STORY BY ALEX PAYNE
Whether fueled by loneliness or an addiction, Internet pornography is more accessible than ever.
Pornography makes up about 12 percent of the Internet, and averages about 25 percent of search engine requests.
Sixty-four percent of college-age adult men and about 18 percent of college-aged women access porn at least once a week, according to Covenant Eye’s 2014 report on pornography statistics.
While pornography takes up a large chunk of the Internet, and more than half of college-aged males admit to viewing it, it is not mentioned explicitly in Drake University’s Acceptable Computer Use Policy for Students.
According to Drake Public Safety Analyst Peter Lundstedt, there is a reason for the issue being so vague in the policy.
“The reason behind that is the whole principle of academic freedom, which Drake values very highly as do most public institutions, private institutions and higher education,” Lundstedt said. “Because of that academic freedom we choose not to block ‘pornography,’ explicitly. So students are free to use the Drake Network to access that kind of content for good and bad purposes.”
That does not mean Drake does not track pornography access on the network.
If a student is doing a paper on the effects of pornography on modern humanity, or something like that, they are 100 percent free to do that, Lundstedt said.
Drake’s technology services does have the ability to log, track and locate any instances that do occur.
If Drake notices that accessing the content has become a problem for a student, they may send a notice or talk to the student.
The university has the ability to track down a certain individual by his or her devices, as it did earlier this semester when a threat was made on an anonymous social media app Yik Yak.
“Technologically, we were able to locate down to within 20 feet where that occurred,” Lundstedt said. “We can look at device names, username, any of that information.”
For junior Brennan Haymond, he sees the access of porn as a problem and would like to see the rates of porn-accessing decrease. Haymond working to create a group at Drake to help both men and women who have had problems with pornography, or who use it as a form of comfort. The group is based off of a program called “Porn Kills Love.”
“It destroys relationships,” Haymond said.
He said that blocking pornography on the Drake network will probably never happen since it is legal for consenting adults, but he wants to spread the word that it is a problem.
“You do not need porn in your life to feel better or good about yourself,” Haymond said. “Getting porn out of your life will actually better your relationship.”
Giving students academic freedom allows the access of pornographic content on the Drake network, but if it becomes a problem, Lundstedt said they have actions on how to deal with it.
“We have the ability to block, we have the ability to locate and track, and we choose not to block,” Lundstedt said. “We just take note and move on.”
