Porn shapes young views about sex

The Newcastle-based Streetwise Young People's Project received funding from the Camelot Foundation to investigate young people's attitudes towards and experiences of sex.

Of the young people surveyed, 83 per cent had seen pornography, with some believing it to be an acceptable source of information about sex. The survey also found that peer pressure, poor sex education and young people lying about sexual experience had an impact on individual sex lives.

One 14-year-old told researchers: "If you didn't watch porn you wouldn't know what to do."

In total, 1,060 young people from the north-east of England were involved in the research.

Ellen Smith, lead researcher on the project, said: "Consideration needs to be given to the impact of pornography, media and wider societal factors on the decisions young people make about having sex. We as educators need to equip young people with the knowledge to decipher messages about sex.

"Dialogue with young people needs to be realistic, explicit and positive in order to combat the negative impact of such influences."

The study also found there were differences between male and female perceptions of sex. While young men felt the need to be seen as sexually active to fit in, young women feared they would be putting their reputation at risk as a consequence of having sex.

The results of the study will be presented at a conference called Not Until I'm Ready in Newcastle next month.