How Pornography is Affecting Teens
The average age of first exposure to porn is 10-11 years old.
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It is estimated that 84.4% of 14 to 18-year-old males and 57% of 14 to 18-year-old females have viewed pornography.
23 Estimates suggest that between 83% and 100% of male adolescents and 45% to 80% of female adolescents have viewed pornography at least once. The frequency of viewing ranges from a single instance to daily consumption.
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The reality is that porn is a part of the world that children and young people are growing up in. It is therefore vital to be aware of the potential impact that porn may be having on them. Research clearly demonstrates that porn harms young people, especially when it comes to the way that they view sex and relationships.
One study showed that approximately 45% of teens who consumed porn did so in part to learn about sex,
25 and another showed that 44% of boys who watched porn reported that it gave them ideas about the type of sex they wanted to try.
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The trouble is, porn promotes an unrealistic and harmful expectation of sex and relationships. However, despite this, survey results also show that over half of 11 to 16-year-old boys (53%) and over a third of 11 to 16-year-old girls (39%) reported believing that pornography was a realistic depiction of sex.
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Another study indicated that teens often report trying to copy porn in their own sexual encounters, and that the pressure to imitate porn was often an aspect of unhealthy relationships.
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“My friend tried to choke his girlfriend once when they were having sex because he had seen it in a porno… it ended with the girlfriend slapping him and when he asked why she slapped him she said, ‘Because you were choking me’.” Nicholas, 16, Glasgow.
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In view of how common it is for teens to view porn and how unrealistic porn is, it is not surprising that young people are learning all the wrong lessons about sex. In fact, a 2021 study suggests that pornography is actively making young people more sexually illiterate.
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“We were having sex when, out of nowhere, he spit on me. I didn’t know how to react. He was embarrassed when he saw that he wasn’t getting the reaction he was expecting…. What he’d seen [in porn] had created unrealistic expectations for what sex would be like. He saw people do things to each other and get certain reactions, and assumed they’d transfer into real life.”
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Porn is not an education, it is a lie.
Further harmful impacts have been evidenced by research, which plays out in our schools and colleges. In fact, 41% of 11–17-year-olds agreed that watching porn made them less respectful of the opposite sex
32 and exposure to pornography in middle school led to higher sexual harassment in high schools.
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Yada is in the process of developing lesson plans/workshops to deliver to young people in both youth group and school settings which will aim to: make clear the harmful impacts of pornography and buying/selling sex; empower young people to make healthy and informed choices; use science and stories, engaging media, classroom activities and anonymous interactive technology to deliver age-appropriate and relevant sessions. Please get in touch for more information.
22 (Burton et al., 2010); (Cowen & Campbell, 1995); (Cowell & Smith, 2009); (Horvath et al., 2013)
23 (Wright et al., 2021)
24 (Horvath et al., 2013)
25 (British Board of Film Classification, 2020)
26 (Martellozzo et al., 2017)
27 (Martellozzo et al., 2017)
28 (Rothman et al., 2014)
29 (British Board of Film Classification, 2020)
30 (Wright et al., 2021)
31 (Fight the New Drug, 2019)
32 (British Board of Film Classification, 2019)
33 (Brown & L'Engle, 2009, #)