ST. GEORGE — Teenagers have been found to be the largest consumers of internet pornography, their brains are susceptible to the chemical overload it stimulates making it a real danger to them – one the nationally-recognized advocacy campaign, Fight the New Drug, is confronting.
Fight the New Drug will be offered in St. George next week aiming to help adults and young people understand pornography’s threats and deal with pornography addiction.
The Parent-Teacher-Student associations of Snow Canyon High and Middle schools are hosting the event Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Snow Canyon High School. The event is free and will include a one-hour presentation that is open to the entire community. Organizers are especially encouraging parents, grandparents, youth leaders and youth to come.
According to many statistics, the average age a child will be exposed to some form of pornography – most commonly on any number of digital devices in the home – is between 9 and 11 years old, said Tracy Martin, a member of the Snow Canyon High School PTA.
Fight the New Drug will present a research-based message on how pornography affects the brain, the heart, families and the world. The event is designed to be a straightforward, engaging and entertaining presentation focused on empowering people with information and tools to help youth.
The #metoo movement and USA Gymnastics drama have captivated the nation but children will remain vulnerable if parents and guardians do not actively engage in fighting the threats of pornography and sexual abuse, a press statement for the event said.
It is less a religious or moral issue than it is a public health issue, Martin said. If pornography is viewed like a drug, in that it has addictive qualities, then fighting against it is about health and happiness for individuals affected as well as for their community.
The event will be geared toward parents, guardians and other youth educators but children as young as 12 could attend and gain insight from the meeting as well. Martin hopes that the entire community will come and fill the auditorium for what she believes is a really important event.
Members of organizations such as the Washington County Children’s Justice Center and other youth advocacy groups will be attending and will have informational booths as well.
“Everyone who comes will learn something to help protect our kids,” Martin said. “We all need to be aware of the dangers of pornography and band together as a community.”
An opportunity drawing for prizes will be held at the conclusion of the meeting.
Event details
- What: Community parent meeting with Fight the New Drug.
- When: Wednesday, Feb. 21, 6 p.m.
- Where: Snow Canyon High School, 1385 N. Lava Flow Drive, St. George.
- Cost: Free.
- Fight the New Drug: Website.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.
Maybe talk to your children about sex instead of hiding it likes its a bad thing. Sex education is what is needed from the parents and from schools. Put down your cell phones and read an anatomy book with your kids or something.
This right here is a female perspective; even if the above is a male. It isn’t the sex in porn that’s so damaging, it’s the unreality of it, and a lot more factors, which I won’t go into since I’m not feeling like writing an essay. And female and male brains interpret porn in totally different ways. You might want to think outside your spoon-fed ultra-leftist feminist orthodoxy for a change. It has nothing to do w/ the need for sex-ed. That’s regurgitated, smut-supporting, feminist nonsense.
Wow I have never been called a feminist before. I thought I had the wrong sexual organs for that, but thanks I guess. Utah’s sex education is abstinence based. I am not saying abstinence is bad, but you have to teach people both sides of the story. Utah ranks at the top of the list in use of internet porn and bible belt states follow closely behind. I wonder what the connection is? I’ll let you figure that one out on your own, because the rest of us already know.
Repression of sexuality to the extremes that mormons and bible loons take it may well be very unhealthy. That does not mean the massive proliferation of online porn and smut is a good or healthy thing. There should be some kind of healthy balance. I’ve lived in these “ultra liberal” places that people might call “sex positive” as well as “conservative” places that might be labeled “repressive” as far as sexuality . The differences in views are very evident, but I can tell from personal experience neither of these “ideological” views on sexuality “has a handle on things”. I won’t further debate this b/c it never goes anywhere, but as far as those of you who encourage degenerate behavior, and support smut and smut peddlers, I will always disagree w/ you. You people are part of the problem, offering no real solutions
To set things straight, I am not saying that pornography is healthy, my views are about how Utah seems to have such a bad problem with it based on how they teach there children about sex. If you teach your kids in a healthy way, the chances of them having a porn problem is much lower. Yes guys are different in how they perceive porn, but women have their issues with it as well. It may not be online porn, but I sure do see lots of books with half naked men on them in stores, try reading one to see what kind of stuff is in those wonderful books. Same thing just different delivery system. But the main story aside I am concerned about how sexist “comments” is in his reply’s. If you have a wife she must be a good little Mormon girl that bows to your every word. My friend you are part of the problem in Utah, Shame on you.
LOL thx. i let my wife have her opinions and i have mine. we get along. cheers buddy 😉
I should say i don’t “let” her do anything
she does what she wants
LOL, too funny
I’m fully convinced that a female can never really understand the psychology of male sexual drives. And the same with men. We’ll never fully understand, since we can’t put ourselves into another’s mind. From what I’ve studied, the effects of porn on males are a lot more damaging than on females. It has to do with actual brain differences, and so a female perspective is just never going to quite grasp the psychology of it. Bottom line, the feminist perspective here is best ignored when it ends up being in support of smut and porn.
Teacher at hurricane middle school tried to teach ancient Greece as part of class – same curriculum she had used in other states. Greek Statuary showed nudity. Togas and typical Greek fashion. The Mormon kids ran out of the class and told the principal ! If middle schoolers are so offended with nudity due to scewed teachings of church. That’s weird.
Mormons often take prudishness to the nth degree. And yes they often turn out to have a dysfunctional sexuality when they become adults. As far as with middle school kids and the squeamishness over nude artwork, I wouldn’t say is a ‘mormon thing’ at all, and is typical of US culture.
Fight the New Drug does wonderful work pointing out the negative consequences of porn use and helping kids realize there is a path out of it. Another excellent resource is the book Power Over Pornography. It helps youth and adults overcome the temptation to view pornography.