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45 Vt. L. Rev. 43 (2020-2021)
Screens, Teens, and Porn Scenes: Legislative Approaches to Protecting Youth from Exposure to Pornography

handle is hein.journals/vlr45 and id is 51 raw text is: SCREENS, TEENS, AND PORN SCENES: LEGISLATIVE APPROACHES TO PROTECTING YOUTH FROM EXPOSURE TO PORNOGRAPHY by Byrin Romney* ABSTRACT Internet access is an essential part of daily life for most children. Due to the lack of online protections, American children have unrestricted access to the most extensive and extreme adult video library in history. Consequently, children are being exposed to pornography at unprecedented rates. A child's first exposure to pornographic material is generally around 11 years old. Some seek it intentionally while others stumble upon it by accident. Adolescents are more susceptible to pornography because of the significant physical, emotional, cognitive, and sexual changes associated with adolescent development. Accordingly, adolescents are increasingly struggling with compulsive behaviors related to internet pornography and cybersex. Existing neuroscience literature suggests that early exposure to pornography negatively impacts adolescent brain development. Most of today's pornography does not reflect consensual, loving, healthy relationships. Instead, pornography teaches dominance, aggression, disrespect, and objectification. The most current research shows that many children want to repeat the acts they see in pornography. Consequently, the most comprehensive literature reviews find that pornography use is strongly correlated with sexual aggression in boys and sexual victimization in girls. Notably, a 2019 study among tenth graders in the United States revealed that boys exposed to violent pornography were two to three times more likely to commit sexual violence against a dating partner. * J.D. Willamette University College of Law, 2020. Provisionally Licensed Lawyer practicing civil litigation in Fresno, California, with Fennemore Dowling Aaron. Thank you to all of those who helped me in writing, researching, and revising this paper. Thank you, Professor Warren Binford, for your mentorship and encouraging me to take on this topic. Thank you, Professor Andrew Gilden, for helping me develop a more wholistic analysis, especially with regard to the LGBT community. Thank you, Dean Norman Williams, for you time, attention, and instruction discussing United States constitutional law. Thank you, Ernie Allen, for your guidance, counsel, and feedback. Thank you, Patrick Swaffer, Murray Perkins, and Amelia Erratt, for allowing me to further my learning through an externship with the British Board of Film Classification. Thank you, Professor Terry Wright, for your support in the externship program. Finally, thank you to my wife and daughter for their constant support throughout this project. Any readers interested in discussing further may contact me at baromney10@gmail.com.

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