Sadly, porn consumption among teenagers and pre-teens is becoming more and more common. And what makes this situation worse is that for many it is the only source of sex education they have. This has a series of negative consequences, not only for their mental health but also socially. Porn consumption doesn’t just affect their brain, it also creates habits that can turn into addictions and builds up dangerous and misinterpreted ideas about sex and relationships.
Mass porn consumption teaches sexism, violence against women, and it also creates stress in young men that makes their sexual relationships end up being less satisfying, and they prefer to isolate themselves and masturbate. This leads them to feel ashamed and make the wrong decisions.
Porn is a dangerous drug, it’s free, it enters the home silently and is within children’s reach. This means that as a society we are facing a worrying situation for several reasons:
During development, young people go through major social, cognitive, biological and psychological changes, and continuous, prolonged exposure to “sexually explicit material”, 90% of it violent, is confusing and unsettling for a young brain and generates stress. This can go on to affect the structure and function of their brain, which will harm their emotional wellbeing and their intimate, sexual and personal relationships. And if a brain is stressed during its development (by sexual and/or violent content), it can produce anxiety, depression and attention deficit. It also affects academic performance, reduces working memory, interferes with decision-making, choice of friends, impulse control, setting boundaries, and increases addictive behaviours.
Another problem with pornography is that it stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that lets us feel pleasure. When interacting with pornography, the brain is overwhelmed by the high production and release of dopamine, and this can alter the brain’s reward circuits, affecting its natural capacity to produce this neurotransmitter that makes us feel good. This is why it can turn into an addiction, because the young man is seeking to feel that “peak” of ecstasy again. And this can negatively affect his emotional, psychological and social wellbeing, contributing to feelings of isolation, depression and shame.
Another threat they face because of this ‘addictive’ effect is conditioning: if they learn to become aroused by violence when very young, and consume porn regularly, they need increasingly violent images to reach climax, as with any drug. In the end they only get aroused if there is violence. The younger they start, at 9, 10, 11 years old, the more severe the sexual distortion will be.
On the other hand, pornography becomes a way of “managing” depression, frustration, loneliness, etc. which in turn makes them feel worse.
Did you know that 40% of teenagers think porn provides “important” information about sexual relationships? This means they develop a DISTORTION in their SEX education, since for more than 40% porn is their only source of sex education, and this will shape their sexual relationships, and they learn to have unsafe sex because:
They don’t use condoms
They support contemptuous attitudes, sexual violence and VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN, where women are the target that this “violence” is directed at.
Pleasure comes from “possessing the woman”, distorting the view of consent and respect
They don’t listen to their own needs, or those of the person they’re having sex with
It ends up being a purely mechanical act.
Constantly changing partners
They seek novel stimulation, which can make regular sex less satisfying.
Arousal is triggered by violence towards women
It is then inevitable to link porn consumption at an early age with the rise in sexual offences committed by minors, which has increased by 56% over the last five years, with one in four group offenders being a minor. A phenomenon against which there are no planned social or psychological defences.
They seem to forget that the porn industry is FAKE, there is nothing glamorous or fun about it. But seeing these men and women who are chosen for their physical qualities, their self-image is affected because they compare themselves. Their sexual performance is idealised because they think he/she should always have an orgasm almost at the same time, which generates additional stress, and sometimes they overstimulate themselves to reach an orgasm and end up hurting themselves or their partner, feeling in the end that they aren’t enough.
These are worrying, considering that pornography teaches sexism and objectification. Male teenagers who consume pornography are more likely to value women only for their appearance and their willingness to satisfy men’s desires.
On the other hand, they are taught to see women as objects, they don’t know how to relate to them intimately because they feel insecure. They have no tolerance for frustration, and don’t know that relationships are built over time, it’s a matter of time, connection and learning about the other person.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT, very important
To talk at home and in schools about SEX EDUCATION, the psychological and physical effects of pornography and how it can distort their perceptions of love and sex. Explain to them how this can make them see others as sexual objects, affecting their ability to form healthy relationships. Continuing to talk about sexual equality while pornography eats away at their heads and both men and women normalise violence against women, serves no purpose.
And the most important thing is what they see at home, the way their parents relate to each other and how the father refers to women.