Running head: PORNOGRAPY; RELATIONS TO FREE SPEECH AND MORALITY 1

Pornography in the 21st Century and its Relation to Free Speech and Morality

Colin Fogarty

First Colonial High School

PORNOGRAPY; RELATIONS TO FREE SPEECH AND MORALITY 2

Research Thesis: In the United States’ increasingly culturally democratic society, balancing free

speech and social morality regarding pornography has become a serious issue for the public.

Body Paragraph:

By far, one of the most pressing issues facing the cultural environment is adolescents

accessing pornography. In a 2007 issue of Pediatrics, researchers Janis Wolak and Kimberly

Mitchell found that out of children aged 10-17, 42 percent had seen online pornography in that

last year; however, two-thirds had reported the exposure was unwanted (DeAngelis, 2007).

While the fact that teens will encounter pornography is uncontested, many still debate whether

its effects are positive or negative. In a 1994 book, Jennings Bryant and Steven Carl Rockwell

found that opinions towards premarital sex became more open in nature after 13 and 14-year

old’s had consumed media depicting that act (Greenfield, 2004). Furthermore, studies show

consumption of pornography can lead to a multitude of harms: early sexual experimentation,

sexual preoccupation, sexual aggression (when violent pornography was consumed), less social

integration, depressive symptoms, loss of self-confidence, and less social development; in cases

of girls, it was found that consumers felt that their bodies were inferior to women depicted and in

cases of boys, consumers felt that they might not be able to perform as well as the men shown.

(Owens, Behun, Manning, & Reid, 2012). However, proponents argue that consuming online

pornography can offer a chance to teenagers to grow, learn about sex, explore sexuality, and gain

an overall sexual education, (Owens, Behun, Manning, & Reid, 2012). While it appears that the

negatives of watching Internet porn far outweigh any positives, it is important to note that Owens

et. al. research was focused around high consumption rates, which may not be representative of

effects from casual viewership by adolescents.

 PORNOGRAPY; RELATIONS TO FREE SPEECH AND MORALITY 3

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