Porn watching teens are more likely to become sexual predators according to a new study

November 24, 2016

Cutting children’s access to porn could prevent cases of sexual abuse
But improving sex education at school could also help, experts claim
Scientists want to reduce access of sexually explicit content for teens

Stephen Matthews For Mailonline

Published:
10:53 EST, 24 November 2016

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Updated:
12:14 EST, 24 November 2016

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Teenagers who watch pornography are more likely to become a sexual predator, research suggests.

Cutting their access to sexually explicit content could prevent them from becoming rapists, scientists claim.

But despite the easy access to pornography, other methods could also help to cut down on sexual abuse cases.

Improving sex education at school and teaching youngsters to respect their future partners could prevent deviant behaviour, experts say.

Watching porn as a teenager makes you more likely to sexually abuse someone, a study found

Researchers from the University of Melbourne asked 14 teenagers what could have been made different in their life to have prevented their sexual abusive behaviour.

Of the participants, three directly attributed their behaviour to their pornography consumption.

While they also highlighted the need to improve sex education as a way to promote respectful relationships.

Researchers also asked six psychologists to reflect on their insights, allowing them to come up with three main prevention techniques.

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They were: making home and school relationships safe, reforming sexual education and managing pornography access.

It was found that more knowledge of meaningful relationships could counter the distorted messages they see in pornographic content.

Study author Gemma McKibbin said the findings made it clear that more needed to be done in sexual health policy for youngsters.

She added: ‘The access that young people are having to pornography, as well as our collective “turning a blind eye”, is akin to a kind of cultural grooming of children.’

Cutting access to sexually explicit content could prevent teenagers from becoming sexual predators as they grow older, scientists claim

‘We can’t on the one hand say we don’t want to talk with young children about sexuality, while on the other hand do nothing about the multi-billion-dollar pornography industry and the telecommunications industry that is enabling access.

‘Pornography can’t be seen as the sole responsibility of parents or schools because it has gone way beyond that.

‘We probably need to engage directly with the pornography industry and the telecommunications industry.

‘Consistent, protective sex education needed to be introduced as soon as children started school, if not before.’

Previous studies have shown that about half the victims of child-on-child sexual abuse are under the age of six, while the children who abuse are themselves likely to be aged just 12.

While a study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2014 found regularly viewing pornography seemed to dull the response to sexual stimulation over time.

And German researchers found men who watch pornography may be shrinking their brains.

The striatum area of the brain, linked with the motivation and reward response, shrank in size the more porn a person viewed.