1. The Internet is (more) dangerous (than you think) to children

The internet has become fundamental to our societies. It allows us to do amazing things, and communicate in seconds what would’ve taken weeks just one lifetime ago. But this power has the capability to hurt us in ways that we don’t fully understand yet.

The goal by the end of reading this, is to get up to date on what we do understand.

Media consumption through the internet has evolved since it started. Short form, and other content specifically designed to grab our attention has altered the digital landscape significantly. And that it is, a landscape. A new world, with its own cultures and lifestyles.

But what effect does this have on us? On our children?

Quite a big one! It’s almost impossible to not encounter chemical levels similar to doing cocaine if you’re frequently using the internet for pleasure. [7]

“The neurochemical impact of cocaine and the neurochemical impact of porn addiction are the same.” -Dr. Robert Weiss

And without proper education, who wouldn’t? It’s barely taboo, easy to get on, and comes free with your phone or computer. Which you definitely have considering you’re reading this.

"Overuse of the internet recruits our natural reward system, but potentially activates it at higher levels than the levels of activation our ancestors typically encountered... making it liable to switch into an addictive mode” [2]

Both fortunately and unfortunately, you and I have not seen the end of the growth of the internet. In only the past few years we have seen remarkable jumps in Artificial Intelligence, whose dark side will be (and already is) generating new pornographic images and videos.

“With the growth of the Internet has come easier and more ubiquitous access to pornography... [creating] a new form of vulnerability for the youth” [3].

No price, no real people, no skill required. It’s a robot who learned from the best of the best. Just wave your hand and any fantasy will appear in a window in front of you.

I don’t think it needs to be stated just how dystopian that is.

It is almost a certainty that children and adolescent internet users will come across pornography in some form at a young age.
Even more alarming is that in a 2010 study (over 15 years ago now!), just over 50% of children ages 13-17 reported having actively searched out sexual content [1].

Currently, the average age of exposure is 12. [8]

Twelve years old, that’s the average.