More porn than ever before

If it wasn't for the perverse ways of the internet, I'd let my kids be on it. But this internet is not their father's internet. Literally. What you see these days were not there 10 or 20 years ago. Gawd, the fact that there was even an internet at all 20 years ago makes me feel so old I want to start looking into AARP. But even when I was a teen the internet was not the place for unsupervised children. It gets scarier thinking of that time and the fact that there is so much more inappropriateness than any other time in internet history. We parents have to be smart, or at least aware; the well-adjusted lives you may ruin may be those of your own children.

I won't say that I am an angel. I'm a guy. I've seen porn. I didn't get the same reaction out of it, but I knew what was out there. I actually think it was my generation, those transitioning from teen to early twenties around the late 90s and early 00s, that have seen the transition from the tame, random naked picture to the weird, sometimes gross, sometimes funny and sometimes shocking garden of smut we've grown and cultivated as a society over time. With the insight on people's inner most thoughts and expressions comes the reality that there are some sick friggin' people out there, and the horror... the absolute horror... that some of them will be friends of your kids.

When I was getting older, my generation was the generation first exposed to online shock and offense. From snuff films to midget porn, photographs of autopsies to extreme body modifications, there was plenty to be amazed about. It started really making you think that the human race was not so great. Definitely some bad genes there.

There are literally so many naked women and men on the internet that you wonder how many people have not photographed, video-recorded or otherwise sealed away the image for all time of them having sex or posing nude. Forbes gave an interview to find out how much of the internet is dedicated to porn (I suggest reading it to get a good start to the scope).

I studied the porn industry online (I really mean I did study) because while I was freelancing I had clients who were porn-curious in a business sense and wanted to know what made porn so prevalent. I never took the gigs, but I had to make myself aware of whether I wanted to bid for them or not. Money is money, after all, at least it was at that time.

One thing to note is that pictures and videos are syndicated more than produced. You will probably see common videos and pictures throughout porn sites and even ads that may pop up, even if they're ran by different people. The problem is not the amount of porn on the web. It's the amount of porn advertising, and the creativity in "stumble-into traffic magnetics", that has me concerned.

Basically, it is more likely that your child, looking up something his friends think is funny, will find something absolutely horrid because it is more likely to find repeat links and referral links to shocking, funny and weird porn. The fact is that a lot of advertising is based on the stories you will tell your friends about the advertising: "Dude, I saw this ad on Facebook of a banana, and it went to this site that talked about the benefits of bananas. You gotta check it out and click on the link way at the bottom that says 'benefits for women', 'cuz it takes you to this Tumblr site that's dedicated to women doing stuff to fruit. It's hilarious!"

That's the worry I have. That's why I'm installing K9 Web Protection on all the computers I let the kids use (I highly recommend it). That's why I have started talking to my kids about possible stuff they will not want to see and I do not want them to see.

I'm not a prude. I'm not innocent. In fact, I am one of those kids that while in high school had an internet connection in my room and was looking up password hacks for porn sites to find "the good stuff". And all of it, to me, was hilarious. Porn has always been just funny to me. The way things look, the sounds, the weird faces and poses. It's just all funny. But I know it's not the same for my kids. I don't want them thinking it's okay to perpetuate the perverse nature of sex and relationships of the newer generations. It's not what I want for their relationships, or those of their friends. And I would hope they will be a good example for others.

I am not locking them out of porn or shielding them from what it is. I haven't had "the talk" yet, but I will, and the use of sex for commercial purposes will be a topic as my kids get older. Women being paid to put themselves in private, vulnerable situations for the benefit of a commercial distributor is exploitation, though it is the choice of those involved to put themselves out there and face the consequences. They'll know what porn is and what it is not. And they may view porn when they're older, but it shouldn't be their reality. That should not be the sexual reality of anyone, a world where everyone does handstands and hardly ever uses a condom.

Parents, if you're not too shy, search "tumbler *" and replace the * with whatever sexual phrase you can think of. There is free porn being distributed, and has been there for years. Your kids don't have to pay for it to get it. They don't have to hack a password to see stuff that your grandparents would call heresy. If you think your kids shouldn't be exposed to this stuff, and I would hope you do, please get educated and watch your kids. Because it's you parents who don't that have me worried most of all.