Porn Literacy and the New Frontier of Sex Ed (Mic)

Read the full article by Michael Stahl at Mic.com

With the easiest of access to adult films these days — thanks to the advent of the internet — experts say that the overwhelming majority of both boys and girls have seen some form of porn by the age of 18. This reality has been met with varied responses, socially and even legislatively. More than a dozen states have declared porn a “public health crisis,” which might be a little alarmist. However, without the right context, the adult industry — steeped in misogyny, wielding negative stereotypes — can certainly instill some unsavory values into a young person. To combat that, some schools are incorporating porn literacy classes into their sex-ed curricula.

Such an initiative can be an empowering tool that awards learners a more enlightened perspective on sex, drilling in concepts such as the need for consent alongside pleasure. But, depending on their approach, porn literacy courses could perhaps ruin the porn-watching experience, or convince kids that they should never click and fap, which also isn’t healthy.

One school in Boston that has been among the early adopters of porn literacy courses is the subject of an upcoming episode of This is Life with Lisa Ling, airing Sunday night on CNN. The show appears as though it will continue the ongoing conversation about how learning the nuance behind porn can empower young people, rather than adopt misogyny and stereotypes. In a preview of the episode, one of the high schoolers says that she believes porn literacy should be “mandatory” in schools, while another girl says that sexual education in the United States teaches about safety in sex and not the pleasurable aspects of it, while porn achieves the exact opposite.