If only it were so easy to protect children and families from the damage caused by the many other manifestations of pornography in our culture. Jill Manning, who served as a visiting social science fellow at The Heritage Foundation last summer, outlines the social cost in devastating detail in a paper she recently presented to a special U.S. Senate subcommittee. Her review of the peer-reviewed research on pornography’s impact shows why this scourge affects everyone -- but children especially.

One study covers the risks associated with “frequent exposure to erotica,” which Manning lists “because of the potential they have for shaping sexual development as well as future marital and familial relationships”:

• Developing tolerance toward sexually explicit material, thereby requiring more novel or bizarre material to achieve the same level of arousal or interest.
• Overestimating the prevalence of less common sexual practices (e.g., group sex,
bestiality and sadomasochistic activity).
• Abandoning the goal of sexual exclusivity with a partner.
• Perceiving promiscuity as a normal state of interaction.
• Developing cynical attitudes about love.
• Believing marriage is sexually confining.
• Believing that raising children and having a family is as an unattractive prospect.
• Developing a negative body image, especially for women.

According to a study on Internet usage of children by The London School of Economics, nine out of 10 kids who go online will stumble across pornography. Let me be clear: That’s 90 percent of kids who will view porn -- most while doing their homework.

Meanwhile, more and more objectionable material is being created for them to stumble across: As of July 2003, Manning notes, 260 million pages of pornography could be found online -- an increase of 1,800 percent since 1998. By the end of 2004, there were 420 million pages. And now, thanks to the despicable material available for anyone with a video iPod (or a Sony Playstation Portable), you can take it with you anywhere.

Considering the popularity of iPods among kids, who’s to say that won’t include the school bus or the schoolyard?

So take steps to protect your family before it’s too late. Talk to your kids about their online habits. Subscribe to an Internet filter, such as the one at Bsafe Online. Use resources like WebWiseKids to teach your children to be safe online.

Protecting them from cyber-predators determined to rob them of their innocence may be the best gift you can give them this year.