My initial reaction to this statement is to definitely agree. Pornography exposes people to sexual situations that are neither appropriate nor necessary to see before the age of 18. However, I wonder if placing stricter bans on porn for under-18’s would just make more underage kids try to find loopholes to discover that sort of content. I also wonder about people who are engaging in sexual activity before the age of 18. This is quite a common phenomenon in America. It brings about the question of if people who are engaging in sexual activity before 18 be banned from viewing porn. Or, is porn the reason they are choosing to engage in sexual activity? There’s a lot of questions and concerns in my mind that cause me to personally be mixed on this issue. I’d definitely want to see what others have to say.

- Pornography shows an unrealistic depiction of sex. - Adolescents' brains are still developing - "Under 18" doesn't specify to what age porn would be available to. Is it 17? Or 13? There is a major developmental difference. - From personal experience, being exposed to porn as a minor damaged my sexuality. - Normalizing youth to pornography could lead to more vulnerability to abuse and predators. Note, I believe that we should have tighter restrictions on porn access. The first time I viewed it was by accident, because I misspelled a website name. I wasn't even pubescent yet.

**Pornography is very damaging for young people, and it is extremely easy to access, even by accident. The least the government can do about it is to implement age verification across porn sites.** - Addiction to porn should be viewed as both a public health issue and a danger to children and young people. Research suggests that viewing porn has a negative effect on the [developing teenage brain and is linked to depression and social anxiety.](https://drtrishleigh.com/negative-effects-of-pornography-on-teenagers/.) Porn often normalises degrading and violent sex, creating disturbing expectations about sex for young people. On top of this, people are likely to feel isolated when addicted, which makes it difficult to reach out for help. - I don’t think either of the two main objections, concerns about censorship and about privacy, are reason enough to prevent a ban: - Censorship: adults still have legitimate access to the same material, they just have to go through an extra step. As those against the ban are keen to point out, even without using the verification route, people can easily bypass these restrictions by using VPNs. Most people agree that harmful posts on social media should be censored, so the argument against internet censorship is shaky. - Privacy: There are some valid security concerns with age verification technology that would be needed for a ban on pornography, reportedly [the main reason that the UK's plans for age verification fell through.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50073102) Obviously, I’m sure that this is easier said than done, but I think every measure should be taken to improve security for the sake of implementing this ban. - In my opinion, there is no other way to adequately protect children from pornography on the internet. These measures alone, while important, are very limited with the amount of online material which exists. The suggestion from governments that other measures such as better sex education can somehow make up for the dangers of unrestricted porn access for under 18's is both unrealistic and distracting.