UCAP Conference Notes from Ernie Allen - 3/12/16

UPAC Conference – March 12, 2016

Pornography:  Its Harm to Children and What We Can Do About It

Ernie Allen, Allen Global Consulting LLC

He is an International Expert and Chairman of the We Protect Project

This class is stark and challenging.

US is failing in its response to pornography.

We are part of the largest unregulated social experience in history and we are paying a high price.

In the past, we could protect children, but now we cannot.

Will cover four points:  1)  what we know about the problem; 2) how the challenge has changed; 3) how we have failed; and 4) a possible model to follow.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE PROBLEM:

London School of Economics in 2008, says the average age of exposure is 11 years old.  That is probably lower now.

80% of 15-17 year olds are accessing hard-core porn.

90% of  8-16 year olds have viewed pornography

85% of males are exposed to porn

50% of females are exposed to porn

IMPACT:  Experience of viewing porn to younger children can make neurobiological changes in the brain.

It changes what they view as normal.

Philip Zambardo, Ph.D. of Stanford University has done research on compulsive use of pornography.

Boys, 10-15, exposure intensifies attitudes of aggression 6 ½ times to 24 times in sexual aggression.

Sharon W. Cooper, MD FAAP, UNC, has found that young viewers of porn believe it is real.

Donald L. Hilton, Jr., MD studies shows that “we see in people addicted to porn the same as what we see with people addicted to drugs, such as cocaine, supporting the theory that addiction to porn really is an addiction, and not merely a bad habit.  The most significant areas of change are in the control and pleasure centers of the brain.  Additionally, when we orgasm, we release a neurotransmitter call oxytocin which causes bonding, so we are literally bonding to porn when we use it to get – making beating the addiction much harder.”  (The Harvard Crimson).  The user needs more and more extreme porn.

In the first ever brain study on Internet Porn users was done by Max Plan Institute for Human Development in Berlin showed that in the hours and years of porn use showed a correlation to decreased gray matter in the region of the brain associated with reward sensitivity.

There is long-term harm.  In the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University study in the 1940’s,  showed that in men ages 15-30 only less than 1%.  In a recent study, 1 in 3 men have erectile dysfunction.

HOW THE CHALLENGE HAS CHANGED:

Content has changed.  Soft porn is non-existent. 

Now it is extremely degrading and demeaning to women.  They now use point of view photography, which is more impactful. 

Dr.  Ana Strong did a study of porn and found acts of aggression and violence.  88.2% included content of physical aggression.  50% contained verbal aggression.  94% of these aggressive acts are against girls and women.

This can no longer be considered a family value issue. 

The pornography  industry has changed their business model.  The offer free porn.  Several years ago, PornTube had 1 million visitors in one day.  Currently, they 42 million visitors per day.  They offer free porn and as the viewer continues they want more and will move to paid sites.  They are focusing on kids because they will be lifelong customers.

Today, smart phones access porn.  Projections are that there will be 250 million porn mobile users by 2017.  CISCO projects that mobile porn users will increase 11 fold by 2018.

In response to the Arab Spring, the US created the dark net (TOR), which provides anonymity and privacy.  They created to protect insurgents and journalists.  The users are drug cartels, gunrunners, and pedophiles.  2% of the dark net are pedophile sites but that 2% gets 80% of the dark net traffic.

HOW WE FAILED:

We have failed as a nation.  There have been three statutes passed and appeals courts have struck them down.

The Cox Commission states that only 28% of parents use filters on their computers.  17% use filters on their phones and only 15% use filters on gaming consoles.

We have stopped prosecuting obscenity.  1973 US Sup. Miller v. CA stated that obscenity is defined as violating contemporary community standards.

Columbia Law Review states that what used to be suppressed material are now available in vast quantity.

Sexual assaults are on the increase on college campuses and that may correlate to the amount of porn and the significant harm it causes.

A POSSIBLE MODEL TO FOLLOW:

There is a model to follow.  Prime Minister David Cameron calls for action regarding pornography and the Internet.  (Cameron).  Mr. Allen recommended reading about this plan.

In the United Kingdom, there is default filtering of adult content from their Internet providers.  The account owner, an adult, my opt out of the default filtering.  70% of Sky users left their default filters in place and only 30% of that percentage have children.

Mr. Allen has led a meeting with US Internet providers and they didn’t like nor felt they needed those limits.

The other part of the UK’s plan is age verification.  Every website will implement an age verification  or be subject to sanctions and fines.

CONCLUSION

The time of talk is over, we must act now.

Naomi Wolfe, a feminist leader, notes that pornography has supplanted the need for real women.

We need action on a state and federal level and we need private sector leadership.

Free speech is not absolute – it is limited when there is a clear and present danger.