One Utah teen has made it her personal mission to help her peers make good decisions about pornography.
For Miriam Hall, personal responsibility means having the ability and desire to make good decisions for yourself and for the people around you.
Miriam Hall saw how pornography was negatively affecting her family and community, and she acted courageously to make a difference. Her inspiring efforts are a reminder of the importance of education in creating a responsible society.
Hall was crowned Miss Mapleton/Springville in March of 2017. For her service campaign, she partnered with the nonprofit group Fight the New Drug to organize assemblies and presentations for parents. She reached out to local business for funding and with their help, she was able to present in every junior high and high school in her area.
The organization is based on the belief that pornography affects the brain exactly like a drug, that it negatively affects relationships, and that it impacts society as a whole.
The assemblies provided information about pornography and encouraged children and teens to tell an adult if they were exposed to it.
“When you’re exposed to pornography for the first time it’s really scary, and a lot of kids recognize that feeling but they don’t know how to deal with it,” Hall explained in an exclusive interview with the Responsibility Foundation. “They don’t know that they’re not a bad person for seeing what may be a bad picture. I wanted to empower kids and teens with the knowledge of how to overcome the difficulties that they face in everyday life, specifically with pornography. The education part gives them the ability and the accountability to go to and adult or parent, to express how they feel about what they’ve been exposed to so they can get help and overcome it.”
Marc Liebman, a board member on the foundation, attended one of the events Hall organized.
“It’s about being fully informed about the potential consequences or our decisions,” he said.
Hall’s anti-pornography platform exemplifies the spirit of personal responsibility because of its focus on education. Rather than shaming people who watch porn, it aims to teach them about potential dangers so they can make good decisions for themselves.
The Responsibility Foundation salutes Hall’s efforts to educate her peers. We believe that whenever we teach kids about appropriate and responsible behavior, we make the world a better place. To see more about Miriam Hall’s stance on this issue watch: https://youtu.be/fYHQJfaKRZw