by James Garton

Created on: April 16, 2009

Porn is like a wicked drug that can have physical, emotional and psychological impact on the viewer. even when consumed in very small quantities, destructive behavior can manifest in relationships toward the opposite sex. Marriages can be destroyed, and many have fallen into financial hardship due to addiction to porn. Children exposed to porn have often developed premature sexual behavior, which leads to promiscuous behavior and risk of contracting sexually transmitted disease.

Ten years ago would we ever think that a major issue among teens would be "Sexsting"? In case your not familiar with this term, it's when teens take naked pictures of themselves or others, and send them to other teens or even adults by text messaging on their phones. Another growing problem on the Internet are adult predators that attempt to lure children to meet with them and perform sexual acts.

Pornography is a social problem, that needs to be controlled and regulated. We especially need to make sure children are protected from viewing porn online. However, how does a free society police a worldwide industry, without violating our constitution or inviting government regulation of Internet content? Regulation of Internet content may open a Pandora's box of information suppression. Some have even suggested the United Nations should become an international vice-squad, to investigate and prosecute pornography producers.

The United States already has a law in place called the Child Protection And Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988. This law requires record keeping and disclosures to verify the age of models, and images used to produce the pornographic material. A business that distributes the pornography is also subject to the law. However, keep in mind this is a national regulation, and international websites or distributors are not subject to comply.

What is the solution? We first need to know what our children are doing online and on their cell phones. This responsibility falls on the parent to police the activities of their own children. Federal, state and local law enforcement need to step up investigation efforts to prosecute offenders of child porn and online predators. Internet service providers need to develop software that will block foreign pornography sites, which are often linked to criminal behavior, sex slavery, and computer viruses, that bombard viewers with pornographic images.

The best way to regulate porn is by a partnership between consumers, search engines, and Internet providers. Development and integration of porn and virus blocking software should be mandated and funded by the government so that it can be provided free of charge to consumers. Government funding of this project should be viewed as an investment to cure the ills of society caused by pornography.

Learn more about this author, James Garton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.