Research shows that most young people are exposed to porn by age 13. And according to a nationally representative survey of U.S. teens, 84% of 14 to 18-year-old males and 57% of 14 to 18-year-old females have viewed pornography.British Board of Film Classification. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. BBFC. Retrieved from https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/researchCopy Wright, P. J., Paul, B., & Herbenick, D. (2021). Preliminary insights from a U.S. probability sample on adolescents’ pornography exposure, media psychology, and sexual aggression. J.Health Commun., 26(1), 39-46. doi:10.1080/10810730.2021.1887980Copy
That means that most young people are getting at least some of their education about sex from porn, whether they mean to or not. In fact, one study shows that approximately 45% of teens who consumed porn did so in part to learn about sex. Similarly, survey results also show that 1 in 4 18 to 24-year-olds listed pornography as the most helpful source to learn how to have sex.British Board of Film Classification. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. BBFC. Retrieved from https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/researchCopy Rothman, E. F., Beckmeyer, J. J., Herbenick, D., Fu, T. C., Dodge, B., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2021). The Prevalence of Using Pornography for Information About How to Have Sex: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey of U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults. Archives of sexual behavior, 50(2), 629–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01877-7Copy
That’s concerning—especially considering how toxic porn can be. One 2021 study, for example, found that 1 out of every 8 porn titles shown to first-time visitors to porn sites described acts of sexual violence. Not to mention, at least 1 in 3 and as many as 9 in 10 porn videos show sexual violence or aggression.Vera-Gray, F., McGlynn, C., Kureshi, I., & Butterby, K. (2021). Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography. The British Journal of Criminology, doi:10.1093/bjc/azab035Copy Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Sun, C., & Liberman, R. (2010). Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: a content analysis update. Violence against women, 16(10), 1065–1085. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210382866Copy
Related: Oral Before Kissing: How Porn Culture Has Changed Teens’ First Sexual Encounters
Also, porn often promotes a number of other problematic sexual narratives. Porn sites are full of videos that portray, normalize, and fetishize incest, racism, sexism, and a variety of situations where marginalized or vulnerable people are abused or taken advantage of.
Despite all of this, teens report trying to copy porn in their own sexual encounters, where pressure is often an aspect of unhealthy relationships. And according to a UK survey of over 22,000 adult women, nearly 1 in 6 reported having been forced or coerced to perform sex acts that a sexual partner had seen in porn.Rothman, E. F., Kaczmarsky, C., Burke, N., Jansen, E., & Baughman, A. (2015). 'Without Porn … I Wouldn't Know Half the Things I Know Now': A Qualitative Study of Pornography Use Among a Sample of Urban, Low-Income, Black and Hispanic Youth. Journal of sex research, 52(7), 736–746. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.960908Copy Taylor, J., & Shrive, J. (2021). ‘I thought it was just a part of life’: Understanding the scale of violence committed against women in the UK since birth. VictimFocus. Retrieved from https://irp.cdn-website.com/f9ec73a4/files/uploaded/Key-Facts-Document-VAWG-VictimFocus-2021a.pdfCopy
All in all, pornography actively spreads harmful misinformation about sex. Research even suggests that the more someone consumes porn, the more sexually illiterate they tend to become.Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., Herbenick, D., & Paul, B. (2021). Pornography vs. sexual science: The role of pornography use and dependency in U.S. teenagers’ sexual illiteracy., 1-22. doi:10.1080/03637751.2021.1987486Copy
The research is clear—porn normalizes and perpetuates toxic messages about sex that are harming young people. But the good news is that we can limit those negative effects by raising awareness on this issue. So how can you help?
Related: How Hardcore Porn Is Dramatically Changing Teens’ Expectations For Sex
With constantly evolving technology, starting conversations about the harms of porn and the joys of real love and healthy sexuality is so important.
Porn isn’t going away, so it’s up to us to raise awareness on its harms and get educated on the issue. Nothing can completely erase its existence in our technological world, but with an open, shame-free dialogue and a scientifically-backed perspective, parents of the Playboy generation can help their kids of the PornTube generation navigate the online minefield they walk through daily.
