Sex Education and Pornography: Insights from a California Community
By Abigail Karlin-Resnick and Sono Aibe
Technology has the power to make information available at the touch of a finger or the click of a mouse…including pornography. No matter where you live in the world, if you give a young person a smart phone, you can assume that at some point during their childhood, they will likely be exposed to sexualized images, whether accidental or intentional. In the absence of accurate sexual health information from trusted sources — medical providers, parents, and schools — including about pleasure, young people may seek out pornography simply to further their understanding about their bodies, intimacy, and relationships. As access to free pornography on the internet has increased, young people have expressed curiosity about the legitimacy of porn as a window into the bedroom, while guardians and educators have articulated their justified anxieties about the accessibility of adult content and sense of powerlessness to intervene.
In the U.S., 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45% say they are online ‘almost constantly.’[1] The Kaiser Family Foundation cited a finding that 13% of 14–24-year olds reported having shared a naked photo or video of themselves via digital communication.[2] In another study, 28% of teen girls ages 15 to 19 reported seeking information about sexual and reproductive health issues from a variety of sources, primarily family and friends (36%), websites (28%), or health care providers (21%).[3] Around the world, many young people seek sexuality information outside of their home, health facilities, or schools, instead turning to their peers and media, which provides the dual benefits of accessibility and confidentiality. Most traditional school-based sexual health curricula do not address sexual pleasure, leaving them to seek information on this topic from easily accessible, entertaining, and unscientific sources such as porn sites.
Parents are a child’s primary educator about bodies, relationships, and sex. Ideally, conversations about pornography are built on a solid foundation of informal and positive conversations about bodies, puberty, reproduction, sex and relationships starting at a young age. But even if this has not been done, a young person’s exposure to pornography can sometimes serve as an entry point for a long overdue conversation. Here in northern California, the non-profit organization Health Connected fosters community-wide support for young people to ensure they have the help needed to navigate the complexities of relationships and sexual health decision-making. For several years, youth and parents have expressed a need for open and honest discussions about pornography: what it is, whether it is harmful or beneficial, and in what ways it stands in for sex education in the absence of intentional conversations.
Pornography is presently not included as a topic in any of Health Connected’s courses, but even so, students articulate both their knowledge of and questions about pornography through an anonymous question box activity that is incorporated into all of Health Connected’s courses. In the 2017–18 school year, there were 305 questions about pornography. Of those, 60% came from 12–14-year olds in middle school. This is consistent with research that suggests that the average age of first exposure to pornography is between 11–14 years old.[4] [5] Here are just a few of the questions about pornography Health Connected’s team of educators have received over the years:
· Why do males and females get sexual thoughts and why do they watch porn? (5th grade)
· How do you know whether or not you are addicted to porn or just like it a lot? (7th grade)
· Is pornography real? (8th grade)
· Is watching porn hub legal? (9th grade)
· Is it true that people in the porn industry are victims of sex trafficking? (9th grade)
With all this in mind, Health Connected has been exploring a model of pornography literacy aimed at engaging educators, parents, and youth in an honest discussion about the desire and need for porn education in classroom-based sexual health education and at home. A few months ago, a workshop titled “Porn Panic!” was well-attended by community members, school administrators, parents, and teachers to address fears about porn and practice a porn literacy activity that Health Connected has developed for possible classroom use. School administrators expressed their fears about responding to student sexting and child pornography; parents expressed concern on how to address the topic at home with support from schools, while acknowledging that plenty of parents are probably in denial and turning a blind eye to the incursion of pornography on their children’s lives.
The reality is, of course, pornography doesn’t have geographic boundaries. Young people all over the world are exposed to the same global media, whether they are in rural Myanmar, suburban California, or urban Kenya. It is critical, then, that sexual health practitioners exchange lessons and work across borders to satisfy young people’s curiosity about healthy and pleasurable sex, and to do it in the most evidence-based, respectful, and non-judgmental way.
Just as Star Wars is not an accurate representation of space, pornography is not an accurate representation of the range of human sexual experiences and bodies. Comprehensive sexuality education helps build bridges between adolescents and the adults in their lives. It is an opportunity to establish respect and kindness as the social norm. It is the entrée to conversations about the nuances of consent. And comprehensive sexual health education is a perfect opportunity to guide young people in becoming critical consumers of the media they consume, whether through the print ad displaying a bikini-clad woman or pornography.
For more information about these topics, check out these resources:
· A to Z of Porn: https://www.bishuk.com/tag/a-z-of-porn/
· Amaze video about porn: https://amaze.org/video/having-the-talks-porn/
· Lisa Ling episodes about porn: https://www.cnn.com/shows/this-is-life-with-lisa-ling
· Vimeo series — Truth of Porn: https://vimeo.com/298638943
References:
[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
[2] https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/sexual-health-of-adolescents-and-young-adults-in-the-united-states/
[3] ibid.
[4] Sabina, C., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2008). The Nature and Dynamics of Internet Pornography Exposure for Youth. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 691–693. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.0179
[5] Cameron, K. A., Salazar, L. F., Bernhardt, J. M., Burgess-Whitman, N., Wingood, G. M., & DiClemente, R. J. (2005). Adolescents’ experience with sex on the web: results from online focus groups. Journal of Adolescence, 28(4), 535–540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.10.006
Abigail Karlin-Resnick is Executive Director and Sono Aibe is a former board member of Health Connected based in East Palo Alto, California. The mission of Health Connected is to equip young people with information, skills and support to make thoughtful choices about their relationships and sexual health throughout their lives.
