Watching online pornography can initiate teens into early sexual behaviour according to an eminent psychiatrist.
While many teenage girls and probably most teenage boys, will view pornography at some stage out of curiosity, and grow out of it, the danger is that it initiates them into early sexual behaviour, Prof Patricia Casey told ciNews.
“Watching porn gives teens a distorted image of women at a time when they should be seeing them as human beings rather than as sexual objects," she added. The professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin said that young people engaging in watching porn on a regular basis often had, “other needs.”
“They may be emotionally deprived or socially isolated. This gives then something to do or it may help to make them feel part of the in group.”
A self-confessed porn and sex addict confirms this. Writing of his insecurity and low self-esteem, he says, “Puberty heralded yet another battle I was ill-prepared to face, the ever-present popularity contest now turned to romance. My fantasy world became a safer refuge. It had an almost drug-like effect on me. This powerful source of pleasure combined with my cauldron of insecurity, self-hatred and loneliness to create a firestorm of emotions I could neither understand nor control.”
Prof Casey said the area of sex addiction (which can be triggered by porn), is “controversial and unclear.”
But for children who do not have other “healthy outlets,” the lure of porn can be “compelling.”
If a teenager is resorting to it on a continual basis (every day or a few a times a week), he may need professional help, she said. It can also be an indicator of early sexualisation and abuse.
However, she added, it is important to know that boys do look at pornography.
“If you make too much of it, it becomes forbidden fruit. They might be tempted to want to watch with greater frequency. Have a calm, cool discussion rather than haranguing them.”
On the internet today there is an “infinite amount of pornography,” Rita O’Reilly, CEO of www.parentline.ie told ciNews.
Her advice to distressed parents who call the line is, talk to your teens and try not to appear upset.
“Ask them, ‘How would you feel if that was your Mum or sister or aunt’, someone they like. Identify it as person rather than as an inanimate object for gratification.”
She advises parents to start a dialogue, “why did that girl do that job?”
“Express your concern for the child, your concern for the people in the pictures and your concern about feeding this industry,” she said.
Stephen Cardy from Focus on the Family, said parents must be “connected” to their teens and establish boundaries.
Be ready to face up to periods of conflict, he says.
“The stronger the boundaries are, the safer they will be.”