Porn Is Bad for Teenagers? You've Got to Be Joking

I mean, come on. Teenagers shouldn't watch porn? Abstinence is the only truly moral path? Where are we, 1756? What's next, trepanning and lobotomies and hurling virgins into the volcano to appease the corn god? Are you people high?

Put it this way. Anti-sexual thoughts make you into some sort of shrill humorless neoconservative evangelical QVC addict with a thing for plastic lawn ornaments, Purity Balls, Coors and all things pleated.

We've also found devastating evidence linking the widespread activity of not having good, respectful, dirty, open-mouthed sex to everything from acid reflux to infertility to global biochemical warfare to a chronic adoration of Adam Sandler.

It's really quite astonishing. Except for the part that it's totally obvious.

Here is the most astounding fact of all, the thing that makes you want to scream in the faces of these legislators and religious nutballs and pour a gallon of honey over them and then toss them onto a giant mound of gay fire ants.

Sex is just ridiculously good for you. Sex is good for the heart. It's good for the blood. It's good for the mood and it's good for depression and it's good for self-esteem and it's good for making you feel more human and alive and present in your skin.

And where do you learn about sex? Not one of those embarrassing talks parents feel obliged to give their children. Watching porn is the theory side of sex. After that, go out and practice.

The sort of raw, real sex'n'porn teenagers deserve will never happen in your lifetime, not on any large scale, not with the whiny self-righteous Christian Fundamentalists screaming into their underwear and trembling at the sight of their own genitalia.

They’re one of its biggest consumers. They’re watching it in their own homes. They’re reporting that “conventional hardcore” is their main preference.

And “they” aren’t even adults.

Porn is proliferating, and children under the age of 18 have become one of its biggest consumers. Most of them have viewed it by the age of 11.

Understandably, parents have become angry, alarmed and worried, because it's so easy for their children to access pornography.

But what is the reality of teen's exposure, experience and consumption of porn? What do girls and boys think about their experience?

A few studies have made some surprising findings about how young people are affected by porn and offer insight as to how parents should go about broaching the subject with teens.

One study, conducted at Malmö University in Sweden and published in 2006, answers many of the questions parents have about youth porn consumption. It is based on conversations with 73 Swedish youth, ages 14 to 20, about their experiences with and perceptions of porn.

Not surprisingly, teens and young adults think they are continuously exposed to sexually explicit images and messages, and not just on the Internet, but in everyday life situations.

All of them reported having come into contact with porn, either voluntarily seeking it out or involuntarily being subjected to it.

As found in other Scandinavian studies, significantly more boys than girls are active porn consumers.

Boys are more positive in their general attitude about porn; girls consume more porn as they get older, although still much less than boys. Studies also found that girls tend to watch porn with someone they are involved with.

Older girls tend to become more positive about porn, but are most critical of it. Girls feel much more ambivalent about porn than boys, finding it arousing, thrilling and intriguing, while more disgusting and offensive.

They struggle with the fact that “everybody watches it,” yet the enticing materials evoke conflicting emotions about the taboo and dangerous.

While sizing up youth porn consumption, investigators found three main uses for it:

1. It’s a form of social interaction between viewers. Youth who observe porn together end up gauging their reactions as compared to others.

Viewers create a norm as far as what’s “normal” or “deviant” via information that’s communicated, such as comments, laughs, jokes and sighs.

2. It’s a “reliable” information source. Teenagers learn new things from porn -- for example, tips on different positions. Yet they are processing this information critically, comparing it to life experiences and information from other sources.

Teenagers are able to evaluate the materials as overstated, distorted or incorrect. The ultimate reaction: They tune out or distance themselves from the source.

3. It’s an inspiration for sexual excitement. For boys, interest in porn grows less as they get older and have their own sexual experiences. They actually become more critical and negative about porn with age.

Porn for them becomes something more for stimulation and ideas than a source of information or socializing.

Another 2006 study, which examined the porn perceptions of 1,776 Danish, Norwegian, and Fenno-Swedish 12- to 20-year-olds, had interesting findings as well.

These researchers found that boys are more likely to attach desire to the use of porn, whereas girls do it more out of curiosity or “for the fun of it.”

Half of the participants, mostly boys, thought that porn could improve their lives. One-third of them, the majority of whom were girls, thought porn could damage their sex lives.

Girls further reported that porn made them feel inadequate about their bodies or resulted in performance anxiety. Boys were likelier to say they were not affected by porn at all.

Hardly any of the participants considered the pornography actors as celebrities, but rather as “cheap” and “ridiculous.” Many said that porn should not be banned, but regulated.

Overall, both genders think that porn:

— Depicts sex that is enjoyable;

— Shows how sex can be practiced in a number of ways;

— Is made for men;

— Never puts women in charge.

— Is an important masturbatory 'tool.'

tags: sex  porn  teenagers  

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