Pornography recovery program offered free to youths

Pornography recovery program offered free to youths

(Fight the New Drug/Fortify)


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LOS ANGELES — Teens no longer need access to a credit card to find a solution to fight their pornography addiction.

In February, Fight the New Drug, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating youth about the harms of pornography, launched a program called Fortify, which enables youth ages 13-21 to access a free pornography addiction-fighting program.

Clay Olsen, executive director of Fight the New Drug, said the program began brewing when the company received emails from youth as young as 8 years old, pleading for assistance to overcome their addiction.

“We started asking these people to speak with a trusted adult, preferably a parent, who could possibly pay for professional help,” Olsen said. “We realized that there were two major barriers for teens and preteens to get the help they needed, and that was, number one, they didn’t have a credit card, and number two, they required parental consent, and that was a Mt. Everest these teens were unable to climb at the time.”

Fortify offers more than 50 videos that address details of what addiction is and how to understand its cycle, in addition to providing information about how to create strategies to fight personal battles.

It also addresses the root causes of addiction, so the addict can understand the aspects of their life that may contribute to addictive behaviors.

“We want them to fortify their lives, relationships and world,” Olsen said. “We provide a daily tracking tool which allows them to track their daily successes and setbacks so they can recognize patterns as they continue down the path to fight their addiction.”

Once youths feel comfortable sharing their addiction with someone, they have access to an accountability program, which allows them to choose someone who will receive weekly emails about their tracking records, so they can help them further their recovery process.

“Throughout the program, we are massaging the idea of accountability,” Olsen said. “As a user is more aware of their issue and problem, they will feel the confidence and capacity to allow others into their recovery program.”

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The program currently hosts nearly 10,000 members, and Olsen said they recommend each user take at least two months to complete it.

Olsen said they’ve had many graduates so far.

Fortify graduate statistics boast an 84 percent decrease in depression and anxiety levels and a 74 percent reduction in weekly pornography use.

“It’s important that those struggling with porn break free and find a way to reach long-lasting freedom,” Olsen said. “We know that earlier exposure to pornography really impacts relationships, and so we want to empower teens to address this before it ruins their life.”

Throughout the program, users are able to develop a customized battle strategy that they’ll take with them in the future to address specific areas of the recovery process.

One example of a battle strategy is eliminating materials or relationships from one’s environment that contribute to their addiction.

Fortify also provides an addiction-fighting program for adults, with a one-time fee of $39.

The money invested into the adult program makes it possible for Fortify to sponsor the teens in the program.

Fortify has attracted users from more than 106 countries, and next year, the website will develop the program in three new languages.

Fight the New Drug educates teens in junior high and high school across the United States about the harm of pornography, and recently, the organization has visited Utah.

The nonprofit addressed Granite School District parents at Taylorsville High School and students at Kaysville's Centennial Junior High.

This month, three Taylorsville schools piloted a program that provides educational assemblies for students.

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UtahFamily
Megan Marsden Christensen

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