With a recent report citing that one third of boys are turning to online porn for sex education, Brook Jersey warns that the messages from porn are heavily distorted.
‘Porn can give the message that sex is an aggressive act and that people enjoy violent sex when actually they are being paid to act as though they like it,’ said Brook education and well-being co-ordinator Catherine Roes.
‘For the most part, violence during sex makes people feel bad, but violent sex in porn can desensitise people to this. It can create unrealistic expectations and can lead to unhealthy behaviour and disappointment with real-life sex.
‘The risk could be that if young people think it’s normal they might not enjoy their first sexual experiences, which may lead to them feeling regret or shame.’
In addition to becoming desensitised to violence, teenagers may underestimate the importance of using protection and take unnecessary risks. ‘Condoms are really rare on planet porn,’ said Mrs Roes.
‘Most of what we do involves promoting safer sex and contraception. By relying on porn for education about sex, young people are missing out on this message and potentially putting themselves at risk of unwanted pregnancies and STIs.’
Sexual Health Awareness week kicked off yesterday and the Brook team are hoping to make as many young Islanders as possible aware of what they do at their Nelson Street clinic. They offer free counselling – both in house and online – and want teenagers to know there is no shame around talking about sex at Brook.
‘When we are talking with young people about porn we challenge them to decide what behaviour belongs on planet earth and what belongs on planet porn to try and illustrate how different it is,’ said Mrs Roes.
