The dangers of exposing children to pornography, according to experts

(CNN Spanish) – Pornography affects the mental health of children exposed to it. Viewing this content at an early age can lead to a risk of “poor mental health, sexism, objectification, sexual violence and other negative outcomes”, Unicef ​​says in a document in which it alerts about the large amount of pornography available on the internet and children’s access to it.

The discussion about the mental health impacts of children due to pornography was reactivated after the American singer Billie Eilish, 19, said that being exposed to this content since the age of 11 “destroyed” her brain. According to her, she began to see these contents from an early age, so she suffered nightmares and had problems going out on dates with other people.

Eilish said watching porn helped her feel like she was cool. He also said that he suffered from nightmares because some of the content he saw was very violent and abusive.

“I think it really destroyed my brain. And I feel incredibly devastated to have been exposed to so much pornography,” she added.

Some Dangers of Child Pornography Exposure

UNICEF says that the fact that children are voluntarily or unintentionally exposed to pornography can cause risks as they face “abusive and misogynistic” acts and may begin to see these behaviors as “normal and acceptable”.

Dr. Angel Manuel Turbi Pinazo, an expert in addictive behaviors and a professor at the Catholic University of Valencia, in Spain, agrees on this. Turbi Pinazo told CNN that exposure to pornography “weakens many young people to develop a healthy psycho-affective life especially in adult life.”

Other consequences, according to him, is to normalize violent behaviors of pornography in real life.

“They see that men have sex when they want to have sex and that women must respond to men’s demands. So they are normalizing that,” she said.

There is little research on the effects of pornography on children

A document published in March of this year by the American Psychological Association (APA for its acronym in English) says that while “the scientific evidence is mixed on the effects of the exposure of pornography in children,” there is no doubt that viewing such content presents to them a “biased view of sexuality” that is usually full of “misogyny and lack of consent.”

Dr. David Finkelhor, director of the Center for Crimes Against Children and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, points out that there is little research on this topic regarding the effects on children exposed to Pornography is highly dependent “on the particular child, the type of exposure and the conditions of the exposure,” he told CNN via email.

Finkelhor cautioned that while it is a controversial topic, “I’m afraid the answer to most of these questions is ‘we really don’t know.’ Finkelhor told CNN how little research there is.

“People are concerned that (pornography) scares or dislikes children, that it causes them to act prematurely, that they learn bad things (for example, that women like domination or rape), or that they they will be addicted. There are cases that seem to substantiate all these concerns. But the majority of children in the US are exposed to some explicit sexual images and we don’t know how many are negatively affected, “Finkelhor told CNN.

Sex and violence

Some experts and educators have raised concerns about the excessive amount of pornographic content available on the internet that may have “still images referencing misogyny, incest and racist tropes,” according to the APA.

In a study published by the APA, led by Indiana University sex researcher Dr. Bryant Paul and Indiana University Nini Fritz, 35% and 45% of pornographic scenes on two recognized porn sites “showed violence” and 97% of the time, women were the target of that violence.

Another study published by the APA, led by Alyssa Bischmann, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska, in 2017, found that the age of first exposure to pornography can shape men’s attitudes toward women.

“We found that the younger men were when they first viewed pornography, the more likely they were to want power over women,” Bischmann was quoted as saying by the APA.

And those roles of men and women within sexuality “are taking hold in a correct way,” said Turbi Pinazo about the consequences of young people watching too much pornography.

And the worst thing, according to him, is when some young people (or even adults) want to bring pornographic violence to reality.

“There are hypotheses, perhaps the biggest problem, that people escalate in pornography images from much more eroticism to more violent pornography. Therefore violence and sexual assaults can appear (in real life). People He is no longer excited by that pornographic violence, but wants to carry it out, “the Spanish psychologist told CNN.

Parents’ challenge in talking to children about sex

For generations that have never lived without wifi, the internet is often the first place where they are exposed to sexual images. And in the absence of comprehensive sex education, some children may think that it is the only way to really learn about sex.

“The sad fact is that more than half of our children get their first ‘sex ed’ from adult movies on the internet,” previously told CNN Dr. Mark Schoen, founder of SexSmartFilms.com and former director of sex education at the Sinclair Intimacy Institute. What is missing is a sense of context and conversation around these images, a conversation that would help a young man distinguish between real sex and porn sex.

For Dr. Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire, while it is advisable for parents to talk with their children about sex and sexual images, the subject is still a taboo that causes difficulties in communication.

“Parents and children are very uncomfortable with these issues and there are few good models available on how to do this,” Finkelhor told CNN. “One problem is that there are so many different positions of value around sex and pornography, so parents can have a hard time finding help that fits their particular values.

“Most experts discourage parents from being harsh and inducing shame and guilt,” the expert told CNN.

But overall there can be real benefits to having frank discussions about sex, Debby Herbenick told CNN.

In a 2019 study by Herbenick and colleagues at the Indiana University School of Public Health, exposure to pornography was only associated with an increased likelihood of having unprotected sex when parents had little or no health communication. sexual with their children. When communication between parents and children about sexual health was high, the use of pornography was not related to the participation of adolescents in dangerous sexual relationships.

Experts then recommend starting at an early age to “talk about sexually explicit content during childhood,” Herbenick said. “It’s not just pornography that literacy needs, it’s Hollywood movies, music, and social media too.”

In addition, it is necessary to remind your child that pornography is for entertainment, not education, in terms that he can understand certain content, according to the expert.

Similarly, sex therapist Kristen Lilla told CNN, it can be emphasized that masturbation – whether with porn or otherwise – and sex are two different experiences.

“It’s fun texting our friends or playing video games with them online, but it’s another thing to hang out in person,” Lilla said. “Pornography can also be fun to watch, but it does not mimic or replace real life sex and relationships.”

– With information from Carolina Melo, Melissa Velásquez and Ian Kerner of CNN.