Career Tips: Pornography and the Workplace

Oh, come on! There has always been porn in the workplace — from pin up girls on the walls and lockers of gas stations, men’s bathrooms at work, and other “mostly” men only places. Dirty jokes and off color jokes have made the rounds at lunch, at the water cooler, and as pass on e-mails. The only difference is that now everyone has a screen everywhere they go — and many of those screens are paid for by employers. Computer screens at the office and office designated lap tops to take home and do work are everywhere. Cell phones with screens and employee designated and distributed cell phones are prevalent. So it’s much easier to transmit porn and other information for that matter to work places.Human behavior isn’t going to change just because technology has. But what has changed is the etiquette.* Don’t look at porn in the presence of others. You may offend other people the same way you would with off color jokes, political and religious commentary, etc. Keep your porn personal.* It’s really inappropriate to look at porn at the workplace. Unless you work at Playboy. Or Hustler.* If a co-worker offends someone by looking at porn at the office, approach them the same way you would if they told an anti-semitic joke, made a racially prejudiced comment or were gay bashing. It’s not comfortable because it requires a moral judgment and a confrontation, but you owe it to your self esteem to keep the workplace professional.*If you really want to look at porn, and you don’t have time away from the office, consider a vacation.