Teens are going to be curious about sex, but teaching them about it is a thorny issue. So they turn to the Internet and porn to learn. Monday we’re talking the effects of porn on kids and what can be done about it.
A lot of parents are squeamish when it comes to talking with their kids about sex, and sex education in the country is lacking. Much of what kids know about sex these days they learn from online porn. Journalist Maggie Jones wanted to know how porn affects the way teens think about intimacy, sex, gender, and consent. The answers, she found out, are complicated. Jones joins us Monday to talk about the effect porn is having on kids and what can be done about it.
GUESTS
- Maggie Jones is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and teaches in the MFA program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her article "What are Teenagers Learning from Online Porn" appeared in the February 11, 2018 issue of the magazine.
- Dr. Emily Rothman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health with secondary appointments at the BU School of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Emergency Medicine. She’s the director of the Rothman Violence Prevention Lab. She developed a “pornography literacy” course for high school students to help them critically assess the sexually explicit material they encounter online.
Dr. Rothman suggests the following web sites as resources for parents wanting to learn how to talk with their teens about sex and pornography:
