Irish parents to be asked their views on teens' use of porn

Researchers at NUI Galway want the parents of teenagers aged from 13 to 18 years to answer a 10-minute anonymous survey.

Parents are being asked for their views about teenage pornography use its impact, and whether it should be discussed in schools, in the first such study of its kind in the world.

Researchers at NUI Galway, led by Dr Kate Dawson, want the parents of teenagers aged from 13 to 18 years to answer a 10-minute anonymous survey, with the data to be analysed and used to create a resource that parents can then use when it comes to discussing the issue with their own children.

Dr Dawson said: "We are launching this survey so we can find out what parents' beliefs are on the impact of pornography on their children and how they are educated on porn or even whether they think that is appropriate or not, and how capable they feel about talking about pornography."

Affraid to discuss

She said parents can struggle with "the easy stuff" regarding discussions on sexuality and that researchers have heard repeatedly from parents that pornography is one of the issues they are most afraid of discussing with their children.

The project is seeking, at a minimum, the input of several hundred parents but Dr Dawson said there is the capability of expanding the questionnaire, at a future stage, to those outside of Ireland.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The findings will be completed before the end of this year and a resource that can be used by parents will then be put in place. 

The questionnaire is anonymous and not every question needs to be answered.

It comes after a number of previous studies from NUI Galway about perceptions of pornography and the role it can have in introducing young people to sex, ahead of any formal sex education in school or any discussion with their parents.

Dr Dawson said boys are more likely to first become aware of pornography between the ages of 10 and 13, emphasising the need for the issue to be addressed at an earlier stage.

Pandemic impact

She also said that the pandemic may also have had an impact, with teenagers missing school and thereby missing some sex education.

The survey can be accessed at here
and also provides links to support services. 

Any queries can be raised through Twitter @KateDawsonPhD and @ActiveConsent and by emailing [e-mail].

A review recently carried out by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) heard from students, parents, teachers and principals, as well as a variety of other interested parties in relation to how young people should be educated about consent, contraception and porn.

It found massive differences in the provision of relationship and sexuality education (RSE) across schools in terms of what is being taught, how it is being taught, who teaches it, and how much time is spent on it.

Some schools were found to deliver comprehensive, evidence-based sex-ed programmes, while others do not.