I recently read a disturbing article--written by the former editor of a pornographic magazine-- about the devastating effects Internet porn is having on young people. Porn is literally rewiring children's brains:

The compulsive porn users' brains showed clear parallels with those with substance addictions...The most shocking testament came from Professor Gail Dines. Regarded as the world's leading anti-pornography campaigner, she has interviewed thousands of men and women about sex and pornography. 'When you interview young women about their experiences of sex, you see an increased level of violence: rough, violent sex,' she says. 'That is directly because of porn, as young boys are getting their sexual cues from men in porn who are acting as if they're sexual psychopaths. Pornography is sexually traumatizing an entire generation of boys.'

Not only is Internet porn traumatizing, it's addictive. And "letting our children consume it freely via the internet is like leaving heroin lying around the house, or handing out vodka at the school gates."

This horrifies me on so many levels. It's just tragic that not only does porn rewire a child's reward center in the brain, it also changes the child's perception and expectation of sexual experiences. Furthermore, an addiction to pornography can result in real-life consequences like broken relationships and job loss.

I'll be the first to admit I haven't been super vigilant about this, simply assuming that talking with my kids about "inappropriate content" on the Internet would be enough.

So, what do we do to protect our children from pornography? Ideas? Suggestions? Have you experienced the devastating impact of porn? How? (Anon. comments ok!)