Your say: Readers reveal thoughts on banning porn in garden city

A controversial anti-porn advocate who said “porn is grooming the next generation” of DV perpetrators, has reignited debate.

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Debate has ignited over a controversial anti-porn campaign that was started in Toowoomba.

Letitia Shelton who started the City Free From Porn movement in 2016, made headlines this week when she was nominated for the 2021 Awards Australia Community Group of the Year.

The anti-porn advocate said she believes all porn “is grooming the next generation of women beaters” as she believes the industry promotes violence against others, particularly females.

Readers recently had their say on the divisive topic after the story was posted on The Chronicle’s Facebook page, attracting more than 100 reactions and comments.

Neata Bear said the idea of enforcing a ban on porn was “very unrealistic.”

“Education on how it’s not real and just an act would be better, but it would definitely help to educate the younger generation not to have unrealistic expectations,” Ms Bear said.

Others agreed education was the best solution, rather than trying to avoid porn entirely.

“Education is the key … the (more) informed they are about what it actually is, the more prepared they are,” Andrew Matthews said.

Tim Sondergeld said parents should be educated first but kids would probably have access to it without their parent’s knowledge and consent.

James Edward Swanson said in his opinion, sex education should not be taught to children until they were aged 15 years and older.

While Michael Bloch Junior said there was no escaping the risks associated with porn as “kids probably see and hear worse at school or at their friend’s places.”

Many people felt the decision to watch or avoid porn should be up to the individual.

“If she doesn’t like porn, good for her – she can choose not to watch it,” Peter Solomon said.

“I don’t drink alcohol, but I don’t force my ideals on others … I ride a motorbike that my parents hate, but they accept I’ve made a conscious decision … it’s all about personal choice.”

Joyce Holder said “I hate brussel sprouts – they are bad for my health (so) time to ban brussel sprouts (because) I don’t want my children exposed to brussel sprouts … if you don’t like something, don’t watch it, don’t eat it, don’t do it.”

While others questioned the idea of suppressing the concept completely.

Genevieve Stanton said “censoring it (is) unfeasible and honestly kind of unreasonable … some people are hopeless in love and find release in it, rather than in something truly unhealthy.”

Sam Moorhouse said sexual experimentation would happen regardless of whether or not porn was accessible on the internet.

“You’re not going to stop the porn – people are going to find a way to watch it,” Ms Moorhouse said.

And David Braybrooke said “the further you drive something underground, the darker its shadow tends to become.”

But some readers including Leisa Feldman and Vicki Wilson strongly agreed that porn should be banned.

Seconding this opinion was Jannelle Louise, who considers porn to be “satire.”

“Definitely agree that kids and adults need to know that the sex acts and sounds from pornography is not normal,” she said.

“It’s not about kids watching porn – let them watch it if they are age appropriate of course … it’s about them believing that porn is an accurate portrayal of sex acts and it’s not.”

Leo Fox said he’d found “evidence to suggest pornography inhibits sexually-based offences in nations where such material is freely available.”

Paul Wright suggested disclaimers should be placed at the start of all porn videos.

And others felt it all came down to the responsibility of the parents.

“It still comes down to parents parenting and explaining porn and other adult issues, so kids when they stumble across it, are aware what it is,” Helen Sutherst said.

Cahlan Lambert said “if your kids are seeing porn maybe you as an adult should put restrictions in place to stop it … it’s called being a parent.”

“Put restrictions on what can be watched on your internet and have the discussions at the appropriate times with your teenagers,” Margaret Novak said.

Crystal Mayson said “if children are seeing it or (are) affected by it than parents should be charged … as a parent it’s our responsibility to monitor what our children is doing on each device.”

Amber Walker suggested “if you don’t want to watch porn, it’s simple – don’t (visit) the websites.”

And Bronwyn Robinson said to just let kids be kids.

But Cody Ward said he felt there were more important things to combat in Toowoomba, such as homelessness, drugs, theft and domestic violence offences.

The importance of people’s employment and source of income were at the forefront of Courtney Joanne’s mind, who said “this is someone’s way of earning money – sex work is still work.”

While Jason Deeble is still just waiting for someone to fix his kitchen sink.

“I think they should be taught about how unrealistic (porn) is … I’ve never had a plumber show up five minutes after calling them.”