Children ‘are scarred for life by porn on internet’ as developing minds are violated by visual shock, expert warns

This article is important it discusses how children brains are affected by pornography. I think there needs to be continued studies on this topic. I am posting an article after this one on a twelve year old who raped and sexually assaulted a nine year old girl after he watched porn on his computer. Dr. Struthers states if the child is too young the lasting effects can lead to the child acting out on what he/she watched. It sounds like parents have to better screen what their child views on the computer. There are several different type of filters parents can purchase to protect their children from viewing porn. This is a scary topic because how does a young child decipher what they have seen? How to they assimilate what they have seen? This article also discusses that children doesn't generally speak to others about viewing porn and are left feeling like they have done something wrong. Which IMO can lead to feelings of shame and guilt. Two burdens that are very heavy to carry.

This article points out the importance of children being monitored on their computer usage. It is amazing to me how many children have computers in their bedrooms and are unsupervised as to what they are doing on the computer. I have come across videos on YouTube where children are making videos that are being viewed by hundreds or thousands of people. If their parents knew what they were talking about and/or doing they would be appalled and worried. I have come across videos where children make videos to tell off perverts on YouTube that have asked them to do something they refused to do. If parents where more aware of their child's on-line activities their risks of being abused while on-line would decrease drastically. The perverts on YouTube count on children not telling their parents. And count on parents not overseeing what their children are doing on-line. i guess the point of this blog post is PARENTS PLEASE MONITOR WHAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE DOING WHILE ON THE COMPUTER. Rosie
Dr William Struthers told MPs that in eight out of ten cases, youngsters come across hard-core images by accident

By Tanith Carey
PUBLISHED: 16:09 EST, 25 May 2012 | UPDATED: 17:25 EST, 25 May 2012

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Campaigner: Conservative MP Claire Perry

Children are being scarred for life by stumbling across internet pornography before their brains are able to cope with it, according to a leading neuroscientist.
Dr William Struthers told MPs that in eight out of ten cases, youngsters come across hard-core images by accident.
If they are between nine and 14, when their bodies are becoming sexually mature but their brains are not emotionally developed, early exposure can lead to lasting damage including withdrawn behaviour and acting out what they see onscreen.
Dr Struthers was speaking at a House  of Commons seminar sponsored by  Claire Perry, the Tory MP who wants to block web porn from computers unless adults ‘opt in’.


The American academic’s remarks came as the Daily Mail continues its campaign for a limit on the unregulated flow of internet porn into homes.
Dr Struthers, an expert in sexual arousal who researches the impact of pornography on young people, said: ‘When asked to recall their first exposure, most individuals will say it was accidental, unintentional and inadvertent.

‘A typical story would be a young lad who is sent a link to a website by a school friend as a prank.
‘The website may have a perfectly innocent-sounding name and the boy logs on. Even though he didn’t give his consent, he then sees images he didn’t want to see. It’s in this way that children’s minds are being violated.
You can’t “un-see” something. These images are not easily erasable and become almost tattooed on the cortex. It is a powerful shock to the system.’

Accident: Dr William Struthers told MPs that in eight out of ten cases, youngsters come across hard-core images by accident

Dr Struthers, associate professor of psychology at Wheaton College, Illinois, found that research subjects were able to recall the first images of porn they ever saw in remarkable detail even though they could not remember images they had seen more recently.
He said that impact was profound because although the hypothalamus – the region of the brain which controls sexual development – is preparing the body for sexual maturity, the higher thinking regions of the brain are not developed enough to deal with viewing extreme sex.
‘They feel aroused but they don’t know how to make sense of that,’ he said. ‘This creates a sense of unease that they have done something wrong. On top of that, 80 per cent will never talk to anyone about what they have seen. They don’t get the benefit of adult sexual maturity to help process this information.’
While not all will be affected, for vulnerable children porn can be the ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’ which tips them into becoming withdrawn and antisocial.
‘As they are exposed to more porn, their self-confidence goes down because they feel inadequate and their use of sexually explicit material goes up.

The American academic's remarks came as the Daily Mail continues its campaign for a limit on the unregulated flow of internet porn into homes

They become more socially isolated and have more difficulties forming attachments with care-givers.’
Neuroscientists have found  that sexual images make such a deep impact because the brain is wired to search them out, in the same way as it is wired to pick out human faces.
Furthermore Dr Struthers says research is finding that children are copying pornographic behaviour.
Simply viewing explicit images online makes them more likely to act out what they see.
When the human eye sees an activity it has not seen before, it triggers brain cells called ‘mirror neurons’ which start working out how it is done.
Dr Struthers explained: ‘If your attitudes are already becoming more permissive because of your pornography use, it could then become something you try out.’
Dr Struthers told MPs there is now ‘a broad consensus’ among academics from every discipline that pornography is changing  the way children behave. He said studies have found that porn is an ‘accelerant’ which brings down the age at which young people first have sex.
Overall, Dr Struthers believes the easy availability of porn is creating a generation growing up with the belief that sex is ‘a recreational commodity primarily for entertainment’.
He welcomed British moves towards an opt-in system for home computers, which has been championed by the Daily Mail’s Block Online Porn campaign.
The proposal for a default block, now under consideration by  David Cameron, would not only limit the amount of material allowed into homes, he added,  but would also give parents the incentive to discuss the subject with their children.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150139/Children-scarred-life-porn-internet-developing-minds-violated-visual-shock-expert-warns.html#ixzz1w11vwM2W

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150139/Children-scarred-life-porn-internet-developing-minds-violated-visual-shock-expert-warns.html#ixzz1vymeQ8px