By Chris Rosato
. - Louisiana is attempting to set an example for other states to follow by requiring people to verify their age on porn sites. And an expert says many whose job pertains to mental health are recognizing the effects these sites are having on kids.
Lisa Thompson is the vice president of research for the National Center of Sexual Exploitation. She and her colleagues say they’re happy to see more people recognize how addictive these sites can be, and the risk that comes with being exposed at an early age.
“I really want to commend the Louisiana legislators for passing it because they’re really the tip of the spear. There’s a wide body of literature that shows a wide range of harms occurring in children. Mental health harms, behavioral harms, lower self-esteem, there’s a higher propensity to engage in predatory and harmful sexual behaviors among each other,” said Thompson.
According to Thompson, research shows, like other addictive things, people escalate their use over time.
“If you’ve been consuming for 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, that’s going to take people to some really dark places over time. A significant number of individuals who are consuming adult pornography migrate over time to child sexual abuse material,” Thompson added.
She also says the type of content on these sites glorifies rough behavior in the bedroom more than in the old days, leading young men to believe certain abusive behaviors are normal and young women to believe it’s what’s expected of them.
“I get like not wanting kids to look at porn like yea, makes sense, but like...it’s just not gonna work. I ran into that exact same thing, and I don’t have a driver’s license for the state of Louisiana. So, like I’m an adult that’s of age, I fought for this country, and I can’t look at it because I don’t have a Louisiana license,” said one Baton Rouge resident who opposed the idea.
“As a parent, privacy and safety is most important for our children. We have young girls, and I would want any extra restrictions to be put in place for the safety of our children. And with Christmas coming, different devices and things we were looking at purchasing for our kids, we had to be very cautious and protective of what we wanted to purchase,” said a local mom on Friday.
The governor also proclaimed January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Another thing experts say is linked to the porn industry.