Response to Parents find porn in the boys' room (or something like that)... To the concerned parents: Don't worry! Pornography on its own is not going to corrupt the delicate and impressionable young minds of your children; as Alice! says, it's a safe way of letting them explore their sexuality. Isn't a Playboy here or there better than STDs and teenage pregnancy? When it comes down to it, if you raise your children in a way that makes them realize that what they see in magazines, whether Penthouse or People, is not a fair depiction of reality, they won't be harmed by a little smut here or there. Teach them to respect people as people through example and show them that you have confidence in them to make their own decisions about sex and life in general. Remember, when they go off to college, you won't be there to search their rooms or ward off horny co-eds. They need your support and confidence in their individual decision-making abilities. In short, keep being the good concerned parents you are, teach by example, and butt out of your kids' private lives.

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Hey Alice,

This is a response to the parent of the children with pornographic magazines. I am an eighteen-year-old kid that does have magazines of that nature. I look at them because I find women to be gorgeous. I have always feared that if I looked at them, I may end up as one of those guys that sees women as sexual objects. This has yet to happen to me and I've been looking at those magazines since I was thirteen. For some people, it may affect how they view women, and sometimes I act like I'm one of those pigs around my friends, but I'm not. Women to me are the greatest things on earth. They're gorgeous, intelligent people that I have total respect for despite my magazine reading tendencies. Yes, I do use those magazines for releasing some tension... but I completely respect the women in the magazines and all women in general. Forbidding people from things is censorship and I don't believe in it. Tell your children how you feel, and let them make a decision. It's not the magazine that's going to teach them respect, it's the parents (although I tend to respect women more than my father). Please keep us informed on what you plan to do. Thank you.

a frequent visitor