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Struggling with Internet Porn Addiction
Posted under Pornography on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Five years ago, a mother discovered that her 14-year-old son was addicted to pornography. “Most people think that this is a victimless addiction and it is not,” she says. Her son was introduced to Internet pornography by friends.
“Finding it was devastating to us. We had no idea, and the things that were coming up on the screen were…we’re not just talking a Playboy picture, we’re talking some horrible sexual figures that came up and some in cartoon form which was really awful to think what age they’re targeting for this,” the boy’s mother told Minnesota’s ABC 6 News.
Internet porn graduated to telephone porn in his case. “We felt like we had conquered the monster,” she explains. “We secured our computer and learned how to watch for it. A year later, when he was 15 we discovered that the phone had a bunch of 800 numbers on it. We had blocks for 900 numbers but his cell phone had 800 numbers. When we got the bill I looked it up and started dialing the numbers and found it was telephone porn,” she says.
“These are very hard core, pornographic pictures that even 8-year-old kids are seeing and it’s getting into their minds,” says Internet Forensic Investigator Darin Finch.
Finch investigates Internet activity on the corporate level and sees the long-term effects this type of addiction can have. “In my position with a couple of different companies, I’ve seen people’s careers end because they couldn’t stop browsing inappropriate things even though they know they’re being watched,” says Finch.
Vicki Tiede is a Christian motivational speaker who counsels countless women on pornography addiction. She has first-hand knowledge because her ex-husband spent a lot of time and money on his addiction to pornography.
“I share my own story having walked through this, having been married to someone before who didn’t struggle with it but who just did it and saw nothing wrong with it. Those who struggle with it actually have hope because they want to be rescued from this pit,” says Tiede. “I was one of those women who was up at two and three in the morning because my husband was on the computer, and thankfully I was pointed to resources and people who could help.”
Finch says, “I think the biggest challenge is how to explain to them how it could affect them later in life. How serious those images are and actions—we’re even talking about movies—how that is adversely affecting their views of women, their view of masculinity and sexuality and what healthy sexuality is versus what they’re seeing on TV or on the Internet.”
