00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 8                                                                    
01 Recognizing the public health crisis created by the accessibility and pervasiveness of                                  
02 pornography; and recognizing the need for education, prevention, research, and                                          
03 changes in public policy to address the harms caused by the accessibility and                                           
04 pervasiveness of pornography in communities in the state.                                                               
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
06       WHEREAS pervasive access to and use of pornography by increasingly younger                                      
07 audiences is creating a public health crisis, the harms of which are beyond the capability of                           
08 the individual alone to address; and                                                                                    
09       WHEREAS efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction, to educate                                       
10 individuals and families concerning pornography's harms, and to develop recovery programs                               
11 must be addressed systemically in ways that hold broader influences accountable in order to                             
12 counter the sexually toxic environment perpetuated by the pervasiveness of pornography; and                             
13 WHEREAS pornography is contributing to the hyper-sexualization of teens and                                           
14 prepubescent children in communities in the state; and                                                                  
15       WHEREAS, because of advances in technology and the near universal availability of                             

01 the Internet, young children are being exposed at an alarming rate to what was formerly                                 
02 referred to as hard core pornography but is now considered mainstream pornography; and                                  
03       WHEREAS, in a 2015 survey by the Barna Group, 27 percent of older millennials, 27                               
04 to 32 years of age, reported that they first viewed pornography before puberty; and                                     
05       WHEREAS early exposure to pornography is leading to low self-esteem, eating                                     
06 disorders, an increase in problematic sexual activity at younger ages, and an increased desire                          
07 in young adolescents to engage in risky sexual behaviors; and                                                           
08       WHEREAS exposure of children and youth to pornography distorts sexual templates                                 
09 and undermines sex education efforts; and                                                                               
10       WHEREAS pornography objectivizes its subjects, reducing individuals to                                          
11 commodities for the viewer's use; and                                                                                   
12       WHEREAS the detrimental effects of pornography include emotional, mental, and                                   
13 medical illnesses, difficulty forming and maintaining intimate relationships, alterations to                            
14 brain structure and function, and problematic or harmful sexual behaviors and addiction;                                
15       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the public health                                   
16 crisis created by the accessibility and pervasiveness of pornography; and be it                                         
17       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the need for                                      
18 education, prevention, research, and changes in public policy to address the harms caused by                            
19 the accessibility and pervasiveness of pornography in communities in the state.