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Fairfax Parish to Offer Basic Information on Pornography

Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 2/1/07)

Two information nights on pornography and its effects on individuals, relationships and society will be held on Feb. 13 and 20 at St. Mary of Sorrows Church, 5222 Sideburn Rd., Fairfax, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Presented by the parish counseling staff, the programs will include information on human sexuality (Feb. 13) and Internet pornography and management (Feb. 20). The first course will address current research on effects of pornography on persons and society, and will include a brief introduction to Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. The second will help inform parents about pornography and its dangers, thus empowering them against it.
Kathleen Scheg, Richard Schaad, Mary Ellen Ruff and Carol Parowski will present and the staff will provide basic information, resources and recommendations for parents to consider.
The two sessions follow closely on the heels of Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s recent pastoral letter on pornography entitled “Bought with a Price.”
The size of the pornography industry is startling: $57 billion worldwide, $12 billion in the United States. There are 4.2 million pornographic Web sites, 12 percent of total Web sites, and there are 116,000 daily requests for child porn. The average age of the first Internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old.
Parents are encouraged to place the computer is a public part of the home and not in a bedroom, so family members can walk by at any time.
Internet pornography is a distinct genre because of the “Triple-A-Engine” effect of accessibility, affordability and anonymity. It makes obsolete personal inhibition levels, social controls and instantaneously provides willing partners, as well as the ease with which children and adolescents have access to it. In the past, adult bookstores and movie theatre ratings helped to buffer exposure of minors. The Internet effectively removes all of the social pressures that have acted as safeguards, or at least obstacles to pass, on the way to exposure.
In addition, according to a Federal Trade Commission study, more than 80 percent of children who use e-mail receive inappropriate spam everyday. Of all children who use e-mail, 47 percent receive spam that links to x-rated Web sites on a daily basis.
For information on preventing Internet pornography go to www.kids.getnetwise.org or www.parentalguidance.org. For more information about the sessions call 703/644-3962.