Poll: Teenagers and Pornography

[General Grind]

Read an interesting article on porn and teenagers that made want to hear your thoughts on it.

Link

While I agree that the availability of pornography to teens - especially very violent and extreme pornography - is a problem that needs addressing, I'm not sure I agree with the problem being quite as severe as this article makes it seem. That online porn is "like leaving heroin around the house" seems a bit extreme.

What do you think? Is pornography the biggest threat facing our young-lings? How much have you been scarred by watching pornography?

Captcha: very nice

Our future computer overlords seem to approve of pornography at least.

 

[crimsonshrouds]

Ok... I'm pretty certain some version of porn has been around since the advent of civilization. Now, the only issue is parents not teaching their children about sex to avoid any problems. Considering we are hardwired to want sex from the beginning of puberty onward, this is not surprise. The Dailymail I believe is not a good source of information from what I hear anyways.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Whoa, the BIGGEST threat? Look, I can see some 7 year old kid getting traumatized for life by wandering into deviantart or bangbros or whatever, but that's nothing some parental guardsmanship + safe search filtering won't prevent. As an addiction, I'd be more concerned with alcohol, which remains the drug that causes the most deaths every year. Or fuck it, guns and their control - kills more people than internet porn.

 

[krazykidd]

Ok... I'm pretty certain some version of porn has been around since the advent of civilization. Now, the only issue is parents not teaching their children about sex to avoid any problems. Considering we are hardwired to want sex from the beginning of puberty onward, this is not surprise. The Dailymail I believe is not a good source of information from what I hear anyways.

However , depending on the kind of pornography they see , it could affect their view on sex . If a young and impressionalble mind , saw fake rape fantasy sex ( yes that is a thing ) , they could think that is the norm and not a specific fetish . Now that's an extreme example , but there are a very wide range of fetishes out there , and not all i would say are suitable for impressionable minds .

OT: Vanilla sex , i don't see too much of a problem. When it's certain fetishes , it could have longterm consequences .

 

[TheIceQueen]

You know what I think is more of a threat to teenagers when it comes to sex lives? Abstinence-only education. It's nothing but ignorance getting pushed onto kids who don't know any better. I also think something similar of the Daily Mail.

Stop attacking porn. Start actually being parents and give your kids knowledge.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Well, I guess I can see why some think of it as a threat. I myself am into quite a wide variety of sexuality and fetishism (or "disturbing" stuff, to use your words) thanks to the years of watching porn and digging deeper and deeper into its mysteries. Is it a problem though? I don't think so. I think people would benefit more from enhanced education rather than trying to shield them away from it.

As far as I'm concerned, I would be more wild than the average person in bed (or in a dungeon, whatever) but outside of those personal moments, I'm no different than anyone else. I think this holds true for most people who are into "disturbing" (do I make it too obvious that I think your use of that word is fucking shit?) pornography. An enhanced education regarding sexuality and fetishism would only increase that normalcy as well. When people constantly get told they're freaks or "disturbing" because of what they're turned on by, you know, it isn't very encouraging.

Basically, no I don't think pornography is dangerous to teenagers. I certainly don't regret all the things I'm now interested in because of it. I do think teenagers need to be educated on it more, however.

 

[jesse220]

The only threat I see with teenagers viewing poem is if it's their only source of information on sex. Could lead to some unhealthy views towards women. But as long as they understand it's a fantasy it's perfectly fine.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Is this a question? Porn was never a threat to anyone. If anything it's a sort of Rorschach test that people use to figure themselves out sexually during that developmental phase of adolescence. Very few people don't look at any sort of pornography whatsoever, and they're not any better off than the rest of us.

 

[crimsonshrouds]

Ok... I'm pretty certain some version of porn has been around since the advent of civilization. Now, the only issue is parents not teaching their children about sex to avoid any problems. Considering we are hardwired to want sex from the beginning of puberty onward, this is not surprise. The Dailymail I believe is not a good source of information from what I hear anyways.

However , depending on the kind of pornography they see , it could affect their view on sex . If a young and impressionalble mind , saw fake rape fantasy sex ( yes that is a thing ) , they could think that is the norm and not a specific fetish . Now that's an extreme example , but there are a very wide range of fetishes out there , and not all i would say are suitable for impressionable minds .

OT: Vanilla sex , i don't see too much of a problem. When it's certain fetishes , it could have longterm consequences .

Ummm... I thought I addressed issues like that in the second sentence with them being taught by their parents...
Well I've seen my fair share of "weird" fetishes so I can understand your fear but I still stand by my post.

 

[Queen Michael]

"We have to tell our kids that pornographic sex is fake and real sex is about love, not lust."
...I can't really agree with that.

With that said, though, porn watching isn't something that you should be doing all that often. You don't want to get sexually jaded.

I'm not certain about how reliable the study the performed is, though, considering that it didn't include that many people. And I'm told that the Daily Mail isn't an entirely reliable source, so to speak.

And when it comes to weird porn, I think we need to make a difference between those who've had their fetish for as long as they remember (like me) and people who started watching weird fetish stuff because they've gradually got interested in harder and harder stuff.

 

[General Grind]

Well, I guess I can see why some think of it as a threat. I myself am into quite a wide variety of sexuality and fetishism (or "disturbing" stuff, to use your words) thanks to the years of watching porn and digging deeper and deeper into its mysteries. Is it a problem though? I don't think so. I think people would benefit more from enhanced education rather than trying to shield them away from it.

As far as I'm concerned, I would be more wild than the average person in bed (or in a dungeon, whatever) but outside of those personal moments, I'm no different than anyone else. I think this holds true for most people who are into "disturbing" (do I make it too obvious that I think your use of that word is fucking shit?) pornography. An enhanced education regarding sexuality and fetishism would only increase that normalcy as well. When people constantly get told they're freaks or "disturbing" because of what they're turned on by, you know, it isn't very encouraging.

Basically, no I don't think pornography is dangerous to teenagers. I certainly don't regret all the things I'm now interested in because of it. I do think teenagers need to be educated on it more, however.

Disturbing was a poor choice of words. I have nothing against fetishes. I just thought that bestiality and some forms of violent pornography might be disturbing for young minds to watch. Never meant to make it sound like I was condemning any form of consensual sex among adults.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Disturbing was a poor choice of words. I have nothing against fetishes. I just thought that bestiality and some forms of violent pornography might be disturbing for young minds to watch. Never meant to make it sound like I was condemning any form of consensual sex among adults.

Well bestiality is on a completely different level, since it's actually criminal (in most countries, I believe). As for violent porn, that's where the education comes in. It isn't true violence, not really, because it is still fully consented and the "victim" not only consented to it, but enjoys it as much as the dominant does.

Really, the problem with this sort of thing is ignorance and a lack of education.

 

[norashepard]

I mean, kids are going to look at porn. It's just going to happen. And that's fine, both as a learning experience as to what exactly sex is (although most porn isn't exactly correct), as well as what the kid personally likes. BUT at the same time, what if a kid starts watching rape fantasy porn and starts to think that's the way to do it? That is a problem. I mean, it's more of a problem with porn in general (rape porn really really shouldn't exist), but still.

So yeah, certain things need to be addressed, but no I don't think kids should be barred from it entirely as if it was some kind of poison.

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

You're not from the UK are you? I'd suggest avoiding using the Daily Mail as a "valid" source of information for anything you write. Unless you're upper-middle class, white and like to blame the poor and/or foreign people, sex and music for all the world's woes.

In response to the actual point the article is attempting to make, I'm of the opinion that while yes, it is a problem that teenagers are using porn as a way to learn about sex, the fact that there is no one, not parents, not teachers, not the mandatory sexual education classes for young teens, teaching them that porn is a fantasy and should be treated in the same way as all other fantasy movies. The real problem here is that no one has taught these people how to differentiate fantasy from reality. By 13/14 a lot of my friends knew of similar porn terms, but were also (for the most part) well aware that the expectations of sex that porn gives are false.

 

[Caffiene]

The Daily Fail makes mountain out of molehill. More news at 11.

 

[RandV80]

Well, I guess I can see why some think of it as a threat. I myself am into quite a wide variety of sexuality and fetishism (or "disturbing" stuff, to use your words) thanks to the years of watching porn and digging deeper and deeper into its mysteries. Is it a problem though? I don't think so. I think people would benefit more from enhanced education rather than trying to shield them away from it.

As far as I'm concerned, I would be more wild than the average person in bed (or in a dungeon, whatever) but outside of those personal moments, I'm no different than anyone else. I think this holds true for most people who are into "disturbing" (do I make it too obvious that I think your use of that word is fucking shit?) pornography. An enhanced education regarding sexuality and fetishism would only increase that normalcy as well. When people constantly get told they're freaks or "disturbing" because of what they're turned on by, you know, it isn't very encouraging.

Basically, no I don't think pornography is dangerous to teenagers. I certainly don't regret all the things I'm now interested in because of it. I do think teenagers need to be educated on it more, however.

If there's any danger it could come from developing a fetish for something that can't be recreated or performed in reality. For example, look at the rise of dating sim games in Japan and the alarming disinterest or outright revulsion towards sex among their youth. Something like 25-30 percent of youths aged 16-19 simply aren't interested in it.

But that's Japan, how might exposure to a wide range of all sorts of porn effect teens over here? That's something that's still being figured out because the results are just coming out. I mean thinking back to my own teen years I wouldn't want to deny boobs to today's kids, but back then you had to work damn hard to get any so it was sort of like training wheels into adulthood.

 

[Yopaz]

The only threat I see with teenagers viewing poem is if it's their only source of information on sex. Could lead to some unhealthy views towards women. But as long as they understand it's a fantasy it's perfectly fine.

This is a part of what I am thinking. Porn is unrealistic and sex isn't a part of regular parenting or education. We learn from the start that we shouldn't fight or how we should do this or that. Morals are ingrained into us, but sex is something we try to avoid talking about. There's the awkward conversations some parents have with their kids which both the parents and the kids want to end as soon as possible. Some might take it to the level of saying you should have sex with someone you care about and some might even advice safe sex when they do it. The stupid ones preach abstinence which is the method leading to most teenage pregnancies.

Violent media might have some ill effects on us, but we've learned from an early stage that we shouldn't do that and because of that most of us turn out fine. There is however no-one who has taught us how to have sex and if we spend our time watching hardcore porn we might start believing that's how sex is supposed to be like. Pounding the girl as hard as you can for at least 20 minutes should be the minimum. She is also likely to enjoy getting a cock up her ass with no warning or asking for permission first. This should also be done as hard as possible because that increases the pleasure she feels. Oh... you don't have a 10 inch cock? That makes you like the tiniest guy ever and you should be ashamed of yourself as a man. Your breasts are small or have a different shape than that of the porn stars? Well, there's a reason for you to be insecure because no boy wants that. You're also fat.

Porn on its own isn't a bad thing, but in the absence of knowledge it can be harmful. It can hurt our self esteem (so can most media however) and it can give us an unhealthy relationship to sex. It's a problem that we should address, but not in the shape of banning porn or government run porn filters. Sex isn't bad, what we need is more openness around it. Make it healthy rather than taboo.

 

[Jenvas1306]

It makes me sad when 14 years olds find it normal to have sex, but know nothing of intimacy besides that.
thinking you got to do something a certain way and not follow your own mind and heart is bad and I guess especially teens are brought off their own way very easily to fit to some norm. porn isnt norm and its not how real sex works. how that works for everyone individually is something that can only be found out if you are really intimate with your partner and trust that person. If you are too young to form such a bond to another person that wont work and instead performing something you leanred from porn... thats just sad.