Teens and Pornography

Question: Is there an age at which watching pornography is safe? 

Answer: Thank you for this question. It is normal and developmentally appropriate for teenagers to be curious and interested in sexual topics and to turn to the internet to learn more. Searching online can lead to wanted or unwanted exposure to pornography. Through research using surveys, we know that about 15% of kids report that they first saw pornography under age 11 and 20-38% of kids aged 11-17 years old report seeing pornography online in the last year.  

Potential Harms 

Most research has focused primarily on experiences around exposure to pornography, like age of exposure, frequency, and method (intentional, unintentional, etc). However, there is some research that has highlighted the likely harms associated with the use of pornography, which we describe below. 

• Emotional Impact. Unintended exposure to sexually explicit material can be disturbing and upsetting. There are a significant number of youth who report that their unintended exposure had a negative emotional impact, making them feel very upset, bothered, disturbed, troubled, embarrassed, disgusted, shocked, or annoyed. 
• Change in attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. Mass produced, online pornography today does not typically show consensual, loving, or healthy relationships. Instead, online pornography often teaches things such as dominance, aggression, and disrespect. Seeing a lot of sexual content online can make people think certain behaviors are more normal or okay than they really are. It can also give unrealistic ideas about what sex and relationships should look like. Watching sexual acts in online porn can make someone more likely to want to try those things in real life. When media or porn shows girls and women in a sexualized or stereotyped way, it can make those harmful ideas seem normal. This can affect how people see themselves and how they treat others in relationships. For example, seeing porn can influence a woman to feel that being disrespected is normal, or it can influence a man to feel that it is ok to be aggressive towards sexual partners.  
• Sexual knowledge and involvement. Seeing a lot of porn online can make people feel like they know a lot of information about sex, but it can also lead to risky choices. Research shows that people who watch porn often are more likely to have sex earlier, have more partners, hook up for one-night stands, and take risks that can lead to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or even pregnancy. 
• Sexual violence perpetration and victimization. Watching porn—especially violent porn—has been linked to aggressive or harmful behavior toward girls and women. The connection is strongest with violent porn, but even watching non-violent porn a lot can increase the risk of acting in harmful ways. 
• Negative impacts on relationships. Research shows that watching porn frequently can hurt relationships. Some people start using it so much that it feels out of control, which can cause problems for them and their partner. Many girls in relationships with guys who watch a lot of porn say it makes them feel hurt, betrayed, or less confident about themselves. 

To summarize, while wanting to learn more about sex is normal, pornography should not be a source of information to learn about consensual and healthy intimate relationships. It is also important to keep in mind that in many countries, including the United States, it is illegal for youth under 18 to be shown pornographic material. 

Tips for Teens and Families 

• Using filtering and blocking software can help decrease the risk of unwanted exposures.
  • The Center of Excellence has a Glossary of Digital Media Platforms that includes information on how to limit certain kinds of content on different apps, such as YouTube. 
• Attending an Internet safety presentation might also be beneficial. Often schools or community groups offer these types of educational sessions.
• Parental involvement and communication can also be protective. Conversations with parents about what tweens/teens may be seeing online, including adult websites, can provide an opportunity to safely discuss any questions or concerns. 
  • Our previous portal response, Talking To Your Child About Online Pornography Exposure, offers guidance for parents. 
  • There are many great resources for parents on how to approach the topic of pornography with their child. For example, Common Sense Media has an article with sentence starters about pornography, and this article from Planned Parenthood includes more general conversation starters to discuss relationships and sex, including times when the conversation can feel more natural.  

References 

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2016). Committee Opinion No 653 Summary: Concerns Regarding Social Media and Health Issues in Adolescents and Young Adults. Obstetrics and gynecology, 127(2), 414.   
• Flood, M. (2009). The harms of pornography exposure among children and young people. Child Abuse Review: Journal of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, 18(6), 384-400.  
• Livingstone, S., & Smith, P. K. (2014). Annual research review: Harms experienced by child users of online and mobile technologies: The nature, prevalence and management of sexual and aggressive risks in the digital age. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 55(6), 635-654.  
• Müller, S. M., Antons, S., Wegmann, E., Ioannidis, K., King, D. L., Potenza, M. N., ... & Brand, M. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of risky decision-making in specific domains of problematic use of the internet: Evidence across different decision-making tasks. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 152, 105271.  
• Nesi, J., & Nail, M. (2023, January 31). How to talk to kids about pornography. Brown University Health.  
• Wolak, J., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Unwanted and wanted exposure to online pornography in a national sample of youth Internet users. Pediatrics, 119(2), 247-257.   

Age: 10-17 

Topics: Online pornography, safety, youth, teen, adolescent 

Role: Youth