According to a study published online in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, pornography might not be as harmful to teens as protective parents fear. We all know that pornography does not necessarily depict the healthiest of relationships, there is violence on occasion and let's face it over-tipping the pizza guy with sex is not exactly realistic. I certainly don't want my daughters growing up with warped views about themselves and their sexuality because of poorly produced-products of the adult-film industry.
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And yet, porn is out there. It is fairly easy for people of all ages to access the imagery. Well, we parents can apparently breathe a little easier if we find out that our teenager has been downloading porn on the computer. No need to panic parents. The study published by The Journal of Sexual Medicine and conducted in The Netherlands suggests that pornography may not be as influential on teens sexual behavior as previously thought.
Gert Martin Hald, lead author of the study and associate professor in the department of public health at the University of Copenhagen, says…
There has been a sort of moral panic–sometimes in Britain and in the U.S. especially–about the influence of pornography on sexual behaviours. And although this study can't claim to investigate cause and effect, it can still say that there are a lot of other factors that determine sexual behaviours, so maybe we should put the debate into a larger perspective instead of being just one-sided.
Hald did add that other studies have shown pornography could have an effect on certain individual's thoughts even if it doesn't warp the majority's perceptions.
Pornography for the general user might not add to, for example, attitudes of violence against women. But for a small group of people, pornography seemed to increase the likelihood that these attitudes are formed or developed and also of increased sexual aggression.
So what should a parent do when it comes to pornography in their teenagers life? Discuss it. Parents have to talk to their kids about all sorts of topics like safety, drugs, and sex to help guide them into making the right decisions. Pornography can be woven into the discussion(s) about sex and give parents further reason to blush in front of their children.
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