The uncomfortable reality of pornography

Earlier this week, students at Kellogg High School and Middle School got an education in the dangers of becoming addicted to pornography.

The assembly, put on by the Fight the New Drug organization, touched on the sensitive subject as it has become a substantial problem with the school district.

Before we go any further, the presentation was strictly scientific, explaining the addictive nature of porn, but not demonizing users or even broaching the subject of masturbation.

Presenter Parker Hymas kept his audience captivated while presenting information that made sense and didn’t make the students feel awkward or stupid.

“Frequent porn consumption tends to escalate,” Hymas said. “Because of porn’s addictive nature, porn consumers usually need an ever-increasing dosage over time in order to feel the same level of enjoyment, and they often have to seek out more extreme and hard-core forms of porn. Porn consumers can reach a point where they enjoy porn less and less, but want it more and more.”

The explanation for this is simple, but familiar science.

Like any potentially addictive substance, porn triggers the release of dopamine into a part of the brain called the reward center.

Basically, the reward center’s job is to make a person feel good whenever they do something healthy, like eating a great meal, having sex, or getting a good workout.

The “high” people get makes them want to repeat the behavior again and again.

Our brain is hardwired to motivate us to do things that will improve our health and chance of survival.

“A lot of people are convinced that there’s no such thing as an addiction to porn,” Hymas said. “But science disproved the old belief that in order to have an addiction to something it has to involve a substance that is physically put into the body; like with cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. Excessive consumption of internet porn bears all of the signs, and dangers, of a true addiction.”

And with the addiction comes a complete brain overhaul.

“Repeated consumption of porn causes the brain to literally rewire itself,” Hymas said. “It triggers the brain to pump out chemicals and form new nerve pathways, leading to profound and lasting changes in the brain.”

Administrators within the Kellogg School District have been aware of Fight the New Drug for a couple of years, but waited until the time was right to bring the presentation to the Kellogg schools.

“We are seeing more and more of a problem with internet action throughout the day, whether it’s digital porn or inappropriate use of social media,” KHS principal Curt-Randall Bayer said. “We keep trying to teach the kids how to use their devices safely, effectively, efficiently, and with a certain amount of ethics. But it takes a lot.”

Things like explicit images being searched out and then passed around at super speed, due to the ease of use that comes with things like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, or old fashioned messaging.

“It seems like we have a new case occurring every week,” KHS counselor Dan Lucier said. “What a lot of these kids and parents don’t understand is that these kids could get a picture of a classmate, send it around, and then be charged with distribution of child porn.”

But above all both Lucier and Bayer believe that the presentation can be used to help children and adults alike understand the potential long term damage that can come with the use of pornography of any kind.

For more information on the potentially Fight the New Drug visit fightthenewdrug.org