1. Accessibility When I was kid there was really only one way to look at porn. A friend would have to steal it from an Uncle or Dad. In other words, it was hard to get your hands on it. Then 10 to 15 years ago students could access porn on the family computer. So what advice did we give parents. We told them to put those big old desktops in a public place in their houses. Fast forward to today. Students have these incredibly strong computers right in their pockets. We call them smart phones. Students have access to any kind of porn they want to view right on their phone, tablet, or computer. The reality is students have complete and unlimited access to porn. 2. Affordability The porn industry generates $4.9 billion a year. Think about that number for a moment. It is a staggering amount. I have no idea how the industry generates all of that money. However, there is also a limitless amount of free or extremely cheap porn available online. A student can spend countless hours a day consuming porn and never spend a dime. This was not true in the past before the internet. The affordability combined with the accessibility is like steroids for porn consumption. 3. Anonymity The final ingredient is that the internet allows our students to be anonymous. In the past you would have to go to a gas station or an adults only shop to buy porn. The shame involved in this was enough to deter many people. It also made it impossible (in theory) for a minor to buy porn. Now a student can consume porn and no one will ever know. This anonymity removes the external shame. However, it also encourages many students to act very differently online than they would in person. My response to this information is, “so what do we do about it?” It is silly to think we can tell students to not have smart phones or internet browsers. It is equally silly to think the porn industry is going to self regulate.