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April 23, 2019 - Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin
08:39
#Swindon Debates： Porn Addiction
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Right, okay.
What's your name, Chat?
Sam.
Sam, nice to meet you, Sam.
Nice to meet you.
Yeah, I'm fine.
It's hot out today.
It is, there, yeah.
If I lose a bit of weight, I might feel a little better about that.
That's why I'm eating my salads, mate.
Yeah, you're doing good.
Thank you.
So what's the concern?
I think, perhaps we'll start off with it.
The porn idea.
It might not be the best thing to talk about.
We'll talk.
It's talk about anything.
Yeah.
I was wondering what your opinion is on it in general.
I think it's a terrible idea.
I don't think the government has the legitimacy to restrict your access to legal material.
What sorts of age...
Obviously, I wouldn't want a child to stumble across pornography.
Even though most websites do warn you about what it is, and really, if you're seeking it out, then you're seeking it out.
I mean, I don't know what age, the lowest age, you'd say would be fine to watch pornography.
I haven't got an opinion on that.
I would say it's down to the parents to decide what age they talk to their kids about that, and it's up to them to be responsible about that.
I think it's wrong to try and make the state responsible for that, because then we start trying to create rules that we can't really enforce.
I really think parents have got to be more proactive about that, be more aware of these.
I was just thinking, because, I mean, I've grown up with a computer.
I don't remember how young I was when I started.
Yeah.
But I personally think it's rather stupid to stop.
I'd say probably 13 or possibly even slightly younger.
I don't see why.
Obviously I might be biased against this, but I don't see why we should restrict that sort of teenager slowly going into it.
Because obviously, 18 plus, kids can have sex around 16, can't they?
Yeah, they can.
So it seems a little stupid.
Well, it's really, again, up to the parents who should be moderating that, in my opinion.
But I am a parent, and so my opinion on it, there does seem to be research that suggests that exposure to pornography from a young age does deform the sort of sexual characteristics of young men and their beliefs and what they find attractive and whatnot.
And it really does have a weighty impact on their future relationships as an adult.
And so I think it is every parent's responsibility to make sure that your teenagers aren't just watching the most ridiculous hardcore porn.
You know, you have to moderate that.
You have to be involved in your kids' life.
You can't just offload this decision to the government.
It's irresponsible in my opinion.
Yeah.
I mean, I wouldn't imagine a 13-year-old would die straight into hardcore...
I'd imagine they'd start...
I dread to think.
I mean, I would never talk to my parents about what I watch.
I mean, why would you want to?
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, I kind of see what you mean by saying an adult should, obviously, you're a father.
It should be the father.
But, say, I think there's a difference in quality.
You know, there's one thing like seeing boobs on page three to another seeing, like, you know, a gangbang or something.
You know, there's a...
There's a difference in scale there.
And I think that we can be aware of that.
But I really do think it's down to the parents to say, look, some things might be okay for 14-year-olds, but a lot of things aren't.
And it really can have an effect on their relationships going forward.
And it really is not something the government can fix.
I don't think the government can fix that.
Because I think, you know, teenagers, they're smart.
They know about VPNs and all this sort of stuff.
They can get around it.
So you've got to speak to them on a personal level and have an uncomfortable conversation with your parents, whether you like it or not.
And that sucked, man, but that's life.
Yeah, I mean, I would say I've probably been mildly ruined by it.
I can't imagine.
I mean, you start at a young age and you start stepping up as you go older and you just sort of...
You end up looking at some weird stuff.
It's good stuff, right?
Yeah.
And you can't go back, really.
I wouldn't really want to get into my opinions and all this sort of stuff.
No, no, no.
But I appreciate that you're actually someone you could say you're a victim of it.
Yeah, I wouldn't.
I personally wouldn't count myself as a victim if I look at it differently.
could see why the average person wouldn't want to be anything like how I turned out.
But it's sort of, I don't know who would, obviously you said parents, but I don't think a child would want to talk to their parents about what they watch.
Maybe about transitioning into watching it.
And I don't imagine most people are that happy to talk about it.
We are quite prudish.
Yeah, lately I've been a bit over the top when talking to some people about it.
Not because I want to, but it's...
It's kind of you're compelled to, right?
It's kind of you're compelled to, right?
It's stupid to...
If someone like a 13-year-old has...
Even if they started, and this porn...
Personally, I think if I was an adult, I might feel differently if I had children.
I'd get the...
I'd buy a porn ID from it and give it to my child.
I don't care.
If they want to do it, they can do it.
It's none of my business.
But it can have negative effects.
It should be your business.
I actually do think that parents should be proactive about this.
Whether the kid likes it or not, it's going to be uncomfortable.
But like you say, you describe yourself as having been damaged by this.
I agree.
I think there is a lot of damage to be done by it.
And it's one of those ways that nobody wants to talk about the damage that's being done to young men about things.
But I don't think censoring pornography is actually the solution.
Because I think it's easy to get around the census.
And it always will be.
So it needs to be a kind of social solution to this.
And I don't think there's any other way of doing it.
Well, I mean, that's a different standard.
Everyone will have their own solution, won't they?
Obviously, if you have religious beliefs to go against it, I don't want to argue with it.
It's just obviously some people don't.
I have a religious beliefs.
And although I completely agree with things like Christianity really puts in good morals and things, which if they had on the hang on, hang on.
Yeah, sorry.
I lost my train of thought.
There's a market for it.
It exists because there's demand.
If it goes.
If you have it.
Maybe you don't believe the beliefs, but you have the morals picked up from religion.
and then you watch pornography on the side as well, you probably would develop into a more...
I think mainly it'd probably be sex ed more than anything, which would control, or what I would believe should control it.
Adults...
There could definitely be sex education in schools to warn children about the dangers of consuming hardcore pornography for long periods of time.
Yeah.
I definitely think that.
I mean, obviously some people it can get with and obviously you wouldn't want the government to stop or control what someone in private to consenting adults.
I believe in self-they should be able to do whatever they want.
I guess you could say within reason, but I wouldn't want to insult someone for their beliefs and what they want to do.
Although I'd imagine there's some adults which didn't start off with a young age or start off very low who are also in this position.
So I wouldn't quite go as far to say that it starts in childhood.
But I would say I think sex ed in this country is kind of terrible.
Probably is.
From what I remember, it's pretty.
Yeah, it's been a long time since I've gone through it, but I don't recall learning very much.
I recall learning a lot more when I was experimenting with my first girlfriend, you know what I mean?
Yeah, I mean, it's probably where someone should start.
But as I said, I mean, to be honest, though, if you start with masturbation, if you start with pornography at a younger age, you may be inclined to get into sex younger, which I wouldn't agree with at all.
16 perfectly fine but um but it is totally a legitimate subject and it's an uncomfortable one to discuss and we have to have the fortitude to talk about it Someone has to bring it up.
Exactly.
Maybe not in this situation.
This is just fine.
You're absolutely right.
It has to be talked about and it has to be addressed and it's difficult to do it.
Yeah, now.
But we're going to do this.
We're going to do this.
This is what we're here for.
No, yeah.
I should probably end it there, to be honest.
I could think of more questions, but we're damn nervous.
No, I don't blame you, but this is, you are absolutely right.
There is a legitimate issue here, and it has to be addressed.
It has to be.
And the Conservatives are addressing it badly.
I don't like how government are doing it about it.
No, I don't either.
Just leave people to what they're doing, and SegSED hopefully can drive people and more.
I mean, they seem to have less problems with this on the continent because they're not open to talking about it.
And I think that maybe in SegSED classes in school, that's actually a step forward in the right direction.
Yeah.
Thanks, Matt.
Thanks.
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