A writer for Mamamia, Harriet Pawson, previously wrote a letter to her son about porn. Now, a study has proven that 60 per cent of students say they watch porn to learn about sex.
Update:
Kids are learning about sex from porn these days, not from their parents.
A study by the National Union of Students in the U.K. found that 60 per cent of college students say they watch porn for educational purposes, because their parents and schools just aren’t cutting it.
The study found “60 per cent of students use porn to find out more about sex. 40 per cent cited porn as helping their understanding about sex, but overall almost three quarters agreed it provided unrealistic expectations.”
Which is troubling, because porn isn’t real. And, as actress-turned-director Rashida Jones recently pointed out, porn fulfills a male fantasy while dominating and, in many cases, objectifying women.
But as The Cut pointed out, 75 per cent of the participants found porn to be unrealistic and so do many other forms of media that depict sex. Books and pop culture both play their part in teaching kids about sex, whether we want them to or not.
So while we can shun the porn industry for teaching our children about pornography, at least most of them are smart enough to know it’s not as real as it looks.
A writer for Mamamia, Harriet Pawson, previously wrote on the subject…
To my darling Son,
I know this is not a conversation any boy wants to have with his mum at any age, so I’m going to let you off the hook. Sort of.