Does Viewing Porn Corrupt Teens?
Despite free Internet porn, today’s teens have become more sexually responsible.
Updated March 17, 2026 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
Many parents have trouble discussing sex with their children, and even the most comprehensive school sex- education programs have no measurable impact on teen sex— see my previous post . Meanwhile, porn is just a few taps or clicks away from most teens 24/7, and many view it regularly. This worries porn critics to no end.
Detractors insist that adolescents experience unwanted exposure to sexually explicit media, and that porn sexualizes young people too early, ruins them for long-term relationships, and pushes young men toward sexism and sexual violence . On the contrary, here’s what the best studies show:
More reasons that teen porn exposure is no cause for alarm:
Since the Arrival of Internet Porn, Teens Have Become More Sexually Responsible
So some studies suggest teen porn viewing is harmful, while many others conclude it’s innocuous. When faced with dueling studies, it’s instructive to look beyond academia and explore what’s actually happening in the world. Current teen sexual behavior shows the porn bashers are mistaken. Porn has not corrupted adolescents.
If porn had spurred teen sexual irresponsibility, then since the late 1990s, when porn exploded on the Internet, teens should have become more sexually active. Actually, teen sex has declined. A team led by San Diego State University researchers surveyed 26,707 Americans, some born in the 1960s and ’70s, who came of age before Internet porn, and others born in the ’80s and ’90s, who grew up in a world glutted with it. The latter reported less sex.
In addition, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the teen birth rate peaked in 1991, years before Internet porn. Since then, it has fallen 70 percent. Abortion and emergency contraception explain some of this decline, but far from all of it. Compared with their parents and grandparents, today’s teens are also having less sex. From the CDC’s annual Youth Risk Behavior Surveys:
Sexual intercourse, ever
Sexual intercourse, the previous three months
Condom use, most recent intercourse
Birth control pills before most recent intercourse
Alcohol or other recreational drug use immediately before most recent intercourse
The fact is that despite the easy accessibility of free porn on all web-connected devices, today’s teens are less sexual and increasingly sexually responsible.
Does Discussing Porn With Adolescents Encourage Them to View It?
If a friend mentions a great new restaurant, you’re likely to try it. Similarly, some parents believe that if they mention porn to their adolescent children in hopes of deterring them from watching, teens may become more likely to view it. Two studies have explored this issue:
There’s no need to wring hands over teen porn consumption. As that geezer rock band, The Who, sang more than 50 years ago about a previous generation of teens, “The kids are all right.”
Long-term trends in teen birth rates: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db89.pdf
Decline in the divorce rate: 1980-2015: https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/anderson-divo…
CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey—1997: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00054432.htm
CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey —2015: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/2015/ss6506_updated.pdf
Hald, G.M. et al. “Does Viewing Explain Doing? Assessing the Association Between Sexually Explicit Materials and Sexual Behaviors in a Large Sample of Dutch Adolescents and Young Adults,” Journal of Sexual Medicine (2013) 10:2986.
Koletic, G. et al. “Does Asking Adolescents About Pornography Make Them Use It?” A Test of the Question-Behavior Effect,” Journal of Sex Research (2019) 56:137.
Luder, M.T. et al. “Associations Between Online Pornography and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents: Myth or Reality?” Archives of Sexual Behavior (2011) 40:1027.
Peter, J. and P.M. Valkenburg. “Adolescents and Pornography: A Review of 20 Years of Research,” Journal of Sex Research (2016) 53:509.
Peter, J. and P.M. Valkenberg, “Do Questions About Watching Internet Pornography Make People Watch Internet Pornography? A Comparison Between Adolescents and Adults,” International Journal of Public Opinion Research (2012) 24:400.
Sinkovic, M. et al. “Revisiting the Association Between Pornography Use and Risky Sexual Behaviors: The Role of Early Exposure to Pornography and Sexual Sensation Seeking,” Journal of Sex Research (2013) 50:633.
Stulhofer, A. et al. “Pornography, Sexual Socialization, and Satisfaction Among Young Men,” Archives of Sexual Behavior (2010) 39:168.
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Michael Castleman, M.A. , is a San Francisco-based journalist. He has written about sexuality for 36 years.
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