Kids come across pornography both on purpose and by accident, with more than 80 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of girls saying they have stumbled upon pornographic content on the internet unintentionally.
For many children, it will be the first time they learn about the human form in a sexual context.
And it can be as simple as typing a few innocent words into a search engine. A study from 1999 found that 25 per cent of porn sites use certain brands and keywords, like Disney and Barbie, to actually attract children to their sites.
So the question is, do schools have a social responsibility to introduce pornography to kids in classrooms and make sure they can analyse and understand what porn is and its place in society? Danish professor of sexology, Christian Graugaard, sure seems to think so. As reported by news.com.au, he thinks kids should be taught about porn and be asked to critically analyse it with their peers.
“Instead of sex education being a boring, technical matter about how you roll condoms on a cucumber, I want to see young people educated to be critical consumers, so they see pornography with some reflection and critical distance,” Graugaard told Nordjylland media.
Teacher and mother to one, Lauren Anderson, says she sees no need for the education system to educate kids about pornography, saying that’s the role of parents.
“What’s next? Swingers and sexual fetishes? I think we do need to prepare our children for what they may hear or see out there in the world, but that is the responsibility of the parent, not the teacher,” Anderson says.
“There is enough pressure on our educators to teach youth to become upstanding citizens, let’s not forget our parents need to raise their children and if pornography is something they think their child needs to know about, let them introduce it to their kids. I know we live in a different world these days but we need to draw a line.”
Megan Williamson, a mother of two, says that line is drawn at home.
“I feel it is up to us as parents to educate our children in our own way about those sorts of subjects,” Williamson says, adding that the education system should have other priorities in mind.
“Children see enough sex in their day-to-day activities, such as magazines and television, and I don’t believe that educating them about pornography will assist them academically, which is the pure reason I pay school fees.”
What do you think? Should pornography be introduced to the classroom? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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