Posted by:
anybody
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)
Date: February 20, 2020 10:25AM
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-sex/201904/does-viewing-porn-corrupt-teensMany parents have trouble discussing sex with their children, and even the most comprehensive school sex-education programs have no measurable impact on teen sex—see my previous post. Meanwhile, porn is just a few taps or clicks away from most teens 24/7, and many view it regularly. This worries porn critics to no end.
Detractors insist that adolescents experience unwanted exposure to sexually explicit media, and that porn sexualizes young people too early, ruins them for long-term relationships, and pushes young men toward sexism and sexual violence. On the contrary, here’s what the best studies show:
Adolescents age 12 to 14 generally feel disgusted by sexually explicit media and quickly turn away from it.
Even when they watch porn, unwanted exposure doesn’t significantly harm them any more than unwanted exposure to cooking shows causes obesity.
Porn doesn’t sexualize young people “too early.” Most kids engage in childhood sex play years before they encounter porn.
There’s no evidence that porn ruins young people for long-term relationships. According to the National Center for Family and Marriage Research, the divorce rate peaked in 1980, years before free Internet porn became easily available. Since then, it has steadily declined. In 2015, a generation after porn flooded the Internet, the divorce rate fell to a 40-year low.
The well-documented association between early porn use and early virginity loss implies the former contributes to the latter. Not necessarily. Starting in childhood, some people are more sexual than others. Innate sexual precociousness may instigate both porn viewing and early virginity loss. Before Internet porn, most teens had first intercourse around age 17. Since porn flooded the Internet, that hasn’t changed. In fact, compared to the pre-Internet era, today’s teens are less sexually active (below).
The association between teen porn exposure and sex crimes is disturbing, but inconsistent. Many studies show that, compared with other men, sex offenders report viewing less porn.
More reasons that teen porn exposure is no cause for alarm:
A Texas Tech researcher surveyed 131 college men about porn consumption and attitudes toward women. As their self-reported porn viewing increased, their sexism decreased.
Scientists at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, surveyed 650 young adult men about their age at first porn exposure and their subsequent sexuality—“Early exposure had no effect.”
Another team of University of Zagreb researchers surveyed 1,005 young adult men about porn exposure and sexual irresponsibility—“Viewing pornography is not associated with sexual risk-taking.”
Swiss investigators surveyed 3,283 teen boys—“Pornography exposure, either willing or unwilling, is not associated with risky sexual behavior.”
Danish and Swedish studies show that while most teens turn to porn for information about the mechanics of sex, at the same time, they realize it’s a cartoon—not a how-to manual, but fantasy.
Finally, some porn critics assert that adolescent exposure to porn coaxes young men to commit sex crimes. UCLA investigators asked pedophile and non-pedophile adolescents about their porn consumption. Compared with other teens, the sex offenders had viewed “significantly less porn.”
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2020 10:30AM by anybody.