ORTIZ, Marie Kiell 1338146

FIRST/SECOND Draft September 9, 2022

RESEARCH ETHICS ACTIVITY

As the head of the research ethics committee, I think that this scenario is a shame for the
school and Mr. Roberto Flores' profession as a guidance counselor since numerous research
ethical guidelines were violated. It was correct that there was a consent form given to the
guardians. However, it was not discussed to them that the participants were allowed to refuse
participation even if the guardian permitted him/her. There was no assent or agreement of minor-
aged children as a requirement of their participation. Mr. Flores only said he would give the kids
a bonus point in Mathematics.
The research study of Mr. Flores brought physical, psychological, and social harm to the
minor-aged subjects. Physically, a kid's exposure to pornographic content can induce fear and
guilt since they are not yet fully aware of the biological aspects of sexual arousal through
viewing these sites (Lakshmi, 2020). This psychological harm could desensitize them to sexual
acts and could potentially result in an engagement in dangerous sexual behavior as an adolescent.
Physically, it could reduce the amount of gray matter in a child's underdeveloped brain since a
study from Gallinat & Kühn (2014) claimed that a kid's exposure and consumption of porn can
lead to significant learning problems later on. And socially, this desensitization to sex could lead
to the objectification of human bodies, which could adversely affect later relationships. This was
supported by the article of The American Psychological Association (2017), since the younger
the age of a boy's exposure to pornography, the more likely his tendency in later times to wield
power over women.
The researcher should have assessed the risk first through risk-benefit analysis. First, he
should think if the study on letting minor-aged students watch an anime pornography video was
necessary. However, it is already clear that children's exposure to pornography is dangerous, so
this is already a red flag. Second, he should have chosen more age-appropriate participants for
the research to get through the researcher's objectives instead of having the grade five students.
Third, he should have foreseen the obvious adverse effects of continuing with the planned
research methodology. And fourth, there is a myriad of ethical issues that were broken, and he
did not take that into consideration. With this, Mr. Flores should implement an extensive post-
experimental debriefing for the participants that detail the unreality of the themes and images in
violent pornography to remove the harmful beliefs created by the film. Lastly, the American
Psychological Association (APA) may take for Mr. Flores' violations of the Ethics Code,
including reprimand, censure, termination of APA membership, and referral of the matter to
other bodies.
 References
Lakshmi (2020). Everything Parents Should Know About Children Watching Porn. Mobicip.
https://www.mobicip.com/blog/everything-parents-should-know-about-children-watching-porn
Gallinat, J. & Kühn, S. (2014). Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity
Associated With Pornography Consumption. http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/paperbot/Brain
%20Structure%20and%20Functional%20Connectivity%20Associated%20With%20Pornography
%20Consumption:%20The%20Brain%20on%20Porn.pdf
American Psychological Association. (2017, August 3). Age of first exposure to pornography
shapes men's attitudes toward women [Press release].
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/08/pornography-exposure