- Experts assured that the consumption of sexual content by minors favors misinformation regarding sexuality | Photo: EFE
He pornography consumption by children and adolescents can cause anything from an increase in risky sexual behavior to the normalization and practice of sexual violence. In addition, it could lead to problems in academic performance, loneliness or isolation, according to the Official College of Psychology of Madrid and the Spanish Data Protection Agency.
“Pornography as a source of learning promotes misinformation regarding sexuality,” the institution emphasizes in a statement published on Monday, September 30.
They point out that the consumption of these contents in adolescents is related to an increase in gender stereotypes, the normalization of sexism and the imitation of violent practices, beliefs and attitudes in sexuality.
Likewise, the school stated that it is also related to physical and verbal abuse in relationships, greater irresponsible use of condoms, the search for sexual relations under the influence of substances and the consumption of prostitution.
Other risks
The institution warned that, on the other hand, pornography also has an impact on the collection of personal data, which has value “for those who want to locate minors, access them, know their weaknesses, make them addicted and manipulate them.”
Regarding relationships, researchers link pornography with a less intimate and more impersonal sexuality, which favors sexual problems in arousal, desire and orgasm.
“It damages sexual self-esteem and is related to less pleasurable sex in adulthood,” the research points out. They mentioned that “deterioration at a neurobiological level” is also common, with conditions in the prefrontal cortex, the reward system, mirror neurons. and different areas in relation to impulse control and decision making.
Regarding academic performance, this is affected by frequent use of pornography, since it is related to a deterioration in attention span, procedural memory, and the ability to organize and plan.
Finally, the report emphasizes the fact that the sporadic use of pornographic content can become “addictive behavior”, characterized by tolerance, dependence, lack of control, abstinence, dysfunctional regulation of emotions with pornography, conflicts in different areas of life and need for frequent consumption.
Previous data on exposure of children and adolescents to pornography
For several years now, various organizations around the world have warned about the consumption of pornography in children and adolescents. The Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts of Spain published on its website that 7 out of 10 adolescents consume pornography regularly in that country.
It stated that 53.8% of adolescents between 12 and 15 years old stated that they had seen pornography for the first time between 6 and 12 years of age.
In 2023, Fad Juventu’s Reina Sofía Center in Spain published a study in which it was revealed that 25% of minors between 8 and 11 years of age watched pornography and 6.5% before the age of 8.
In 2020, other research published by the organization Internacional Save The Children revealed that many adolescents in Spain saw pornography for the first time at 12 years of age. Of 1,753 minors surveyed (between 13 and 17 years of age), 68.2% consumed these sexual contents frequently.
Likewise, 93.9% confessed that they viewed these materials privately through their mobile phone, and that 98.5% found them for free on the Internet.
Related news
#impact #risks #pornography #adolescents
2024-10-01 11:30:47
