HLS 17RS-837 ORIGINAL
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 100
BY REPRESENTATIVE EDMONDS
CHILDREN: Declares the proliferation of pornography among Louisiana children to be a
public health hazard
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To recognize and acknowledge the proliferation of pornography among Louisiana children
3 to be a public health hazard which leads to a broad spectrum of individual and
4 societal harms and denounce pornography as a corroding influence on childhood in
5 our state.
6 WHEREAS, the members of the Louisiana Legislature recognize that pornography
7is creating a public health crisis and that it perpetuates a sexually toxic environment; and
8 WHEREAS, pornography contributes to the hyper-sexualization of teens and even
9prepubescent children in our society; and
10 WHEREAS, due to advances in technology and the universal availability of the
11internet, young children are exposed to what used to be referred to as hardcore pornography
12but is now considered mainstream pornography; and
13 WHEREAS, the average age of exposure to pornography is now eleven to twelve
14years; and
15 WHEREAS, research shows one-third of ten-year-olds and one-half of twelve- to
16fifteen-year-olds regularly access hardcore pornography via the internet through computers,
17smart phones, and other devices that give access to the internet; and
18 WHEREAS, this early exposure may lead to low self-esteem and body image
19disorders, an increase in problematic sexual activity at younger ages, and an increased desire
20among adolescents to engage in risky sexual behavior; and
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1 WHEREAS, exposure to pornography often serves as sex education for children and
2youth and informs their sexual templates; and
3 WHEREAS, pornography which depicts violence and abuse of women and children
4tends to normalize such behavior; and
5 WHEREAS, pornography treats women and children as objects and often portrays
6rape and abuse as if such acts are harmless; and
7 WHEREAS, pornography equates violence towards women and children with sex,
8and pain with pleasure, which increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, child
9sexual abuse images, and child pornography; and
10 WHEREAS, science indicates the brain is the only organ whose physiology actually
11is changed by the information humans process; and
12 WHEREAS, potential detrimental effects on children and youth exposed to
13pornography can impact brain development and functioning, contribute to emotional and
14medical illnesses, shape deviant sexual arousal, and lead to difficulty in forming or
15maintaining positive, intimate relationships, as well as promote problematic or harmful
16sexual behaviors and addiction; and
17 WHEREAS, studies conclude exposure to pornography at an early age is especially
18detrimental, causing addictions to instant gratification and greater impulses for increasingly
19more shocking material, leading to engagement in progressively more risky sexual behavior;
20and
21 WHEREAS, pornography use is linked to lessening desire in young men to marry,
22dissatisfaction in marriage, and infidelity, and this link demonstrates that pornography has
23a detrimental effect on the family, the fundamental social unit in our culture; and
24 WHEREAS, systematic examinations prove that the younger a boy is exposed to
25images depicting rape, bondage, abuse of women, and other deviant behaviors, the more he
26is prone to commit violence and force nonconsensual sex with others; and
27 WHEREAS, overcoming the emotionally and psychologically damaging effects of
28childhood exposure to pornography is beyond the capability of the afflicted individuals to
29address alone; and
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HCR NO. 100
1 WHEREAS, efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction, to educate
2individuals and families concerning its harmful effects, and to develop recovery programs
3must be addressed systemically in a manner that holds providers accountable; and
4 WHEREAS, it is important to recognize the cancer on society that pornography poses
5when it is distributed carelessly over the internet with little regard for the devastating and
6long lasting effects that childhood exposure to it can cause, and begin to address the
7regulation of it to ensure compliance with the state's obscenity laws to protect the state's
8citizens and children and youth in particular from such exposure.
9 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
10recognize and acknowledge the proliferation of pornography among Louisiana children to
11be a public health hazard which leads to a broad spectrum of individual and societal harms
12and denounce pornography as a corroding influence on childhood in our state.
13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature hereby expresses the need to
14address the pornography epidemic by encouraging education, prevention, research, and
15policy changes to address the proliferation of pornography on the internet in particular, and
16call for regulation of pornography on the internet to ensure compliance with obscenity laws
17of the state.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature hereby pledges to pursue every
19possible course of action, including legal, educational, research, religious, and social means,
20to prevent accidental exposure and deliberate access to pornography by those under eighteen
21years of age.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature hereby urges the president of the
23Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives to join with the governor in an
24aggressive public campaign to protect children from exposure to pornography.
25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature hereby expresses support for
26laws, programs and policies, and business practices, as well as urges religious, civic, and
27community action, to prevent pornography from having a corroding effect on childhood.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
29attorney general, the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the
30Department of Children and Family Services, and the secretary of state for awareness and
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HCR NO. 100
1action as appropriate, as well as to the members of the House and Senate committees on
2health and welfare and the House and Senate committees on education for development of
3appropriate legislation to address pornography as a pernicious public health hazard in our
4state with particular emphasis on protecting our children from inadvertent or intentional
5exposure to online adult content.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 100 Original 2017 Regular Session Edmonds
Declares the proliferation of pornography among La. children a public health hazard and
denounces pornography as a corroding influence on childhood in our state.
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