Generation Porn

TeddyTedson

The Sunday Independent are running an article called "Generation Porn"

Firstly I think they're about 10 years late running with this which is probably the most ridiculous aspect. Porn videos have been on mobile phones for years now and the internet was common in homes a decade ago.

They ask the question

what happens when the links between sex and intimacy are severed? And how long before we begin to feel the effects of this emotional timebomb?

Also in the ad they say how long before "it blows up in our faces".
They talk about "violent and sadistic video games" too and seem to be linking that with porn somehow seeing as it's the subject of the article.

Are they saying we're going to have another Ted Bundy on our hands?
It just seems like more sensationalist bull****, and they should really be running an article on bad parenting because it's what it comes down to.
Games are rated the same way as films, it's a parents job to know what games their kids are playing and monitor what they do on the internet.

The bit that really irritates me is

video games and the internet have given a new generation unprecedented access to the most extreme pornography.

Now I've played GTA 5 (which is rated 18+) and seen a virtual boob or two, but what video games feature "the most extreme pornography"? Because

1) I'm really not aware of many games that have any sexual content.
and
2) I have a voucher for gamestop I need to use. :P

But seriously why do video games constantly get made to look evil by the media when there are so many positives to playing games such as,

• reduction of stress and depression
• improved decision making skills
• improved vision (believe it or not)
• pain relief

to name a few.

Basically it annoys the hell out of me with this type of sensationalist journalism. If a 14 year old is watching porn and playing violent games the book has to stop with the parents. It's not the fault of porn or adult themed video games.
There is a weird anti video game agenda with a lot of media outlets that must exist through ignorance.
Why is the blame always pushed away from parents?

weisses

I think the Author was in the wrong parking place at the right/wrong time before writing this article

looking_around

because people never want to blame themselves?

PhlegmyMoses

Just like with video games, rock music, violent movies and cartoons, porn will be blamed for a lot of society's ills despite the fact that humans have been doing depraved shít to one another since before any of these things ever existed.

Femme_Fatale

The SIndo regularly has an "exclusive" about teens watching porn. Nothing to see here folks.
That paper is caricaturing itself at this stage.

DonkeyStyle \o/

TeddyTedson wrote: »

But seriously why do video games constantly get made to look evil by the media when there are so many positives

Sells more papers, and they can throw stones at it without much backlash.

My name is URL

Emily Hourican asks Mothers what can be done to protect children from the worst of the explicit material on the internet

Rosary beads at the ready...

SEPT 23 1989

25 years ago they were blaming NWA and Public Enemy

TeddyTedson

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

Sells more papers, and they can throw stones at it without much backlash.

The industry now is bigger than Films and Music combined.
Surely they worry about advertising seeing as news papers will continue with struggle with more people getting their news from the....internet.
Ah now it all makes sense. Newspapers hate anything online.

Femme_Fatale

My name is URL wrote: »

Rosary beads at the ready...

In fairness, I don't know is there anything holy joe about that. Some hardcore porn is horrific - and I wouldn't blame any parent not wanting their adolescent kids to see it.

Moomat

They're just jealous I reckon, I now I am anyway. Being a young teen in the mid 90's, I remember how dearly I waited for my weekly installment of minge on Eurotrash. Peddle material otherwise consisted of an ad for cosmetic surgery in the golden pages which featured some side boob! Gaming consisted of tetris..
Teens these days dont know how good they have it!

tricky D

Standard sensationalist b0ll0x from that kind of paper. If today's violent video games and rampant pron really did have an effect on their hundreds of millions of users, there would be rape, murder and pillage everywhere. Guess what, 404 effect in reality not found.

pablomakaveli

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

25 years ago they were blaming NWA and Public Enemy

And 30 years before that it was rock and roll which sounds just daft now.

PhlegmyMoses

I saw a monkey having a sneaky tug in the zoo the other week while two of the other monkeys were fighting each other. Must have picked that behaviour up on Redtube.

Corkfeen

Porn is supposed to be without artistic merit so I'm not even sure how they could lob video games into the category. Someone in the Sindo needs to get a dictionary.

Zen65

The "Generation Porn" thing is a bit of sensationalism.

However, when the Japanese eventually learn to create realistic life-like androids capable of having sexual intercourse with men and women (not the same android, of course), then I fear our species may die out over the course of 30 years.

On the plus side, they could manufacture special androids for Paedophile Island, where all the paedophiles would not only be locked away, but they would actually volunteer to go, thus making society a safer place!

Yeah, let's see some newspaper articles about that!

Z

DonkeyStyle \o/

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Surely they worry about advertising seeing as news papers will continue with struggle with more people getting their news from the....internet.

Yeah I don't know how interested gaming companies are in advertising to the old-people demographic that still buys newspapers. I presume they've done the math and decided they can safely throw it under the bus. These kids with their damn rock and roll music, etc.

kowloon

10 years ago I was still on dial-up.

Grayson

Moomat wrote: »

They're just jealous I reckon, I now I am anyway. Being a young teen in the mid 90's, I remember how dearly I waited for my weekly installment of minge on Eurotrash. Peddle material otherwise consisted of an ad for cosmetic surgery in the golden pages which featured some side boob! Gaming consisted of tetris..
Teens these days dont know how good they have it!

You're forgetting the lingerie section in Family Album.

My name is URL

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

In fairness, I don't know is there anything holy joe about that. Some hardcore porn is horrific - and I wouldn't blame any parent not wanting their adolescent kids to see it.

You just know the type of responses they're setting out to solicit by how the sentence I quoted is worded.

Emily Hourican asks Mothers what can be done to protect children

The idea that kids are growing up having their world view shaped by violent pornography etc is just hyperbolic.

"The first generation steeped in porn"

"emotional timebomb about to explode"

Sensationalist nonsense.

There's a debate to be had on the subject, but that whole Helen Lovejoy routine isn't a good starting point for it.

JustAddWater

Grayson wrote: »

You're forgetting the lingerie section in Family Album.

It's Ireland's biggest lingerie section, I believe

Temptamperu

They pick on games and porn (why are these two linked?) because they are the mediums getting in the way of that comfortable top spot the old media used to own. So they blacken the name in the hopes of toppling these huge industries, which they wont.

wretcheddomain

TeddyTedson wrote: »

But seriously why do video games constantly get made to look evil by the media when there are so many positives to playing games such as,

• reduction of stress and depression
• improved decision making skills
• improved vision (believe it or not)
• pain relief

Why do burgers always get a bad press when there are so many positives to eating burgers:

* Protein in the burger itself
* Vitamin C in the tomato
* B Vitamins & Folic Acid in Onion
* Vitamin A and K in lettuce
* Fibre in the bread

You get the point. Eating too many burgers will still cause more harm than good so selectively highlighting the positives about anything only leads to a highly skewed and biased perspective, hence making your point entirely redundant.

humbert

I think debating articles like this is missing the point. It's deliberately manipulative gutter journalism and should be derided as such.

I'm not saying that some of the points and concerns aren't valid but articles like that do not set the stage for sensible debate and the papers who produce them should be ignored.

Nodin

TeddyTedson wrote: »

The Sunday Independent are running an article called "Generation Porn"

Firstly I think they're about 10 years late running with this which is probably the most ridiculous aspect. Porn videos have been on mobile phones for years now and the internet was common in homes a decade ago.

.........

True, but putting together an article that goes 'Waaah - teenagers & sex' still gets attention.

average hero

I wonder if it's like the old saying of 'everything in moderation'. For example a little flutter on the horses once in a while, a few drinks every so often or a curry cheese chips every couple of weeks does no-one any real harm if they can handle it, but develop a gambling, alcohol or eating addiction and you will very quickly see the damage done.

I suppose porn is the same. A cheeky look at 'whatever you're having yourself' website every so often may not be the worst thing in the world. It may even help to reduce stress etc. but if it becomes an addiction and you are using it to tug the middle off yourself multiple times a day to extreme hardcore porn, it MAY warp your expectations and desires. This is when it may be a problem.

The One Who Knocks

"Ticking time bomb".... sensationalism at its best!

Moomat

average hero wrote: »

I suppose porn is the same. A cheeky look at 'whatever you're having yourself' website every so often may not be the worst thing in the world. It may even help to reduce stress etc. but if it becomes an addiction and you are using it to tug the middle off yourself multiple times a day to extreme hardcore porn, it MAY warp your expectations and desires. This is when it may be a problem.

Not to mention hairy palms, going blind etc...

FoxT

Indo article referred to by OP offers nothing new, is a rehash of stuff that has been written about for ages, and is written by journalists. Unlike say, sociologists,or psychologists, journalists are not particularly well qualified to offer anything new or insightful here.


-FoxT

mikom

Caligula was mad for the ould video games............

Pushtrak

mikom wrote: »

Caligula was mad for the ould video games............

Grand Theft Chariot was all the craze.

PopePalpatine

Is it possible the Sindo became horrified by porn when some of it involves threesomes? :pac:

MonaPizza

Moomat wrote: »

They're just jealous I reckon, I now I am anyway. Being a young teen in the mid 90's, I remember how dearly I waited for my weekly installment of minge on Eurotrash. Peddle material otherwise consisted of an ad for cosmetic surgery in the golden pages which featured some side boob! Gaming consisted of tetris..
Teens these days dont know how good they have it!

As far back as I can remember the English tabloids were available in Ireland. Could you not have walloped your c0ck over Samantha Fox and Maria Whittaker on page 3?
In the 90's I lived in the US so porn mags were no problem. Puritan was my fave

Khannie

My name is URL wrote: »

The idea that kids are growing up having their world view shaped by violent pornography etc is just hyperbolic.

Disagree. I'm reasonably young and have a teenage youngfella. I have been using the internet daily since (brace yourself) 1996 and had access to porn on computers in the late 80's. I'm technically competent and I have to acknowledge that it's a losing battle trying to prevent young people from seeing porn.

Kids his age have much easier access to horrible, horrible porn than I ever did (and I'm all in favour of a bit of porn). As soon as cheap smart phones became available, parents effectively lost the ability to police their childrens internet use. Internet use restricted at home? His mates phone has a data plan with no restrictions.

"Set up a shared wifi there pal."

"Send me on those pics by bluetooth there lad."

"AHAHA. Check this out."

and so on.

He's 16 and despite the restrictions we place on him there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he's seen (for example) stuff like two girls, one cup. *shudder*

You think they're not using snapchat to send inappropriate pics to each other? Think again.

I genuinely believe that it is the first generation to have access to nasty porn at a young age and that it is endemic. I also genuinely believe that even with the best technical abilities a parent is going to have serious trouble preventing it (and let's face it - most parents have very little technical ability).

"The first generation steeped in porn"

Yep.

maxwell smart

I wonder if the 'journalist' Niamh Horan who 'writes' for the Sindo is the author of this, or is quoted in the piece?

Incredibly talented she is :rolleyes:

Sky King

Interesting TED talk on the subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_RIm9ZMN1I

FoxT

Khannie, you are probably right. I've been internetting about as long as you have been and it is clear that the barriers of access to porn etc are now pretty much nonexistent, regardless of age.

Railing about 'generation Porn' does not help though. A well informed article about, say, 'online porn - how should parents respond' or similar would be potentially more constructive & informative than the article the OP linked to. Indo will never publish anything like that though - not entertaining enough.

-FoxT

allym

Instead of vilifying porn, surely the focus should be on improving sex education in our schools and encouraging parents to talk to their kids about the fact that porn is as fake as any other movie they see.

While there's no denying there's some weird stuff out there, I think the real damage happens when kids think that because they see something in porn, that it's normal and that's how sex is.

Legs.Eleven

Moomat wrote: »

They're just jealous I reckon, I now I am anyway. Being a young teen in the mid 90's, I remember how dearly I waited for my weekly installment of minge on Eurotrash. Peddle material otherwise consisted of an ad for cosmetic surgery in the golden pages which featured some side boob! Gaming consisted of tetris..
Teens these days dont know how good they have it!

Strange to think we were all having a sneaky goo at Eurotrash at that age. I remember flicking channels and lingering on Channel 4 with my finger over the button just in case my dad or stepmam came down the stairs...

Some buzz that was.

marshbaboon

Misread the thread title. Was expecting pictures of Worf with his balls hanging out. Very disappointed.

UCDVet

For all the anti-porn talk, I haven't seen any actual evidence that suggests porn is dangerous or harmful.

Particularly interesting is the fact that researches CANNOT FIND MEN WHO HAVEN'T SEEN PORN.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/6709646/All-men-watch-porn-scientists-find.html

Sounds like fearmongering to me.

horgan_p

<insert Maud Flanders picture here>
Won't someone think of the children ?

claypigeon777

If this isn't stopped then by the time young boys and girls are adult men and women they will be having sex with eachother!!!!!!:eek:

joseph brand

Moomat wrote: »

They're just jealous I reckon, I now I am anyway. Being a young teen in the mid 90's, I remember how dearly I waited for my weekly installment of minge on Eurotrash. Peddle material otherwise consisted of an ad for cosmetic surgery in the golden pages which featured some side boob! Gaming consisted of tetris..
Teens these days dont know how good they have it!

I remember as a teen, sometimes I would open the kitchen door and find my dad watching Eurotrash. Ah, the sight of him scrambling to pick up the remote and come up with an excuse. Channel 4 used to show the odd French film which had good odds of showing a bewb or two.
Dark days. Channel hopping for hours with not a bewb in site some nights.

seminarian

Allowing Children, (esp Boys) of a young age to see hard porn does not help them develop as men. Women are not objects. Sex is part of a relationship, its not sport, is not a pastime, its not being one of the lads. We don't let 13 year old boys participate in Iron man because they are not physically developed. Child should not have access to porn, If parents can't police it, then the state has to step in to block access.

joseph brand

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Strange to think we were all having a sneaky goo at Eurotrash at that age. I remember flicking channels and lingering on Channel 4 with my finger over the button just in case my dad or stepmam came down the stairs...

Some buzz that was.

A bunch of us had a sleepover in a friend's house when we were 15. One of the lads was 16 with a beard, so he was able to rent Basic Instinct. Well. I thought it warranted 10/ 10, and I think we all had that feeling that we wished we were alone, not surrounded by friends.

It had a profound effect on me as I still get giddy over bewbs. Motor boat.

joseph brand

seminarian wrote: »

Allowing Children, (esp Boys) of a young age to see hard porn does not help them develop as men. Women are not objects. Sex is part of a relationship, its not sport, is not a pastime, its not being one of the lads. We don't let 13 year old boys participate in Iron man because they are not physically developed. Child should not have access to porn, If parents can't police it, then the state has to step in to block access.

/looks at username, understands it's the celibate point of view.

seminarian

joseph brand wrote: »

/looks at username, understands it's the celibate point of view.

I am a married father of 6.....

claypigeon777

seminarian wrote: »

I am a married father of 6.....

But of course you are...:rolleyes:

Nodin

seminarian wrote: »

Allowing Children, (esp Boys) of a young age to see hard porn does not help them develop as men. Women are not objects. Sex is part of a relationship, its not sport, is not a pastime, its not being one of the lads. We don't let 13 year old boys participate in Iron man because they are not physically developed. Child should not have access to porn, If parents can't police it, then the state has to step in to block access.

....what, ye can't go out on the pull?

seminarian

Nodin wrote: »

....what, ye can't go out on the pull?

No,... Pull who? Like the girl in Slane who had her life ruined? A lads night out is not about scoring a drunk girl.