About five days ago, I was
extremely engaged in facilitating some discussions on young people’s WhatsApp
Forum called The Youth Breeze. On
this forum, young people freely discuss, learn and share important information
on issues to do with Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) as well as
other things that may hinder them from realizing their dreams. In addition,
young people also benefit from the creation of this innovative approach as they
use it as a resource centre where they get correct and reliable SRHR
information from the Administrator and Moderators of the forum.
On this particular day, the topic
of discussion was on whether the members of the group think or believe that
pornography has the potential to fuel HIV/AIDS among young people.
There was a cooked up debate and
I really enjoyed how the members were throwing in their views and back up
points. By the end of the day, what came out clearly was that pornography lures
young people into sexual promiscuity.
One well-regarded member of the
group said bluntly that what comes next after watching pornographic films is to
do what one saw. The fellow said, the issue of abstinence becomes distant and,
‘if you can’t abstain use a condom’, messages get completely quashed by a certain demonic possession that pushes
one towards the imminent danger.
Here, I think I should add that
the consequences are just too much and you cannot fathom that it all started
with what one thought was just innocent moving pictures.
I tried to find out the reasons
why young people who are fully aware of pornography and its attendant perils
still glue their eyes on TV screens to watch it.
Thus, peer pressure seems to be a
vice that has led a lot of young people in labyrinth zones. Peer pressure has not
spared the youth from the tendency of watching and sharing pornographic
materials either. Most young people who watch these addictive and vulgar videos
were introduced to them by what they loosely call ‘friends’. What does the
future of the world hold when young school-going children, instead of studying,
are spending their precious time watching something that will trigger them to
sleep around?
In essence, during our Youth
Breeze Forum, pornography was found guilty of indoctrinating innocent young
minds who end up in getting early pregnancies and its attendant challenges, Sexually
Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV infection. All these are bad enough
not only to an individual young person, but to the society as a whole.
I view of this; I firmly believe
that young people have no option but to stay away from pornographic materials.
Issues of morality aside, we only live once and it does not make any sense at
all to watch something you fully know will bring disastrous consequences to
your future.
As manifested by what happens
next, pornography is the enemy of the well-being of young people in this world and
it is a vice which is putting spanners in the wheels of an HIV-Free Generation
agenda.
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