Nandu and Saira are best friends. The primary school children do not miss any opportunity to play their favourite game on the computer. One day, Saira accidently clicked on a pop up window and they were soon navigated to a porn site. Ignorant and innocent but curious, they not only watched the erotic visuals but tried to enact what they saw.
Nandu’s mother was shocked out of her wits but realised that the children were led to the site which Nandu’s father had watched the previous night. More often than not, parents do not even know when more grown-up kids surf such sites in their computers or mobiles.
Last Saturday night, a mass hysteria had broken out when the online users in India realised that some of their favourite porn sites were not accessible as the government had shut down 857 porn sites. The outrage at the ‘ban’ was reflected all over the social networking sites as posts, trolls and pictures.
Three days later, the ban was partially removed. While protests raged against the ‘ban culture’ and the need to protect freedom of adults to do what they want, nobody wrote or spoke about the danger posed to impressionable minds because of free access to pornographic sites. In a state like Kerala with considerable Internet penetration, won’t such early exposure to porn, which is full of perversion, fill them with unhealthy and deformed ideas about sex?
According to Dr Philip John, Senior Consultant in Psychiatry from Kochi, a child who grows up watching pornography will not respect a person from the opposite sex.
“Sex is one among the three major instincts a human being has and the others are hunger and aggression. The society has set limits to these things in the name of tradition and culture to control it. When a child is exposed to pornography, one among these instincts is encouraged and triggered. The limits that we have set for them to do in each age are broken. And as the kid grows, he or she will lose the ability to control the instinct and they will forget to respect the other sex,” he says.
Dr Philip John agrees that this is a major issue that the society needs to think about. “Kids have all the facilities from the computer to Wi-Fi and most of their parents are ignorant about technology and they end up cheating their parents. So, I keep advising all those who come to me to keep the computers and other gadgets in a common area. Surveillance is a must,” he suggests.
It is a problem typical to the advanced society with its ever increasing connectivity. “This was never a major problem during our times, though there were books, pictures and videos available. But now, even a small kid knows how to use an iPad or a tablet and they handle it so well. It is an issue related to our changing lifestyle. Hence, what we can do is give kids proper education and orientation on sex and also limit their access and usage of internet,” says director Suveeran.
Director Priyanandanan narrates the shocking story of how a teenager in his place, Payyanur, made his mother pregnant after giving her sleeping pills. The boy was trying out what he saw in the videos. “It is a dangerous criminal reality which tells us that a violent society is in the making. Porn has a major effect on those who resort to violence against women. Since these porn sites never give anyone any creative enhancement, why shouldn’t they be banned?” he questions.
While most agree about the hidden dangers, most oppose a ban. Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan asks whether everything will be alright if we are banned from watching porn online.
“I am against the ban as it is a clear indication of a future where our collective consciousness will be controlled. However, I agree that pornography sites have really hijacked our sexuality. We need to educate the kids on what exactly is sex and how beautiful and important it is. Also, we should nurture an attitude among ourselves to be open and free to talk about this three letter word without embarrassment and shyness,” he says.
