Schools

Kia ora and thank you for joining the conversation about porn and young people.

You’re probably aware that the porn landscape for young people has changed dramatically over the last five years. It’s changed in terms of how much porn is available, its ease of access, how frequently young people watch it and the type of porn that is considered normal.

Porn has now become a primary sex educator for young people_(7,19), influencing youth sexual culture in new and diverse ways – which is why it’s more important than ever that schools are equipped to be part of the porn conversation with students.

I definitely feel like the conversation about porn should be talked about a lot more in schools and from professionals. You have like sex ed class – but you don’t talk about porn?
—NZ male, 20 yrs₍₄₇₎

THE PORN INDUSTRY ISN’T GOING AWAY ANYTIME SOON…

so school leaders, teachers and staff can play an important role in helping young people navigate it, by equipping them with porn literacy skills. Sounds complicated? It’s not really… Porn literacy is simply a set of skills to help young people unpack and analyse porn. It enables them to critically examine and identify the negative messages in porn and understand how porn messaging relates to real life sexuality in terms of consent, respect, emotional connection, safety and health.

By helping young people to develop their own porn literacy, we’re equipping them with the knowledge and tools to make informed and healthy decisions around porn; minimising potential long-term harm.

Porn and schools:

Culture, Community & Connection

A recommended holistic, school-wide approach to addressing porn with students, based on equipping the whole school community to navigate porn with knowledge and awareness.

Porn: The facts for Youth

A youth fact sheet with the lowdown on the new porn landscape and the most recent research on porn’s messaging and impacts.

Resources

A helpful summary of recommended websites, books, research articles, YouTube videos and guidelines.

Porn: The Facts for Adults

An overview of the new porn landscape and current research on the potential impacts on young people (created for adults).

Getting Real:
Great Sex vs
Porn Sex

A youth resource to help start conversations and build porn literacy in young people by discussing great sex compared to porn sex in terms of pleasure, consent, emotional connection and safety.

Need help?

An I need help resource for young people who may be struggling with their own porn use, as well as a We need help resource for professionals, whānau and friends who may be worried about a young person.

Porn talks with youth

The basics for starting that awkward conversation about porn with young people and encouraging them to develop their own porn literacy skills through critically unpacking and examining the messages in porn (created for adults).

Can porn affect us?

A great go-to youth resource than can help with conversations when young people ask if and how porn can affect them.

intheknow.co.nz

Got questions or concerns about porn, nudes or online sexual experiences? Check out our new youth site.

We acknowledge these resources may not meet all the specific needs of some cultural or religious groups and/or sexual or gender diverse communities in New Zealand. Please feel free to tailor these resources to meet the unique needs of the communities you work with or contact us if there are other specific resources you think could be helpful.