Healthy understanding of sex is vital

• Published date: 23 March 2022
• Publication title: Courier, The

According to the 2021 YMCA South & Mid Canterbury Youth Survey, 34% of our region’s young people from age 13 upwards have watched pornography, 12% watching once or twice a week and 8% watching daily or multiple times daily

At age 17, 44% of young people say they watch pornography, with more than half watching daily or several times a week.

So, what’s the worry? Porn is not a big deal, is it?

It’s important to realise that many rangatahi first glimpse porn unintentionally — clicking on an on-screen pop-up, a link shared by a friend — without any context, but then seek it out from curiosity. Many rangatahi will not have the maturity and skills to fully understand what they are viewing.

Concerns about rangatahi watching porn stem from its effects on the still-developing brain and how it shapes young people’s attitudes towards sex, consent and a wide range of sexual acts.

With the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger, young people can readily view and share not just ‘‘mainstream’’ pornography but also content that is extreme, violent and exploitative.

It is important to talk to rangatahi about porn in a non-judgemental way, to give them context about what’s real about it and what’s not.

Young people need help to understand how porn differs from what normal, healthy sexual relationships look like. We at the Y do this through a new module about pornography that we’ve added to our Resiliency Toolkit programme, and also through the Mates and Dates healthy relationships programme.

We talk about what research now consistently shows about pornography:

■It can affect brain function, cause changes in the brain’s reward centre function and hijack neurochemicals and the processes that help with learning and bonding. Regular or frequent viewing...