Some very disturbing findings in this research which will
hopefully lead to more research
Australian porn study reveals heavy use among teens
Jamie Seidel, News Corp Australia Network
AUSTRALIA’s youth are awash with porn, with a new survey showing up to 90 per cent of Victorians aged between 15 and 29 admitting to accessing sexual content.
The study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, reveals a much higher rate of porn use than previously thought.
Study author Dr Megan Lim, Deputy Program Director of Behaviours and Health Risk for the Burnet Institute, says the ‘smartphone era’ has dramatically changed the impact and reach of pornography.
“There hasn’t really been any research for about 10 years, and obviously the pornography world has changed a lot since then,” she says.
It found the heaviest users of pornography are likely to be younger males, have higher education, be non-heterosexual, engage in sex acts at a younger age — and to have reported recent mental health problems.
Dr Lim says this must be seen in a context where young people might be using what they see on their screens as a template for what to expect in real-life sexual encounters.
“The concern is that pornography doesn’t represent real sexual behaviour,” she told News Corp. “It’s designed for entertainment and fulfilment. If young people aren’t able to tell the difference between that and reality — which many researchers theorise is the case — there will be problems.”
‘UBIQUITOUS’ USE
It’s illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to access pornography in Australia.
But these laws appear to be having no effect.
“Many young Australians believe pornography use is ubiquitous among their peers, despite laws prohibiting people under 18 years of age viewing pornography,” the study reads.
“One hundred per cent of young men and 82 per cent of young women had ever viewed pornography.”
And 84 per cent of males and 19 per cent of females surveyed admitted to watching porn on a weekly or daily basis.
“This is the first real data we have on the frequency of porn use among young Australians,” Dr Lim says. “We don’t have anything to compare it to. But it is a very high figure, especially among males.”
And Dr Lim is confident the results are accurate: The survey was anonymous, she says, which tends to draw out more truthful answers — particularly among younger women.
In 2007, Tom Wood — then aged 16 — cracked the Federal Government's $84 million internet porn filter in just over 30 minutes
The survey recruited Victorians aged between 15 and 29 via social media. Some 815 of the 941 participants said they had viewed pornography. About 73 per cent of respondents were female.
It found the median age of first physical sexual contact was similar for both boys and girls: 16. Sexual intercourse came a year or two later — at a median age of 17 for girls and 18 for men.
It also shows boys begin accessing porn at a younger age than girls — 13 as opposed to 16.
No comment here on the effects of pornography on the adolescent mind. Adolescent minds re-wire as they adapt to puberty - everything changes. Pornography corrupts the development of normal, healthy patterns of brain function in boys when it comes to girls. Hence, we have the rapidly developing 'culture of rape' in boys and young men, especially in educational institutions.
Also, no comment on the progressive nature of pornography. Like most sin, it is progressive. Ordinary porn often gives way to more adventurous stuff. Frequently, I see confessions from men who have stated that their porn addiction progressed into child porn, and then to younger and younger children and more and more violent sexual abuse, even torture and murder.
There is no 'upside' to pornography. It is not the way to explore one's sexuality but merely messes a person up royally. In a healthy world, all pornography would be illegal. It is immoral, but 21st century society has embraced immorality and called it healthy and good. Unfortunately, there is no putting that genie back in the bottle short of the apocalypse.
And most said they streamed or downloaded porn on to a computer or phone.
“Since porn use is common and frequent among young people from a young age, this needs to be considered in sexuality education,” Dr Lim says.
“It’s not normal for children to see people having sex in real life. Pornography is their only experience in that.”
Parent controlled internet-filtering and monitoring systems may have a role to play, she adds.
“However, these methods are not likely to be effective in stopping a motivated young person from accessing pornography.”
HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
The research says porn does have a positive side. It allows individuals to explore one’s own sexuality.
But it also comes with a dark side. This includes behaviours “many do not perceive as mainstream, nor consider enjoyable”. Just 2-3 per cent of heterosexual pornography encounters show the use of condoms, for example.
The survey also found those who had watched porn more often or started younger were among the most likely to report having had mental problems in the past six months.
This was mainly anxiety and depression.
Dr Lim says these findings have further implications based on other studies which show young people appear to be using such pornography as a form of sexual education, incorporating what they see on the screen in their own real-life behaviours.
“A key public health concern regarding trends in pornography exposure is that pornography may affect the sexual socialisation of young people by influencing their understanding of which sexual behaviours and attitudes are normative, acceptable and rewarding,” the study reads.
A separate study found young women reporting being pressured into anal intercourse — which can be a risky and potentially painful activity — and is depicted in between 15 and 32 per cent of easily accessible heterosexual pornography.
“Many attribute this pressure to their male partners’ pornography use,” Dr Lee writes.
“Age-appropriate educational programs need to be implemented from formative years of high school, if not sooner,” she says, adding such programs “should address issues such as the prevalence and practice of heterosexual anal sex in the real world as opposed to in pornography.”
Of course, there would be no comment about the fact that the anus was never designed to be a sexual organ, merely one for eliminating waste.
No comments:
Post a Comment