The internet and social media have extended personal freedom around the world. Access to information and commerce in China, India, Central Europe, the Middle East, in Latin America and in Africa have increased the power of the individual person like nothing we have seen in the history of the world.
Regrettably, some users of the Internet and Social Media use their freedom to exploit and objectify woman. They target vulnerable individuals who find their way to images that capture their imaginations, but do great harm to their relationships and their ability to flourish in the world.
Most vulnerable are children and youth. Before they are in control of their choices they receive access to computer terminals and smart phone that serve as gateways to a vast world of images that can only hurt them.
Human brains are not fully developed until one reaches the mid-twenties. The last part of the brain to come on line is the Frontal Lobe — known as the Command and Control Center of the brain.
This is where the power of judgment and choice reside.
A young person does not have the capacity to make healthy choices related to the use of the internet of social media. They do not yet have the equipment to say, “No” to powerful images that excite and stimulate their young minds. With puberty they come under the power of a new and unknown influence at work in their bodies they lack the experience and perspective to understand.
Parents must serve as their guides as they negotiate their adolescent years.
Internet pornography is not natural. It is not healthy exploration of sexuality. It is not experimentation.
It is a TRAP.
The internet increases the human freedom. We must speak to our children about how to use this freedom wisely.