TAYLORSVILLE, Utah -- Members of a nonprofit group asked students from Taylorsville High School to make a promise to fight against the new drug in society – pornography.
Salt Lake County officials kicked off a pilot program in Taylorsville Tuesday to educate teens about the dangers of pornography addiction. The privately-funded program is presented by the group Fight the New Drug.
The nonprofit organization uses science, facts and personal accounts to help students and parents understand how pornography affects the brain, relationships and society.
“We’ve worked for years with professionals perfecting the delivery of this material and really what it boils down to is we want to give teens an opportunity to make educated decisions about this topic,” said Clay Olsen, director and co-founder of Fight the New Drug.
Members of the group told students the problem is that pornography is easy to get -- accessible by phones, computers and tablets. They told the students that children are most likely to encounter porn at the age of 11.
Salt Lake City councilwoman Aimee Newton spearheaded the pilot program. A private donor stepped up to pay for Tuesday’s assembly and she hopes other schools will take part in the future.
“In our culture especially we don’t talk about this enough and if we’re not talking about it kids are getting information from other sources that may not be what we them to have,” Newton said.
At the end of the assembly student signed a banner pledging their willingness to fight the harmful effects of pornography.
Leaders of the Fight the New Drug group say their success should include open lines of communication with parents.
“Our presentation is in no way trying to replace the conversation that needs to take place at home,” Olsen said.
Fight the New Drug also gave a presentation Tuesday evening for parents on how to address pornography with their children.
