Kids as young as 8 years old have become addicted to pornography.
Pornography has been the bane of many American communities for
decades. With the advent of the Internet the problem has become
exacerbated. Most parents are aware of the dangers of pedophiles, but
other dangers lurk online that are just as potentially damaging to
children--especially children between the ages of 8 to 12 years old.
Internet
pornography has destroyed careers, broken up marriages and led to
financial ruin ... and those are just the downsides for adults who
became addicted. Now a growing trend has emerged of addicted
children--kids as young as 8 years old--who have become exposed and
addicted to pornography.
Although the trend only surfaced a
handful of years ago, research has already been done that draws very
ominous conclusions. What has become apparent is the fact that if this
new addiction among children is not addressed and quickly halted it can
not only destroy the child's life, but destroy the American culture and
society as well.
This article will present a very brief synopsis
of the efforts of some of the people leading the charge to counteract
this trend towards self-abasement, destruction and ruined lives. From
learned psychologists and family counselors to esteemed neurologists and
the clergy, the lines have been drawn and the battle is beginning for
the hearts an minds of America's children--not to mention their souls.
Addictions
are an insidious thing and often involve an insidious process.
Neurological studies of children who have become addicted to Internet
porn (including brain scans) has revealed that the physiological changes
in the brain of a porn addict almost exactly match those who are
addicted to alcohol and drugs.
Addictions change the physiology
of the brain. An addiction especially has a deep impact on those brains
between the ages of 8 to 12 that are still developing. This is the
latest demographic group now becoming exposed and immersed to "sexting"
(sexual flirting via text messages), user group "orgies" and triple
X-rated pornography sites on the Web.
The origins
Dr.
Kimberly Young was the first to research and address the Internet
addiction that began emerging in the mid-1990s. In 1996 she presented
her paper, "Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Disorder" at the
American Psychological Association's annual conference held in Toronto,
Canada.
Since that landmark presentation, Internet addiction has
spread across the world to countries and cultures as diverse as
Australia, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Korea, Pakistan and
Taiwan. Even Iran has faced the growing health concern of Internet
addiction!
Stanford University's School of Medicine has estimated
that 1 in 8 Americans exhibit telltale signs of Internet addiction.
Addiction affects both adults and children. For adults it runs the gamut
from gaming sites and chat groups to pornography websites.
For
almost a decade, addiction amongst children was rare. Those that were
discovered to be addicted to the Internet were mostly addicted to chat
groups and game sites. That all changed about 2005. Two trends began
almost concurrently: explicit sexual behavior over the Internet
involving chat groups, web cams and pornography sites, and sexting
(overt, explicit sexual text messaging and transmission of nude
photographs and sexual acts) amongst friends and sometimes complete
strangers.
The dangers from pedophiles was obvious. But as
experts dug deeper into this rapidly growing behavior amongst children
12 and under the data was alarming: the rampant use of the new media
tools for early sexual expression was leading to physical sexuality, an
increase in the spread of sexual diseases including syphilis, and a
sharp spike upwards of unwanted pregnancies by very young teens and
tweens (age 10 to 12).
Research intensified. The findings of Dr.
Victor Kline suggested that "memories of experiences that occurred at
times of emotional arousal [including sexual arousal] are imprinted on
the brain by epinephrine, an adrenal gland hormone, and are difficult to
erase. Viewing pornography can potentially condition some viewers to
have recurring sexual fantasies during which they masturbate. Later they
may be tempted to act out the fantasies as sexual advances." [1]
This
is exactly what researchers found happening to young boys and girls who
had become addicted to Internet pornography. At first is was primarily
adults, then young boys, and finally young girls.
Early exposure
to pornography, especially those under the age of 10, can be
devastating to emotional development and to the development of a healthy
sexuality. Such children can develop sexual perversions that become
permanently imprinted in their brains. The actual physical structure of
their brain changes as a result of the addictive exposure.
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