As part of my work with Common Sense, I produced this conversation for parents and educators about the nonprofit’s new research on pornography viewing by our (very young) kids. This very capable panel teases out the learnings and offers practical advice that I hope you’ll find enlightening and useful. The report, “Teens and Pornography,” found that 73% of teen respondents age 13 to 17 have watched pornography online—and more than half (54%) reported first seeing pornography by the time they reached the age of 13. And, for better or worse, online pornography is shaping their views about sex and sexual relationships, as nearly half (45%) of teen respondents said that they felt online pornography gives “helpful” information about sex.
Here is their new parent advice for talking with preteens and teens about this topic. And here is advice about talking with younger kids about pornography – both about preparing them for what they might stumble across and soothing them if they’ve seen something troublesome.
