How do we build porn resiliency in young people?

Taking a strengths-based approach and equipping young people with critical thinking or ‘porn literacy’ skills, can help build resiliency to some of the problematic messages or potential impacts of porn.

Building porn literacy includes offering young people the opportunity to reflect, explore, and analyse the messages in porn, drawing on their own personal, cultural, or faith-based beliefs and ideas, and then encouraging them to critically engage with those ideas. This approach shifts porn conversations away from traditional binary approaches (right versus wrong) and helps minimise any shame that can prevent young people from engaging in conversations.

Other factors that can help build resiliency include engaging with sexuality education and media that reinforce healthy and respectful relationships; positive parental awareness, monitoring, and support; and supportive friendships or positive peer relationships.

Tools to help: Resource 2.2: Building Critical Thinking and Porn Literacy.

“Porn should be something that’s more open to talk about. I feel like it’s not talked about. Even at a young age, if it’s mentioned in sexuality class, people would feel like it’s more normalised and they’d be more comfortable to go forward and talk about it with other people.”

Male, 15 years

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