[speakingtohe]

There are things I have read that I wish I could scrub totally from my mind. There are also things I have actually witnessed that are every bit as bad.

Protecting children from accidental exposure to prurient literature is probably good, but pretending that bad things don't happen can leave them unprepared for life.

A 'normal healthy minded(by my definition only and feel free to differ)' child or adult will come across extreme depictions of violence and/or perversion and think gross and tend to avoid these things. If a child or adult is strongly attracted to these things (and some perfectly normal people are) it is not because they are available. That is IMO just the way they are. The availability of a type of literature does not make everyone want to read it. Lots of people have never read the bible and it is pretty available in most western countries.

Over-protection can be as bad as no protection at all, leaving a young adult open to all kinds of predators because they are unaware such things exist.

Leading by example and explaining why some things are just wrong is much more likely to have a positive effect than society/government censorship although it sometimes requires a small amount of personal effort.

Helen