It’s addicting, it affects behavior, harms relationships and even rewires the brain. The culprit: Pornography.
Fight the New Drug (FTND), an organization dedicated to fighting pornography, was shocked when they realized few people had definitive evidence on whether or not it was either harmful or beneficial. On FTND’s website, they say,
When we first came across the science of how pornography affects the brain we were stunned! After further study we found that relationships were being destroyed and that pornography was having a profound effect on sexual violence in our society. We couldn’t believe that this was happening and nobody was talking about it.
Through facts, science and personal accounts, FTND aims to bring awareness to the dangers of this drug through educating people, particularly teens and young adults. As part of their “Porn Kills Love” campaign, FTND’s published a video, posted above, informing viewers why pornography is damaging to real love.
FTND claims that pornography is invading our communities and, despite its wide acceptance within today’s society, pornography hurts. They say it is harmful to the consumer, to his or her loved ones, to families, and to our communities. FTND has four programs in motion to help achieve the goal of spreading awareness:
- Protection: The protection program aims to teach parents how to best shield their child from pornography and make them aware of resources available to them (media filters/parental controls).
- Recovery: Once exposed to pornography, it can become difficult to ignore the curiosity and stop the addiction. The recovery program set up by FTND helps young people struggling with pornography fight the addiction. Resources are available, including an online video-based program called The Fortify Program.
- Mobilization: Mobilization focuses on transforming those who consume pornography, as well as those who passively accept it, into messengers against the drug and encouraging everyone to use social media as a way to spread the message that “Porn Kills Love.”
- Media: FTND publishes videos, articles, and other media that is creative and informative in order to get more youth involved in the fight and push the movement forward. Videos include personal stories of how porn has hurt marriages, relationships, and individual lives, as well as scientific resources outlining facts on how porn negatively affects the human brain.
FTND has put into place a Fight Pledge that individuals can sign. Those who make the pledge commit to avoid exposure to pornography, “seek real relationships and shun their hollow counterfeits,” and to help others overcome the addiction.
Clay Olsen, Kyson Dana, Kyle Roberts, Robbie Tripp, Ryan Werner, Hayden Shaum and Clair Easley, members of FTND’s team, strongly advocate against pornography, believing that fighting it can help change the world. The organization’s website states:
By individually choosing to reject pornography we can shape our own lives. By spreading this message to others we hold the power to shape history.
View some of FTND’s media below, and find out more about the Fight the New Drug movement at fightthenewdrug.org
