Teenagers are increasingly accessing pornography

2023-11-14 09:52:40

Adolescents’ access to pornography occurs at increasingly younger ages, which means that their sexual behaviors are conditioned by everything they see. Different pediatric associations have come together to request regulation of children’s access to pornographic material and the urgent and effective implementation of affective-sexual education.

According to data from the report published by Save the Children on children and adolescents’ access to pornography, more than half of the people surveyed accessed pornography for the first time before the age of 13, and almost one in ten, did so before the age of ten.

Although the problem is not new, it has worsened in recent years, in which it is observed that children are increasingly accessing pornographic material.

He access at such early ages makes children and adolescents, at the stage in which they begin their sexual relations, tend to continue behavioral patterns that they see in the videos.

To stop the possible consequences of this early access, the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap), the Spanish Society of Pediatrics
Out-of-hospital (SEPEAP) and non-governmental organization Save the Children They have joined together to ask greater emotional-sexual education in schools and regulation of minors’ access to pornography.

The first access

He 62.5% of adolescents between 13 and 17 years old, surveyed for this report, say they have seen pornography at some point in their lives. In this figure, there is a marked difference according to gender identity, girls using it much less than boys.

53.8% of the people surveyed accessed pornography for the first time before the age of 13, and 8.7% before the age of 10. The average age is 12 years overall (before 12 years for boys and 12 and a half years for girls).

EFE/Xavier Bertral

The influence of pornography on sexual practices

Among medical, educational and research professionals, there is a widespread pDeep concern over teens’ early access to pornography when coinciding with an age where the lack of critical capacity It does not allow us to correctly discern reality from fiction.

Pediatricians maintain that when adolescents access pornography, they have not yet completed their maturation process nor have they received sufficient emotional-sexual education to process the behaviors they observe when viewing pornography.

“Viewing pornography by minors, sometimes even children, affects their interpersonal relationships. Now young people try to imitate the behavior patterns of the pornographic films they watch,” explains the doctor. Pedro Gorrotxategi, vice president of AEPap.

In many of these films, the behavior scheme puts the man above the woman regarding the decisions made about sexual relations. This implies, as the doctor explains, an alteration in the way of relating.

In fact, as shown by data from the report Save the children36.8% of those who most frequently consume pornography do not distinguish between fictional pornography and their own sexual experiences.

Besides, 47.4% of adolescents Those who watch pornography have sometimes imitated what they have seen, but they have not always done so by mutual agreement with their partner.

sexual desire

He sexual desire from adolescent population It is built, to a large extent, on the consumption of pornography. The boys themselves express that they are worried that they are aroused by sexual practices that were not morally approved.

Research professionals agree that the normalization of certain practices “attenuates morality or ethics” and makes it easier for violent and humiliating behaviors are part of sexual desire in adolescence.

Affective-sexual education

Affective-sexual education is a way to provide access to appropriate informationsince it is a basic tool to learn about sexuality, risks, one’s own body, etc…

Pediatric societies consider it necessary to emotional-sexual education in which it is taught that sexuality is a part of the emotional relationship and that it has to be satisfactory for both members of the couple.

“Affective-sexual education has to teach young people transmitted diseases, how to plan sexual relations, how to go to family planning centers, how to know one’s own body…”, says the expert.

“Despite the difficulties, Pediatric teams must have a proactive attitude and, within the individual and community activities of primary care pediatrics, try to inform and help both minors and their parents,” says Dr. Gorrotxategi.

Canvas by the artist duo Thukral and Tagra, in their exhibition in New Delhi “Put it on, again”. EFE/Nina Tramullas

Regulation of access to adolescent pornography

It is necessary to update and clearly implement the legislation so that it is prevent access of minors to that type of content that is now within the reach of a click on web pages or social networks.

Pediatricians believe that no time should be lost and protect minors as soon as possible.
pornography to avoid degradation in their way of relating.

“In theory, young people cannot access pornography until they are 18 years old. What happens is that pages with pornographic content only ask them to confirm with yes or no if they are 18 years old and it is clear that many young people mark yes without actually being 18 years old,” the doctor explains the problem.

In this way, pediatricians defend that current security systems of web pages with pornographic content are not sufficient to prevent a minor from accessing their content.

In this sense, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) is working on an age verification system to restrict the viewing of pornographic material to minors.

Pediatricians and other professionals propose implementing a digital certificate of the minor with the only attribute of majority, not linked to the name and surnames.

However, this is a coordinated work between the Ministry of the Interior, the State Attorney General’s Office, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), the National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe) and the National Mint and Stamp Factory ( FNMT).

Expert recommendations

The report prepared by Save The CHildren compiles a list of recommendations for different sectors. On the website, you can consult the full report and all the recommendations among which stand out:

Recommendations for public authorities: Approval of the Organic Law Project for Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents against Violence, implementation of affective-sexual education and digital citizenship education, greater regulation of minors’ access to pornography and more awareness and awareness campaigns. prevention.

Recommendations for families: Educate in equality and respect for diversity, naturally address interest in sexuality and emotional relationships, or promote technologies, the Internet and social networks with a positive perspective.

Recommendations for children and adolescents: Learn about the risks involved in some behaviors such as sharing intimate photos, contacting strangers, sharing doubts and curiosities about sexuality with a trusted adult, or working on your own perception of diversity, gender equality, and mutual respect.

Recommendations for teachers: Empower adolescents, through sexual education based on freedom and respect, train professionals to offer affective-sexual education, encourage research in this field.