As a youth minister and a parent I continue to be disappointed and distressed at the ease of access to pornography available through the Internet (See SMH article ‘Porn, peer pressure corrupting young: MP.’)
Before the World Wide Web, the only way a teenager could view pornography was to steal a men’s magazine from a newsagency. Today, they view the equivalent of hard-core restricted material from the privacy of their own bedroom computer.
My ISP blocks SPAM and scans emails for viruses, but still does not offer server-based content filtering software. We are told by the vocal minority that this filtering technology is a restriction of our freedom of speech and a form of clandestine censorship. Others tell us that to run such software is resource-heavy, placing strain on the servers leading to reductions in performance.
Yet, if we viewed this pornography problem as the social horror it really is, then we would invest the resources and research needed into implementing such a system that protects our children from this distorted view of sexuality. Adults could choose ‘opt out’ of content-filtering censorship, but it is ludicrous to think that the current practice gives our children unfettered access to pornography by default.
It is our responsibility to protect the children from the corrupting harm of pornography. If we can put a man on the moon in 1969, then we can stop our kids downloading porn in 2007.
