How Porn Hurts Children

“The research demonstrates that exposure to pornography from an early age should be viewed as an ACE [adverse childhood experience] given its long-term effects, and hence requires a solution that harnesses the protocols of a public health approach to a social problem.”
Dr. Gail Dines, Culture Reframed1G. Dines (2017). Growing up with porn: The developmental and societal impact of pornography on children. Dignity: A Journal of Sexual Exploitation and Violence. Vol. 2, Issue 3, Article 3. DOI:10.23860/dignity.2017.02.03.03. Available at https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=dignity.

Although pornography isn’t intended for children, the reality is that – in the digital age, where porn has never been so accessible, affordable and anonymous– many find it hard to avoid. As the title of a report by the UK Children’s Commissioner sums it up: “Basically… porn is everywhere.”2M. A.H. Horvath, L. Alys, K. Massey, A. Pina, M. Scally and J. R. Adler (2013) Basically… porn is everywhere: a rapid evidence assessment on the effects that access and exposure to pornography has on children and young people. Project Report. Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England, London, UK ( https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/id/eprint/10692 )

Porn shapes our culture, driving hypersexualiation, sexual objectification and sexual entitlement. It also influences our sexual norms, attitudes and behaviours. Research confirms that it’s having a particularly damaging impact on our children and young people.

Porn shapes children’s sexual scripts

The UK government estimates that online porn is accessed by 1.4 million UK children each and every month.317.10.2019 Baroness Barran (LD) Parliamentary debate: Online Pornography: Age Verification Children are being regularly exposed not only to content that’s sexually explicit, but that also depicts sexual acts that are “coercive, abusive, violent, exploitative, degrading and potentially harmful or illegal….”4E. Martellozzo, A. Monaghan, J. Davidson, and J.R. Adler (02.02.2020) Researching the affects that on online pornography has on U.K. adolescents aged 11 to 16. SAGE Open, 10 (1) . pp. 1-11. ISSN 2158-2440 [Article] ( doi:10.1177/2158244019899462 )  

A recent UK survey found that 44% of boys aged between 11 and 16 who regularly viewed porn reported that it gave them ideas about the type of sex they wanted to try.5E. Martellozzo, A. Monaghan, J. Davidson, and J.R. Adler, R. Leyva, and M.A.H. Horvath (11.06.2017) “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it…”A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Project Report. Middlesex University, NSPCC, OCC(http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3382393) The UK’s Big Talk Education Report found that, for many boys, pornography is the main source of information about sex and sexual behaviour: “Questions like, ‘Is it ok for me to cum over my girlfriend’s face?’ are not unusual, as is the apparent normalisation of anal sex.”6UK Parliament: Written submission from BigTalk Education (SVS0048

Porn makes children see sex as a commodity

Porn divorces sex from the context of a dynamic, multi-layered relationship and turns it instead into an impersonal, performative act largely centred on male sexual gratification at any cost. Research shows that if young people perceive the sex in online pornography as realistic, they are more likely to believe that casual / hedonistic sex is more normal than sex within the context of loving, stable relationships.7E. Martellozzo, A. Monaghan, J. Davidson, and J.R. Adler (2020) Researching the affects that on online pornography has on U.K. adolescents aged 11 to 16. SAGE Open, 10 (1) . pp. 1-11. ISSN 2158-2440 [Article] (https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019899462)

But regardless of whether they see porn sex as realistic or not, adolescent porn consumption is associated with more permissive sexual attitudes, more sexual intercourse and more casual sex, along with stronger gender-stereotypical sexual beliefs, the tendency to support “rape myths” and the perception of women as sex objects (among both boys and girls)8.J Peter and P Valkenburg, Adolescent’s Exposure to a Sexualized Media Environment and Their Notions of Women as Sex Objects Sex Roles 56 (2007): 381-395; Brown, J. D., & L’Engle, K. L. (01.02.2009). X-Rated: Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Associated With U.S. Early Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650208326465

“Young people told us that exposure to 24-hour-a-day media has created new sexual attitudes – ‘sex with randoms is the norm’. It acts as a vehicle to spread sexual content, bullying and harassment and ‘reinstalls’ pornographic images on their brains daily without them even seeking them out.”

A.J. Bridges, R. Wosnitzer, E. Scharrer, C. Sun, and R. Liberman, Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update9A. J. Bridges, R. Wosnitzer, E. Scharrer, C. Sun, and R. Liberman (26.10.2010) Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210382866 

Porn drives sexual aggression

“I didn’t like it because it came on by accident and I don’t want my parents to find out and the man looked like he was hurting her. He was holding her down and she was screaming and swearing.”

Girl, 1110K. Selgren, BBC (15.06. 2016) Pornography ‘desensitising young people’

Much of today’s online porn sexualises violence and foregrounds men’s aggressive sexual domination over women.11C. Sun, Investigating Pornography: The Journey of a Filmmaker and Researcher in M. Tankard Reist and A. Bray (eds): Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry (North Melbourne, Victoria Spinifex Press, 2011) p.174 A 2015 meta-analysis looking at the links between porn consumption and sexually-aggressive behaviour found that “exposure to non-violent and violent pornography results in increases in both attitudes supporting aggression and in actual aggression.”12P. Wright, R. Tokunaga, and A. Kraus,(12.2015) A Meta-Analysis of Pornography Consumption and Actual Acts of Sexual Aggression in General Population Studies

“Porn shuts down a boy’s natural feeling, as it places little value on intimacy, empathy or respect of partners in pornography material.”

Dr.  Michael Flood, Sociologist13M. Flood (02.11.2009) The harms of pornography exposure among children and young people Child Abuse Review https://doi.org/10.1002/car.1092

Children’s consumption of online pornography has been associated with the dramatic increase in child-on-child sexual abuse over the past few years, which now constitutes around a third of all child sexual abuse.14NSPCC Learning(2018)  “Is this sexual abuse?” The consequences for both the perpetrator, who’s often ‘acting out’ what he has seen in porn, and to the victims of this abuse, are often serious and far-reaching.15N. Harding, The Sun (27.1. 2019) Shocking rise of sexual abuse by primary school kids attacking their peers

“One of my friends has started treating women like he sees on the videos – not major – just a slap here or there.”

Boy, 1316K. Selgren, BBC (15.06. 2016) Pornography ‘desensitising young people’

Porn hinders children’s ability to form healthy, stable relationships

The consumption of porn has a corrosive effect on human empathy. Studies reveal that the more young people are exposed to porn, the harder it is for them to form intimate relationships as they move through adolescence into adulthood.17J. Peter and P. Valkenburg (04.08. 2008) Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material, Sexual Uncertainty, and Attitudes toward Uncommitted Sexual Exploration, Is There a Link? Communications Research https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650208321754 Porn consumption correlates with reduced levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction, increases infidelity and relationship breakdown, and is associated with a lower likelihood of marriage.18M. Maddox., K. Rhoades, & H. Markman (29.12.2009) Viewing Sexually-Explicit Materials Alone Or Together: Associations With Relationship Quality. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 40(2), 441-448.; M.Malcolm and G.Naufal (11.2014) Are Pornography and Marriage Substitutes for Young men? Eastern Economic Journal 42 (2016): 317–334.

Porn leads to sexual harassment 

A 2013 UK Children’s Commissioner study found that, “[f]or some young men, collecting ‘man points’ – rating from their peers – is dependent on persuading and often harassing young women to send ‘sexts’, and on sharing pornography with each other.”19M. Coy, L.Kelly, F.Elvines, M. Garner, & A.Kanyeredzi (2013) Sex without consent, I suppose that is rape: how young people in England understand sexual consent London: Office of the Children’s Commissioner

Porn leads to sexual coercion

Research suggests that many young women feel under pressure to play out the ‘scripts’ their male partners learned from porn and are badgered into having sex in uncomfortable positions, faking sexual pleasure and consenting to perform unpleasant or painful sex acts.E.Rothman., C.Kaczmarsky, N.Burke, E.Jansen, & A.Baughman. (2015).20Without Porn…I Wouldn’t Know Half The Things I Know Now”: A Qualitative Study Of Pornography Use Among A Sample Of Urban, Low-Income, Black And Hispanic YouthThe Journal of Sex Research DOI:10.1080/00224499.2014.960908

“My friend wanted his girlfriend to dress like a porn star and do what a porn star would do.”

Tom, 17Parliament uk, 2016 Fixers Report

Melinda Tankard-Reist of the grassroots campaigns movement Collective Shout writes: “For many girls, naming and expressing emotional or physical pain is the new taboo because it transgresses the male porn script of a continually up-for-it girl who takes it with a smile. The message is that men and boys must be able to get sexual release whenever they need to, and that women should accept men’s need for porn.”21M. Tankard Reist and A. Bray (eds): Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry (North Melbourne, Victoria Spinifex Press, 2011/ The Independent: (11.2. 2015) H. Saul Four In 10 Teenage Girls ‘Coerced Into Sex Acts A UK GirlGuiding attitudes survey found that 71% of girls aged 17-21 think pornography gives out confusing messages about sexual consent and that it makes aggressive behaviour towards women seem normal.22Women and Equality Committee Inquiry: Sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools – Girlguiding Response May 2016

My view of being a woman was so warped, I kind of felt like I just had to accept it and give men what they want.”

Kera, 2523Parliament uk, 2016 Fixers Report 

Sexual objectification harms girls’ mental health and wellbeing

Pornography creates a distorted impression of what’s physically normal, and its influence on the wider culture means that the ‘perfect’, surgically-enhanced body becomes not just an ideal, but also a norm that many boys expect and to which many girls aspire. Such sexual objectification encourages us to judge girls and women according to their physical attractiveness and sex appeal. Research has long shown that internalising these messages results in lower self-esteem and a greater incidence of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and risky sexual behaviour.24M. Davidson and S. Gervais (2015) Violence Against Women Through the Lens of Objectification Theory, Educational Psychology Papers and Publications. 177. R. Kahalon, N. Schnabel and J.Becker (12.08.2018) Experimental Studies on State Self-Objectification: A Review and an Integrative Process Model Front Psychol. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01268 American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, (2010)

Porn makes girls more vulnerable to sexual violence

Research has demonstrated that women exposed to pornography as children are more likely to accept rape myths and to have sexual fantasies that involved rape.25S.Corne, J.Briere, and L. Esses, Women’s Attitudes and Fantasies about Rape as a Function of Early Exposure to Pornography Journal of Interpersonal Violence 7, no. 4 (1992): 454–461. What’s more, as Dr Gail Dines writes, “girls are more at risk for rape, battery, and being trafficked in a society where pornography is normalized.”26G. Dines, 2017 Growing Up With Porn: The Developmental and Societal Impact of Pornography on Children Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 2: Iss. 3, Article 3. DOI: 10.23860/dignity.2017.02.03.03 

Porn inspires risky sexual practices 

Porn consumption is associated with an earlier age of sexual initiation, which is a well-recognised marker for other kinds of risk, alongside binge drinking and having multiple sexual partners.27W. Heywood, K. Patrick, A. Smith, M. Pitts (2015) Associations Between Early First Sexual Intercourse and Later Sexual and Reproductive Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Population-Based DataDOI:10.1007/s10508-014-0374-3 Studies show a correlation between exposure to sexually-explicit website and the likelihood of young people engaging in casual, promiscuous and paid-for sex, and in risky sexual behaviour such as anal sex, group sex and sex without a condom.28J. Peter and P. Valkenburg (2016) , Adolescents and Pornography: A Review of 20 Years of Research The Journal of Sex Research https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1143441 D. Braun-Courville and M.Rojas (2008) Exposure to Sexually Explicit Web Sites and Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors J Adolesc Health DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.12.004; C. Marston & R. Lewis (2014) Anal Heterosex Amoung Young People and Implications for Health Promotion: A Qualitative Study in the UK. E. Rothman et al. Multi-person sex among a sample of adolescent female urban health clinic patients; BMJ Open, Correspondence to Dr Cicely Marston; E. Häggström-Nordin, U. Hanson, and T. Tydén,(2018) Association between Pornography Consumption and Sexual Practices among Adolescents in Sweden Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 123:4, 237-246, DOI: 10.1080/03009734.2018.1534907 There’s also a link between pornography consumption and delinquent / criminal adolescent behaviour, including sexual offenses.29M. Seto and M. Lalumière (2010), What Is So Special About Male Adolescent Sexual Offending? A Review and Test of Explanations through Meta-Analysis,Psychol Bull. 2010 Jul;136(4):526-75. doi: 10.1037/a0019700.

“I saw a lot of lad garage magazines just as I became 14. I was pressured into sex and my friend wanted to impress her boyfriend by having sex. You are pushed to do sex, drugs, skipping school, alcohol. It’s all related.”

Sophie, 1730Parliament UK, 2016 Fixers Report

Online porn has contributed significantly to the high and rising level of STDs among young people, which can cause long-term health problems (particularly in young women) such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and cervical cancer.31Daily Mail, S. Blanchard (26.11.2018) Dating apps could cause an ‘explosion’ in HIV cases, expert warns; NIH, Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Porn Drives Risky Online Behaviour

“One of my friends, when she was 16, she sent a picture to a guy and he then sent it to everyone in the school. She was bullied for ages. It got so bad she even contemplated suicide.

Keira, 2532Parliament UK, 2016 Fixers Report

The trend for teenagers to send naked selfies and sexts is driven by a media-saturated, pornified culture.33E. Martellozzo, A. Monaghan, J. Davidson and J. Adler, Joanna (2019)  Researching the affects that on online pornography has on UK adolescents aged eleven-to-sixteen https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019899462 Self-generated explicit images are often shared beyond the intended recipient, leaving the sender at risk of victimisation and exploitation through ‘sextortion’, sexual harassment and online grooming.34C. May-Chahal, E. Palmer, S. Dodds and S. Milan (01.2018) Lancaster University, Characteristics and vulnerabilities of victims of online-facilitated child sexual abuse and exploitation Sexting amongst young people also correlates with having had sexual intercourse, recent sexual activity, alcohol and other drug use before sexual intercourse, and multiple sexual partners.35L. Watchirs, B. Smith, L. Liu, Degenhardt, J. Richters , G. Patton, H. Wand , D. Cross , J. S. Hocking , S. R. Skinner, S. Cooper , C. Lumby, J.M. Kaldor and R. Guy (2016) Is sexual content in new media linked to sexual risk behaviour in young people? A systematic review and meta-analysis Sex Health. 2016 Nov;13(6):501-515. doi: 10.1071/SH16037.

“I think sexting is about peer pressure. Nobody wants to send a photo of themselves. They feel they should. They’re seeking love, not thinking about how unprotected you are when you send sexting pictures. They’re trying to fit in.”

Martina, 2536Parliament UK, 2016 Fixers Report

Watching porn as a kid can lead to addiction 

Watching pornography is a key way that adolescent boys feel they can ‘prove their manliness’ and gain peer acceptance and status.37M. Abeele, S. Campbell, S.Eggermont, & K. Roe (2012). Sexting and mobile porn use in the mobile youth culture: adolescents’ social self-concept, need for popularity and perceived peer pressure. Media Psychology, 17:1, 6-33, https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2013.801725 Pop-up porn ads appear even on sites designed for children and once they click, sophisticated algorithms are designed to turn children from ‘curious clicker’ into ‘member clicker’38.M. Prigg, Daily Mail, (28.1.2018) Google removes gaming apps with pop-up porn malware; J. Johnson, 2010, M. Tankard Reist and A. Bray (eds): Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry (North Melbourne, Victoria Spinifex Press, 2011) p.153

“Free porn is the same as the tobacco industry handing out free cigarettes to kids to get them hooked, without fear of prosecution.”

Dr Gail Dines

Porn exposes users to ‘supernormal stimuli’, where exaggerated, endlessly-novel depictions of sex release torrents of dopamine, which manipulates their brain’s reward circuitry, which in turn can lead to addiction.39T. Love, C . Laier, M. Brand, L. Hatch, & R. Hajela. (02.07.2015). Neuroscience Of Internet Pornography Addiction: A Review And Update, Behavioral Sciences, 5(3), 388-433. Doi: 10.3390/Bs5030388 The effect of this is especially serious in adolescents’ developing brains, which are primed for novelty and risk-taking.40E. Owens, R.J. Behun, J.C. Manning, R.C. Reid (2012) The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents: A Review of the Research Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity Pages: 99-122. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720162.2012.660431 Research shows that people who watch pornography when they’re young are more likely to be heavy, lifelong consumers. The compulsive use of porn can also lead to visual desensitisation so that, in order to maintain sexual arousal, users seek out material that’s increasingly extreme and violent.41K.Seigfried-Spellar & M. Rogers (2013) Does Deviant Pornography Use Follow a Guttman-like Progression? https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.018 

Porn risks children’s mental health 

Research shows that children are more susceptible than adults to mental health problems associated with compulsive porn use, such as anxiety, depression, loneliness and low self-esteem.42Frances E. Jensen with Amy Ellis Nutt, The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults (New York: Harper Collins, 2015); T. Doremus-Fitzwater, E. Varlinskaya, and L. Spear (2009), Motivational Systems in Adolescence: Possible Implications for Age Differences in Substance Abuse and Other Risk-Taking Behaviors Brain and Cognition 71, no. 1 2010):114–123. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2009.08.008 Heavy porn use also interferes with working memory and concentration, as well as increasing risk-taking and impulsive behaviour.43W. Cheng & W-B Chiou (2017), Exposure to Sexual Stimuli Induces Greater Discounting Leading to Increased Involvement in Cyber Delinquency among Men Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking; Your Brain On Porn: Studies linking porn use to poorer mental-emotional health & poorer cognitive outcomes Unsurprisingly, this often has a profound negative impact on children’s academic performance.44Fight The Drug (2018)  Porn Kills Grades: Research Shows XXX Content’s Effect On Academics C .Laier, F.. Schulte, and M. Brand (2012) “Pornographic Picture Processing Interferes with Working Memory Performance Such problems are exacerbated by the fact that heavy porn consumption correlates with young people reporting a poor emotional bond with their caregivers.45M. Ybarra and K Mitchell (2005). Exposure to internet pornography among children and adolescents: a national survey. Cyberpsychol Behaviour 2005 Oct;8(5):473-86. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.473. 

“We are in the midst of a massive social experiment that is having a seismic impact on the sexual templates, behaviours, emotional wellbeing, and attitudes of youth. Never before have we brought up a generation of boys who are a click away from viewing free hardcore mainstream pornography or girls who are growing up in this pornified culture.”

Dr Gail Dines

Porn has serious short-term effects on children. It nurtures sexist attitudes, supports rape myths, inspires risky sexual practices, creates compulsive behaviours, reduces self-esteem and confidence, causes a host of mental health problems, and can lead to sexual bullying, coercion and aggression.

But porn also leaves children with a lasting personal legacy. By hurting children’s physical, mental and emotional well-being and impacting their self-worth, porn is blighting their chances of forming and maintaining healthy, stable relationships in the future.

Our next generation is being exploited by a powerful, virtually unregulated industry. If we don’t recognise the multifaceted harm that porn is doing to our children and young people, we’ll be living with the consequences for years to come.