenment, only 14.9% of the total respondents enjoy freedom of discussing any sensitive issue at home with their parents.  Majority of respondents are not permitted nor have the freedom to chat on sexual issues with those they are staying with or their parents.    However, about 48 (i.e. 42.1%) out of the whole respondents are currently in an intimate sexual relationship. About 18 (15.8%) have experienced broken relationship at their tender ages (table 1).

 

Adolescents, media and adult entertainment

Despite the fact that information about sexuality is lacking in most homes, several parents have consented to (‘permission by impression’) sexual relationship between their boys and girls and other girls and boys respectively.  This represents the parent that directly or indirectly approved social relationship between their girls / boys and other boys and girls.  About 35.1% of the respondents answered ‘Yes’ to the question: Are your parents aware about your relationship with your boy friend (s)/ girl friend (s)?  About 11% will never dare allowing their parents to know of such relationship (table 2).

The study shows that about 57.9% watch television for about 2-5 hours per day, followed by 28.9% watchers for between 6-8 hours, while only 7.9% claimed they watch television for up to 9 and 12 hours daily.  Others that watch above this hour were completely ignored purposively.  This finding is in line with American experience where an average teenager is observed to be watching three hours of television a day and that most events they watch contains heavy doses of sexual content, ranging from touching, kissing, jokes, and innuendo to conversations about sexual activity and portrayals of intercourse (Collins, et al, 2004).  Virtually all respondents have access to internet facility and about 84.2% surf internet for an average of 2-5 hours per day (table 2).  While majority would not want to do so in the presence of their parents, about 26% would not mind even browsing while father or mum is present.

 

 

Exposure to adult entertainment and sexual behaviour

While there are various media through which adolescents get exposed to them, the most common source is therefore TV as confirmed by the study.  Over 75% encounter such on TV programs. About 65% get in contact with pornography via videos while print media and internet offer 40% and 35% of pornography shows respectively, thus affirming the generalization that majority of adolescents view or get exposed to adult entertainment through watching television and seeing movies.   About 2/3 of the respondents have ever experienced sexual intercourse and almost half of this figure (48.8%) were exposure so adult entertainment while about 51.2% have not (table 3). Also, the report shows that 10 out of 32 respondents who have not experienced sexual intercourse claimed they have never been exposed to adult entertainment at all.

 

Adolescents’ opinion about adult entertainment

Table 4 shows that 45.6% of the respondents strongly agreed to the fact that adult entertainment gingers instinct to have sexual intercourse while 20.4% of the total respondents disagreed.  About 0.9% could not make up their minds while 28.1 % only agreed that the habit can influence sexual desire.  Overall, 82 respondents out of a total of 114 respondents admitted that viewing or indulging in adult entertainment could result in adversely affecting the sexuality of adolescents.

Three hypotheses were formulated viz: (1) that adult entertainment has an adverse effect on young adolescents’ sexuality (2) that the parenting lifestyle encourage young adolescents to go into adult entertainment and (3) that sex education can serve as a substitute to adult entertainment in the sex lives of adolescents. The results are indicated in table 5, 6 and 7 respectively.  These were tested using statistical method of Chi- square (X2). This was calculated using SPSS.

The proposition that adult entertainment could have negative effect on adolescent’s sexual behaviour was confirmed (table 5).  At 5% level of significance, X2 tab is far less than the X2 cal(100.56).  Therefore one can assert following the observation of Walsh-Childers & Brown (1993) that greater exposure will culminate in adoption and manifestation of such illicit sexual behaviour.  A child that is exposed to sexual content will tend to behave along the scene he / she viewed. 

Table 5 revealed that the style of parenting in Nigeria encourages their adolescents to go into adult entertainment (X2 cal = 29.86).  This finding is supported by Tschann & Adler (1997) who observed that in some homes, sexual matters are cloaked with secrecy and discussions of sexual concerns are infrequent or absent entirely.  Many adolescents are simply uncomfortable discussing their sexuality and most of them do not receive any information about reproduction or contraception from their parents.  However, the likelihood that adolescents will talk to their parents depends on the degree of the relationship existing between then (Papini, Farmer, Clark& Snell; 1998) as well as their levels of self esteem and individuation. This implies that young adolescents will not bring their sexual concerns to their parents because they are still in the early stages of the process of individuation and thus resorted to other sources.  This confirmed that sex education can serve as substitute to adult entertainment at 5% level of significance and with  X2 tab  (9.49) < than  X2 cal  (72.02) as indicated in Table 5.

 

Religion and nudity

There is no law that approves pornography in Nigeria and nudity is still a foreign practice or custom in the cultural context of Nigeria in general.  However, some cultural rites permit exposure of some part of the body during festival especially but not absolute nudity as being encouraged by today’s media under watchful e yes of religious bodies.  Nudity permissiveness is becoming a serious concern to well-meaning moralists and dedicated disciplined individuals especially because of the way bodies are being revealed sanctioned by the free use of some body-exposed dressings in public places and even at the sacred places like churches or religious centres.

The silent posture of the church and the presence of scanty dressing in churches depict a vagrant approval of the dressing.  In the FGD, some participants believed that pornographic material violates the commandment of God that says: “Thou shalt not . . . commit adultery . . . nor do anything like unto it” (Deut 5:18; Exo 20:14) and it is believed that such can lead to other serious sins. Members of the Church should therefore avoid pornography in any form and should oppose its production, distribution, and use.

 

Conclusion and recommendations

This study confirmed that most parents do not usually engage their children in sex education and neither do the children feel free to discuss sexually- related issues with their parents, a major gap in the families that adolescents are striving hard to fill through any available source and at all costs.  Amongst the interesting observations revealed in this study is that many adolescents feel at ease watching television with their parents around them but they are not always comfortable surfing the internet with their parents or adult around.  Privacy is in most cases extremely limited in TV watching whereas adolescent would prefer exploring the privacy inherent in internet (cyber-café for example) and watch whatever he / she wants.

Pornography is the most common form of adult entertainment that adolescents are exposed to in Nigeria and erotic dancing, prostitution, sex shows and stripping were not popular. While the most common medium through which they access this is television, more males view adult entertainment than females.  Many adolescents can comfortably watch TV with their parents, while they would not want to watch other media while older adult or parents are around.  Several agreed that what they watch can encourage them to have sexual experience and relationship.  But while the study confirmed that adult entertainment could have adverse effect on adolescent sexual behaviour, adequate sex education would serve as a substitute to adult entertainment in the sex lives of adolescents.

The mass media and technological advancement of the 21st century has played a major role in the spread of adult entertainment as adolescents can obtain easily, such information from the internet and by watching movies on television.  Most adolescents in Nigerian are greatly exposed to adult entertainment.  It is however evident that lack of adequate sex education in homes by parents / guardians and at schools by teachers is largely responsible for the desperate adventure on the part of the adolescent to “satisfy the missing link at all cost”. This unmet need at home necessitates the scrambling for it from other sources, which in most cases, is usually satisfied by peers, with its subsequent misdemeanors. Where cultivation theory applies: adoption of expressed values and beliefs follow and behaviour becomes altered.  This will push them into the experimentation of what they have been exposed to, in the form of sexual relations.

It is believed, based on the findings in this study, that adolescents’ sexuality can be re-molded to generated sustainable, responsible, well-informed and well-equipped future generation of mature adults and successful parents.   The findings here are meant to direct stakeholders’ action in overhauling (where necessary) the wobbling image of a society that has virtually lost its moral values of good behaviour in the area of sexuality.  Therefore it is on this the paper submit that the high rate of adolescent indulgence in adult entertainment could be curbed by provision of adequate sex education for adolescents in normal open settings like schools, seminars, religious houses, rather than the current clandestine campaigning syndrome.  Sexuality programme / courses should be developed and integrated into the curriculum of academic institutions especially at secondary and tertiary levels. A high degree of Parent-Child Closeness (PCC) should be made a major priority in every home because this ultimately translates to the child feeling free to discuss sensitive matters, even those involving sexuality, with the parents.  Restrictions should also be placed on the mass media by the government; scrutinizing and stiff censorship should be placed on media coverage of sexuality matters.  The mass media should then be made to provide alternative forms of entertainment for adolescents, which would educate them academically in matters concerning their age.

References

 

Blumer and Hauser. 1933. was one of a group sponsored by the Payne

Brown, J. D. 1993: Theoretical overview. In B. S. Greenberg, J. D. Brown, & N. L. Buerkel-Rothfuss(Eds.),Media, sex and the adolescent (pp. 19-25). Cresskill, NJ:Hampton Press.

Brown, J. D., & Steele, J. R. 1995. Sex and the mass media (Report No. 1093). Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Buerkel-Rothfuss, N. L., Strouse, J. S., Pettey, G., & Shatzer, M. 1993.  Adolescents’ and young adults’ exposure to sexually oriented and sexually explicit media. In B. S. Greenberg, J. D. Brown, & N. L. Buerkel-Rothfuss (Eds.), Media, sex and the adolescent (pp. 99-112). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. 

Collins, Rebecca L., Marc N. Elliott, Sandra H. Berry, David E. Kanouse, Dale Kunkel, Sarah B. Hunter, and Angela Miu. 2004. “Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior,” Pediatrics, Vol. 114, No. 3, September 2004.

Cyril Burt. 1925.  The Young Delinquent p. 137.

Downs, Donald A. 2008. “Pornography.” Microsoft® Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2007.

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signori Elli, N. 1986. Living with television: the dynamics of the cultivation process. In J. Bryant & D. Zillerman (Eds.), Perspectives in media effects (pp.17-40). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Glueck, E.  1950. Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency (1950), p. 161.

Grube, J. W., & Wallack, L. 1994. Television beer advertising and drinking knowledge, beliefs, and intentions among schoolchildren. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 254-259.

Himmelweit et al. 1958.  Television and the Child (1958), pp. 11-12.In Mass Communications, ed. Wilbur ,Schramm (1949), pp. 389, 396-7.

IzIbid., at p. 9.

Lazarsfeld and Kendall. 1960. “The Communications Behavior of the Average American,” New York Times, Feb. 12, 1960, p. 43, col. 3.

Matthews A. Ojo. 2007. Religion and Sexuality: Individuality, Choice and Sexual Rights in Nigerian Christianity. Humanity Sexuality in Africa beyond Reproduction. Edited by  Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, Richmond Tiemoko and Paulina Makinwa-Adebusoye.  Action Health Incorporated. Fanele Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd.

Tiemoko Richmond and Oku-Egbas Arit. 2006. Monitoring Media Coverage of Sexuality: An Introduction. Sexuality In Media, Emerging Issues in Africa. 2005 Edition. Published by Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre, ARSRC 2006. ISBN: 978-37944-1-8 P6-10

Walsh-Childers, K., & Brown, J. D. 1993. Adolescents’ acceptance of sex-role stereotypes and television viewing. In B. S. Greenberg, J. D. Brown, & N. L. Buerkel-Rothfuss (Eds.), Media, sex and the adolescent (pp. 117-133). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Walsh-Childers, K., & Brown, J. D. 1993. Adolescents’ Acceptance off Sex-Role Stereotypes and Television Viewing. In B. S. Greenberg, J. D. Brown, & N. L. Buerkel-Rothfuss (Eds.), Media, sex and the adolescent (pp. 117-133). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Ward, L. M., & Rivadeneyra, R. 1999. Contributions of entertainment television to adolescents’ sexual attitudes and expectations: The role of viewing amount versus viewer involvement. Journal of Sex Research, 36(3), 237-249.

 

William Healy and Augusta Bronner. 1936. New Light on Delinquency p. 72.

 

Wolfe and Fiske, “The Children Tell about Comics,” Communications Research,

 

 

 

PPENDIX

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents

Variables

Frequency

Percent

Sex

 

 

Male

51

44.7

Female

63

55.3

Total

114

100.0

Age group

 

 

12- 16

6

5.3

17- 21

75

65.8

22- 24

33

28.9

Total

114

100.0

Living status of parents

 

 

Both living together

93

81.6

Separated

6

5.3

Divorced

1

.9

Single

14

12.3

Total

114

100.0

Closeness to parents

 

 

Very close

36

31.6

Close

55

48.2

Undecided

10

8.8

Quite distant

10

8.8

Very distant

3

2.6

Total

114

100.0

Regularity of discussion  of sexual matters with Parents

 

 

Very frequently

8

7.0

Frequently

18

15.8

Often

16

14.0

Less frequently

40

35.1

Never

32

28.1

Total

114

100.0

Sensitive discussion with Parents

 

 

Very frequent

17

14.9

Not at all

36

31.6

Sometimes

28

24.6

Rarely

33

28.9

Total

114

100.0

Respondent in relationship

 

 

In relationship

48

42.1

Not In relationship

48

42.1

Broken relationship

18

15.8

Total

114

100.0

Table 2: Adolescents and medium of adult entertainment

Parent’s awareness of  child’s Relationship

Number

Percentage

Yes

40

35.1

No

33

28.9

Never been in a relationship

41

36.0

Hours of watching television / cinema

 

 

2- 5 hrs

66

57.9

6- 8 hrs

33

28.9

9- 12 hrs

9

7.9

13 hrs & above

6

5.3

Surfing Internet

 

 

2- 5 hrs

96

84.2

6- 8 hrs

9

7.9

9- 12 hrs

6

5.3

13 hrs & above

3

2.6

Watching TV with Parent / Elderly

 

 

Yes

58

50.9

No

56

49.1

Surf Internet with Adult Around

 

 

Yes

44

38.6

No

70

61.4

Exposure to sex shows

Frequency

Percent

Yes (Exposed)

39

34.2

Not Exposed

75

65.8

Exposure to erotic materials

 

Frequency

Percent

Yes

50

43.9

No

64

56.1

Exposure to stripping

Frequency

Percent

Yes

38

33.3

No

76

66.7

Contact with sex workers

 

 

Yes

13

11.4

No

101

88.6

Sex inclusion in Sermon / Teaching in Churches

 

 

Ever Heard

35

30.7

Never Heard it

79

69.3

Parent’s Religion

 

 

Christianity

114

100.0

 

 

 

 

Table 3: Exposure to adult entertainment and sexual behaviour

Exposure to Pornography

Exposed

Not Exposed

Total

Medium

Yes

%

No

%

TV

85

 74.6

29

25.4

114

Video

74

 64.9

40

35.1

114

Cinema

14

 12.3

100

87.7

114

Print media magazine

46

 40.4

68

59.6

114

Radio

10

 8.8

104

91.2

114

Internet

40

 35.1

74

64.9

114

Club Houses

27

 23.7

87

76.3

114

 

Exposed

Not Exposed

 

Sexual behaviour

Yes

%

No

%

Total

Ever experienced intercourse

40

 48.8

42

51.2

82

Never experienced intercourse

10

 31.3

22

68.8

32

Have intercourse very frequently

8

 50.0

8

50.0

16

Have intercourse frequently

12

 46.2

14

53.8

26

Have intercourse less often

20

 50.0

20

50.0

40

Exposure by Sex

 

 

 

 

 

Male

41

80.4

10

19.6

51

Female

26

41.3

37

58.7

63

 

 

Tables 4: Adolescents’ opinion about adult entertainment

Issues

Strongly agree

Agree

Undecided

Disagree

Strongly disagree

 

Total

It encourage drive for sex

52

(45.6%)

32 (28.1)

1

(0.9%)

20 (17.5%)

9

 (2.9)

114

Adolescents are greatly exposed to it

82

 (71.9%)

29 (25.4%)

0

1

(0.9%)

2

 (1.8%)

114

Parent’s life style induces Adult Entertainment

30

 (26.3%)

41 (36.0%)

17

 (14.9%)

19 (16.7%)

7

 (6.1)

114

Formal sex education is a substitute

51

(44.7%)

37 (32.5%)

13

 (11.4%)

11 (9.6%)

2

(1.8%)

114

It has negative effect of adolescent’s sexuality

61

 (53.5%)

31 (27.2%)

13

(11.4%)

5

 (4.4%)

4

(3.5%)

114

 

Table 5: Adult entertainment, style of parenting and sex education effect on Adolescents Sexuality

 

Adult entertainment has a negative effect on Adolescent Sexuality

 Opinion

Observed    (oi)

Expected    (ei)

Residual

(oi – ei)

(oi – ei)2

(oi – ei)2/ ei

Strongly agree

61

22.8

38.2

1459.24

64.00

Agree

31

22.8

8.2

67.24

2.95

Undecided

13

22.8

-9.8

96.04

4.21

Disagree

5

22.8

-17.8

316.84

13.90

Strongly disagree

4

22.8

-18.8

353.44

15.50

Total

114

 

 

 

100.56

 

 

 

 

 

 

Style of parenting in Nigeria is responsible for indulgence in Adult Entertainment

 

Opinion

Observed    (oi)

Expected    (ei)

Residual

(oi – ei)

(oi – ei)2

(oi – ei)2/ ei

Strongly agree

30

22.8

7.2

51.84

2.27

Agree

41

22.8

18.2

331.24

14.53

Undecided

19

22.8

-3.8

14.44

0.63

Disagree

17

22.8

-5.8

33.64

1.48

Strongly disagree

7

22.8

-15.8

249.64

10.95

Total

114

 

 

 

29.86

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sex education will reduce spread of Adult entertainment amongst adolescents

 Opinion

Observed   (oi)

Expected   (ei)

Residual

(oi – ei)

(oi – ei)2

(oi – ei)2/ ei

Strongly agree

51

22.8

28.2

795.24

34.88

Agree

37

22.8

14.2

201.64

8.84

Undecided

13

22.8

-9.8

96.04

4.21

Disagree

11

22.8

-11.8

139.24

6.11

Strongly disagree

2

22.8

-20.8

432.64

18.98

Total

114

 

 

 

72.02