Pornography, by Edward

Pornography is a big problem that is destroying many people around the world. At the same time, pornography is making the people who produce it rich. It is estimated that in recent years, Americans spent $8–10 billion per year on pornography. During 2003, pornography became a $57 billion industry worldwide. Twenty percent of men admit to accessing pornography at work. Many adults admit to having an Internet sexual addiction. In the general conference of The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in October, 2004, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “One study points out that pornography may have a direct relationship to sex crimes. In the study, 87 percent of convicted molesters of girls and 77 percent of convicted molesters of boys admit to the use of pornography.” Pornography is very dangerous. In addition, pornography makes the mind dirty. People can have serious problems of sexual identity if they are looking pornography. There are many ways that pornography is spreading throughout the world. For example, pornography is available on the Internet, on television, in theaters, in magazines, and in newspapers. Pornography is also addictive. We can compare pornography with contamination or drugs in the human body. The proposed solutions to avoid pornography are installing filters on computers at home, teaching parents how to use the computer, and seeking the Lord for help.

The first solution for avoiding pornography is to install filters on computers. People can find filters online for example, lds.org recommends finding a filter on www.internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com. For example, contentprotect, cybersitter, and netnanny are three of the top filters provided. To download these three filters you must pay. An Internet filter is software used to prevent access to inappropriate websites. Internet filters can preview text before it is sent to the computer. When somebody is online looking for information, buying something or using email they may have the possibility of finding pornography. There are some popup windows with unwanted content that may have pornography. To have an internet filter is useful to protect homes from pornography.

Another solution to avoid pornography is that parents should know how to use the computer to see if somebody at home is accessing pornography on the internet. There is a view tab, followed by a history tab. In the history tab, parents can see all the websites visited during the day, the most visited, the last visited, and those visited by topic. This tool on the computer can help a great deal because if people at home are accessing inappropriate content, parents can talk with their children and solve this problem. If parents do not feel comfortable using the computer, they can take community courses.

The best idea to avoid pornography is seeking the Lord for help. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, homes can be safe from this monster that is destroying many people. If parents know the true gospel, they can build a home with a high standard of morality. When parents have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ, they try to teach correct principles to their children so that they learn that pornography is a great sin that destroys people. If somebody has a problem with pornography, he can repent. Because of the atonement, people with this problem can avoid and quit pornography. When the gospel is in people`s lives, they can develop attributes like virtue, love, endurance, morality, etc. President Hinckley said, “You have the stones of virtue and honor and integrity to use against these enemies who would like to conquer you.” One of these enemies is pornography. The gospel is the best option.

It is clear that pornography is destroying many people around the world. It is necessary to look for solutions. Computer filters or parents may fail in solving the problem of pornography. The best solution is seeking the help of the Lord. He can lead and rescue us from this problem, but we need to have desire to quit, otherwise this problem will continue ruining lives.