You've said "the jury is still out" on whether it's okay for young people to have access to pornography.

JackinWorld seems to say masturbating while fantasizing about someone is normal and healthy, as long as you realize the difference between fantasy and reality. I agree with that. But how is getting and looking at pornography different from just visualizing it in your mind?

I guess part of the problem concerns what constitutes pornography. It's a very broad term. If we're talking about fairly tame erotic material like Playboy Wet 'N Wild videos, one would be hard pressed to say such images are harmful even to younger teens (even if they do depict partners the average kid would never be able to get). But if you haven't noticed, a lot of pornography out there is very hardcore and unrealistic. Closeups of jackhammer-action intercourse, fake-breasted women with too much makeup wearing nothing but high heels, and aggressive men with oversize genitalia may be popular, but they're pretty far removed from the reality of two people making love. You have to wonder what effect such hardcore material has on a person who hasn't fully developed his concepts of what it means to be a man and how to treat his partners. Furthermore, a person's fantasies are his own creations; stuff coming from a VCR or computer is not, so it can definitely influence the viewer. So, I'm not saying hardcore pornography is definitely harmful to young people, but I think it should be handled with care.