The Dangers of Pornography And How To Talk To Kids About It

How Do You Talk To Your Kids About Porn?

If your kid is on the internet it is likely they will stumble onto pornography in some form. This is true even if you have parental controls in place. The best thing you can do to prepare you kid for the dangers of pornography is to arm them with information. Make sure they know what porn is: an exaggerated display of what sex is. It’s normal for a child to be curious about sex. It’s important to provide your children with age appropriate and value appropriate information. 

Talk About It Now So They’ll Rely On You Later

Having conversations with your kids about sex and the dangers of pornography is something you can do at all ages. The kind of conversation you have about it will vary depending on their age. The most important thing is to approach the topic calmly and confidently. If you can’t get comfortable talking about, then they won’t be able to either. And you want them to be comfortable talking to you about it so that when the issues come up later they know they can lean on you.

There’s a lot to say about it, and we embrace the topic in this Tips on Teens:

“I made the mistake of watching a PG-13 movie with my 9 year old daughter the other day. It was a Marvel movie, and I was watching it with her, so I thought we’d be pretty safe. In the movie however one of the characters makes reference to watching porn, and my daughter asked what it is. I was able to say ‘it’s just an adult joke.’ She seemed satisfied, but I regretted that it came up. I don’t want to lie to her and I want to make sure she’s prepared, but it caught me off guard. I don’t want her to stumble onto pornography herself. How do I have this conversation with her?”

Clinical Director Kent Toussaint answers your parenting questions every Wednesday at 12:00pm in our weekly segment Tips On Teens on Facebook Live. Have questions about parenting kids and teens? Send them to: TipsOnTeens@TeenTherapyCenter.com. We love to hear from you!

Head on over to our Facebook page every Wednesday at 12:00pm to watch LIVE!  Check out our page here – https://www.facebook.com/TeenTherapyCenter/

If you have more questions or would like more information, please contact our Clinical Director, Kent Toussaint at 818.697.8555.