With all the wonderful opportunities the Internet has given us, we need to take a step back and make sure we know how it is used—or abused—in our homes. Every day, the Internet becomes a more integral part of how we do things. We shop online, we shop online, we pay our bills online, we do homework online, we play games online… I could go on and on. It’s an amazing and convenient tool that has made a positive contribution to many people’s lives.
But, and that’s a big BUT, there are many potential pitfalls we face as we increasingly integrate the Internet into our lives. One area that has become particularly concerning is the rise in addiction to pornography. Like everything else the Internet facilitates, Internet access makes access to pornography easy and discreet for absolutely anyone. Also, unlike a physical store that sells pornographic material, there is no official body that can monitor what is available online. The result has been a marked increase in the problem of addiction to pornography. Why the increase?
- No one can see if a visitor to a pornographic site is actually over 18 years of age.
- No one is monitoring what content someone provides on their porn site, and it often goes beyond the bounds of what would be considered legal in most countries.
- There is enough porn content available online for free that someone without access to a credit card or wanting to hide the fact can have access to a lot of x-rated content without paying.
- What may start out as curiosity can become a habit and then a full-blown addiction. And the younger the person starts out, the more extreme they can become.
- Porn addiction is no laughing matter. It can destroy relationships, severely affect healthy sexual attitudes, and make its victims feel guilty and ashamed.
How can you tell if he is addicted to online pornography?
The easiest way is to try to take a look at what you are doing online. If your son, husband, boyfriend, etc. If you are spending an unusual amount of time browsing the Internet and you suspect something is wrong, you can easily check the “history” of the sites you have visited if you have access to your PC. In IE’s toolbar, you’ll see a green arrow pointing back – this is the history feature that allows you to see what sites someone recently visited. Click on it and you can see the sites browsed in the last week. Keep in mind that anyone using the PC can easily delete history, but most people don’t realize or think about it, especially if they have nothing to hide. So if someone just spent 2 hours online, and there’s no history, you may as well wonder why she felt the need to clear the history after her visits.
What can you do?
The easiest deterrent against Internet porn addiction is to remove the temptation by removing access. This can be done with an internet content filter, also known as parental control software, web filter, internet monitor. The removal of pornography is one of the focuses of the Optenet PC Porn Filter software. While any addiction must, of course, be treated, a good first step is always to help the person suffering from the addiction by reducing their temptation, just as you might help an alcoholic by removing alcohol from your home. Most importantly, don’t let it destroy relationships: confront it, talk about it, and seek help.