Australia’s aboriginal community is suffering from a serious epidemic of children watching pornography at home—and then simulating sex acts in the classroom. Some of these aboriginal children are as young as seven. Even more disturbing, plenty of Australian social workers and community leaders think there’s nothing wrong with it. In their twisted minds, these children are not suffering from child abuse, despite being fed an endless diet of adult porn and, in some instances, having their parents sexually molest them.

The story in the Australian should be a wake-up call to the country’s authorities to crackdown on child abuse, improper sexual behavior in the classroom, and rampant pornography. A formal investigation by a former Supreme Court judge found that communities on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands were not only inundated with porn, but that welfare workers and local aboriginal leaders—those who are supposed to be protecting children—deliberately sought to dissuade teachers from tackling the problems of child abuse.

The judge’s report is replete with disturbing examples of illicit sexual behavior by students in classrooms. In one case, a seven-year-old girl dropped her pants in class, simulated sexual intercourse, and jammed several plastic objects into her vagina. School officials suspect she is the victim of incest. In another case, a nine-year-old girl made numerous sexual gestures in class. When confronted by her teacher, she said she learned the moves from “blue movies.” It was later found out that the girl came from an abusive home and that she was physically assaulted by her parents. Repeatedly, teachers tried to intervene on behalf of the children. But they were told by social workers and community leaders that it would only “inflame the problem.” Moreover, welfare case officers stressed that sexualized behavior by seven-year-olds did not reveal “any child abuse concerns.”

These welfare case officers should be fired—and some charged with aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of minors. If they can’t figure out that watching adult pornography is severely damaging to a child’s emotional, psychological, and physical well-being, then they shouldn’t be in positions of authority over children. Moreover, by obstructing attempts by teachers to address the classroom problems, the social workers allowed the molesting parents to continue to prey on their victims. Also, law enforcement needs to have a much stronger presence in the aboriginal communities. And they can start by thoroughly investigating the parents of children exhibiting sexually-disturbing behavior in class. If sex crimes have been committed, then the offending parent or parents should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It’s time that a powerful and unequivocal message is sent: the sexual abuse of children is unacceptable, and perpetrators—and their enablers—will be severely punished.

Finally, Australian officials need to do something that’s not been for decades: declare war on pornography. To be fair, the scourge of pornography is not limited to the Aussies; it pervades much of the West, including the United States. Pornography not only objectifies and degrades women, but it is an assault on the fundamental pillars of a civilized society. Its pervasiveness fosters sexual promiscuity, permissiveness, and most importantly, the breakdown of the family—the basic unit of society. Studies repeatedly show heavy consumption of porn leads to higher incidents of social pathologies, such as rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and suicide. If porn is rampant in Australia’s aboriginal community, then it’s probably pervasive throughout the general society as well.

What is needed is something similar to the anti-smoking movement: a broad-based campaign to educate the public about the dangers of smut. There is no need to ban adult porn (as it was prior to the 1970s). But, just like cigarettes, people need to be informed about its destructive consequences. For the Aussies, the place to start is on the aboriginal lands. Hopefully, however, it won’t stop there.