Overview
“To learn about sex and relationships, young people are going to the internet.” We know they’re constantly coming across porn, often unknowingly, and they’re telling us it’s having a negative and unsettling effect on them.”
According to many studies, the average age of a child’s first exposure to pornography is 11 years old. However, according to the analysis of security technology company Bitdefender,
“Excessive media consumption, particularly when the material is violent, gender-stereotyped, and/or sexually explicit, distorts children’s worldviews, promotes high-risk behaviors, and changes their ability for effective and long-term human connections.”
Teens who watch porn often are more likely to experience emotions of loneliness and serious depression. They have poorer self-esteem as well.
When children witness strangers performing sex acts, it becomes an overwhelming and frightening experience that they are unable to comprehend.
The Association for Natural Psychology claims that
“Pornography and sexual innuendo in pre-teen films might elicit feelings of anxiety and bewilderment.” With the exception of similarly perplexed peers, youngsters sometimes have no one with whom to discuss what they’ve witnessed.”
Porn may influence children’s sexual behavior.
Because children typically copy what they see, several studies suggest that pornography may lead to sexual behavior among smaller and more susceptible youngsters.