Education is a great responsibility and an entrusted mission that requires awareness, understanding and incessant observation by educators for every latest given that changes, transformations and paradigm shifts in the structure of knowledge, values and behavior are rapid, profound  and serious. The current generation is challenging the fire nozzle of vices and immorality  where now the world has become a small village, backed by the information exchange (The Internet).  All information content nowadays addressing the current generation is trapped by deviant behaviors like enormous pornography pumped destructively and free of charge.

Pornography .. Public crisis:

The danger of pornography is not confined to being unethical and blasphemous yet, it goes far beyond that. Let us know that the West - the porn producer, financier and owner of its economy - has warned against and has sounded the alarm as pornography has become a menace to man and society. The human brain, the psychological composition of the individual, social and family relations, and even life are endangered by porn, studies warn. 

Initiatives by many scientific institutions and civil society organizations were launched to address this constant threat and even enacted laws to control and denounce it. The latest was May 6, 2019. Republican senators in Arizona voted to denounce pornography as a "public health crisis" The US state of Montana also declared the 13th state of pornography as a "public health problem."

Reuters reported on April 26, 2019 that because of the anti-trafficking laws passed by Congress a year ago, a popular sex website this week announced the closure of its services in the United States. Britain announced that in September of 2019, people under 18 would not be able to access pornographic sites, and that entry would be through the national number.

In the Arab world, we are too far from considering this dilemma, although the consumption of pornography across the Arab world is substantial among males and females.

After research; many psychological, marital, family, social, professional and even criminal behaviors are attributed to pornography.

Visual Cocaine ... New Addiction:

In a study conducted by Anne Moore at the University of Cambridge, she compared the brains of addicts watching porn and drug addicts through the FMRI technique. MRI showed that the brain is subject to changes whether in the course of watching pornography or taking drugs, compared to the brains of non-addicts.

The risk of porn addiction aggravates  when an individual is exposed at an early age due to the brain's flexibility in the childhood and adolescence. This flexibility makes addiction easier; the brain is capable of forming behavioral habits and compulsive acts associated with pornographic viewing. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that keeps us alive. It gives us the motivation to do something, and thus the sense of pleasure such as food, drink, warmth, sex, etc. It also stores memories of saturation experience; which enhances its performance and asks for more stimuli to trigger saturation.

Drug and porn addicts tell us that the first experience - which is engraved in memory - is driven by many attempts to create the first sense of pleasure and orgasm that occurred after that first dopamine. Regular views are enough to get dopamine levels high for the pleasure it wants, just like drugs; the drug addict looks for a stronger drug; after the pills come the powder and then the injection ... This is called “escalation”.

Psychedelic Everywhere:

Pornography is attractive to children and adolescents for three reasons:

1-Easy access and reach through advertisements.

2. In 2010, there are 42,330 pornographic sites, 90% of which are free sites.

3. Finally, anonymity, i.e, you watch secretly, and no one can know anything about it.

 Porn addiction starts at early stages 

57% Females and 83% males view online sexual content
Before the age of 18, 90% of males are exposed to pornography and 60% of females
23% of females and 39% of males have watched online fetishism content
55% of females and 69% of males have watched online homosexual content 
Source: A survey conducted among 563 participants at the Public University “New England”, “Nature and Dynamics of Youth Exposure to Pornography”- 2008

Major porn consumers are from 12-17 years old.
18% of females and 32% of males have watched homosexuality 
9% of females and 15% of males have watched pornography

Giving a child or adolescent a mobile device and a smart phone without a ruler or sergeant, like giving his son bags of heroin while being heedless about the consequences. Mobile phones and computers at every corner of the house mean drugs everywhere.

Dangers of pornography:

As stated above: Pornography has been declared a public health crisis in many states of the United States; for its serious effects on the individual and society; we can sum up its perils as follows: 

1. Addiction: The impact of one watch for children and adolescents can stimulate further search again for a new scene; to achieve that sense of pleasure that occurred as a result of the first dopamine storm in the brain, which brought them pleasure through morphine produced by the brain after viewing.

2. Poor memory, lack of concentration, poor ability to make good decisions, problem solving and loss of insight. Because the frontal cortex responsible for thinking, decision-making and problem solving is damaged by emotional brain control at the center of the brain, reinforced by the dopamine storm that the brain receives during observation.

3. Sexual impotence and various venereal diseases, especially that pornography is linked to masturbation.

4. The introversion and isolation from people, and the unwillingness to intermingle with them for many reasons: feeling shameful, his view of people becomes different; they are things and not human beings.

5. Poor academic achievement, professional and social deterioration 

6. Psychological disorder; where constant feeling of anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, lack of sleep, nervousness, aggressive, depression that leads in some cases to suicide.

7. Increase in  rape and incest accidents in society. Studies have told us that there is a link between rape and pornography.

8. Increase the rates of divorce and marital infidelity; addicts suffer in their  intimate relationships with their wives; which compromises family stability.

Dangers of pornography in childhood and adolescence 

Pornography is a drug of psychological wounds; the addict resorts to it in his crises and failures with people and with himself; because of the control of emotions and poor vision until he relaxes. Many dopamine, watch and then unload lust and finally a sense of comfort and pleasure.

A teenager passes through adolescence in a state full of hormonal changes, which affect his emotional, social and psychological life, and is at the stage of his identity, she or he wonders who I am and what I want ?!

 There is often poor communication with the adolescent for the inability of the educator to adapt to adolescent’s growth changes; which may put great pressure on the teenager, if the teenager watching pornography will be a smuggler in order to heal his wounds and mental scars whenever he faces problems and pressures.

Is the solution to instruct him: Stop ?!

It is difficult to tell the addressee to stop or cease your actions. Deep neurodevelopments have formed in his brain that promote his learning of his addictive habits. The solution is only by breaking the “reward circuit” in the brain, forming new neurological pathways and learning new habits in a systematic way by observing a thoughtful recovery program. .

What is the role of educators ?!

The potential for exposure to pornography has become so great that the role of educators - parents, teachers, counselors, preachers and elders - has become difficult and needs to be aware of their role.

The role of educators is a dual-role: preventive and other therapeutic; the preventive approach is as follows:

1. Observation of faith and belief, and strengthening the concept of Allah’s obedience in children and adolescents.

2. Increase the awareness among educators and preachers, as well as increase the awareness of children and adolescents of this imminent danger and provide them with means to challenge it.

3. Educate parents about this ethical, faith, and health crisis and inform them of the importance of their educational, supervisory and guidance role.

4. The necessity of using blocking programs for these sites; they are many, multiple and available.

5. Inform parents of the need to set limits on the use of mobiles and computers, and agree on the terms and conditions of use; determine the number of hours, and prevent isolation during the use of mobile or computer and their equivalents.

6. Educating children and adolescents about the seriousness of this type of views and how to deal with the viewer if exposed to them.

7. Choosing a good companionship for the children, and providing a healthy environment to grow up after close inspection; not every child of a good man is necessarily good.

8. Building bridges of trust and love for the child and adolescent, engaging them and responding to their developmental requirements and response.

9. The vacuum is corrupt; therefore, children must be occupied with and participate in mental, physical, social, spiritual and voluntary activities.

10. Attention to all signs and symptoms of addiction; for example, isolation for long periods of time, tendency to inactivity, poor academic achievement, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, depression, etc. The sooner the intervention, the easier the treatment.

The therapeutic approach must convince the addict that he suffers from a problem first and then comes the process of referring the situation to professionals to treat addiction, just like drugs.

 AWARE:

Among the promising entities that make a good effort in this cause is “Aware” initiative (1) team under the slogan "Discover Yourself Without Pornography" under the leadership of Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Gawad; to counter the danger of imminent pornography, The founder of the team realized that in order to confront pornography, it is necessary to work to prepare a specialized cadre that will face the danger of pornography in our Arab and Islamic societies, coupled with a high degree of competence to work in spreading awareness, education and treatment services, and under the condition of confidentiality of cases.

The vision of a “Aware” team is to "create an informed society about the dangers of pornography and to help people discover their potentials without pornography." The message is "promoting individual, societal and governmental responsibility to prevent and reduce the use of pornography." The means are integrated programs, training, educational and therapeutic approaches on all social networking sites to address the risk of pornography.

In conclusion ..

There is a need for a serious action to face these threats that  plagued our youth without feeling or knowing, that grabbed them away from the beauty of life represented by a serious, conscious and effective movement, away from the beauty of values and ethics that reflect the civilized societies, Allah the Almighty says: (I have not created mankind and jinn except to worship Me) [Al-Atariat: 56].

We must support every effective initiative to save our nation from further deterioration as our simple means are no longer remedial.

About “Aware” Initiative 

https://www.antiporngroup.com   

 https://www.facebook.com/wa3i.org