Most teens accidentally or intentionally come across naked bodies, sexual videos, content, and actions through sexual education classes, sexual chats, sexting, and social media channels. This exposure leads to the desire to know and see more. The contents become a battle between rational thinking and reward-seeking. Eventually, the teen is led to venture into the porn world, affecting their sexual development into adulthood.

Telltale Signs that your teen is watching porn

· Emotional withdrawal. 

As a parent, you notice your teen disengages from other siblings, friends, and activities he enjoyed doing during free time. To some, they show depression or sudden mood swings.

· Behavioral change.

The teen wants some time alone and suddenly becomes an introvert. The kid, at times, becomes absent-minded and lost in thoughts. When you call out, it reacts uneasily. As a parent, you notice unexplained credit card charges and requests from the teen.

· Language change.

When the kid starts using sexually explicit language and obscene terms in his talks, then know that the teen is watching sexual content. At times some develop abusive language full of sexual terminologies.

· Sloppy in handling digital gadgets. 

There is a sudden desire for privacy when using any digital device such as smartphones, laptops, and televisions. The kid would want to use a telephone secretly and spend unusual time with it at night. In addition, the kid switches channels abruptly when you walk over to him. The kid carefully cleans his mess; call logs, texts, and internet history are cleared from time to time. Inappropriate mail popups on your computer

· Social regrouping.

The teen may start hanging out with peers of the same behavior if the initial group doesn’t conform to his behaviors. Change of friends is evident, and he may not be free to show you his current friends.

· School achievement. 

The teen may experience a sudden drop in school grades due to the negative associations of viewing porn content

· Premature sexual activity.

The teen displays an unusual curiosity about his sexuality. The teen them becomes more inquisitive on matters sexuality.

How does porn then affect the teen’s sexual development into adulthood?

Porn normalizes sexual violence and increases sexually aggressive behaviors.

When the teen keeps seeing aggressive actions, the mind normalizes that, and the teen will exactly do what is seen. The violent content seen by the teens, as explained in ‘How has easy access to prolific adult videos shaped teen sexuality?’ increases their antisocial and aggressive behavior. These interpersonal violence and behavior problems affect a teen’s sexual development into adulthood.

Creates unrealistic expectations for intimate partners and relationships

Porn weakens marriage commitment because it creates a false impression of how a partner’s body should look and how sexual behaviors are. It makes the boys and girls have distorted love and disrespect for their partners. Girls look at perfect bodies with six-packs and want the same in genuine relationships. On the other side, boys want girls to dress and act like characters they see in the films. 

An over-focus on sex rather than the relationship

Social media and technology have made pornography more powerful, creating unquenched desires among teens. Sexual interests develop beyond normalcy and increase the risk of porn addiction. They become obsessed or addicted to sexual video content and porn talks. To the teen, sex becomes consumption and not a connection between sexual partners. Porn addiction is unfulfilling and progressive and turns healthy relationships into more difficult ones.

It affects their abstract thinking and reasoning.

The teenage brain becomes stunted as they focus on immediate gratification. The teen world revolves around sexuality and tends to lack self-control. Their reasoning is beyond normal relationships; they wallow in the world of fantasies and infatuations. They begin questioning their bodies and sexual performance if they do not get sexual satisfaction in adulthood.

The teens develop unrealistic sexual beliefs and values in an adulthood. 

Porn is self-gratification and thrives on dominance and mistreating the other partner. It heightens fantasies such as peeing on the partner. These fantasies overshadow relationships. Develop non-vaginal sexual behaviors (oral sex and anal sex), which are potential routes of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases compared to vaginal sex. 

It affects the teen’s emotional intimacy in a relationship.

Porn affects a teen’s sexual development into adulthood so that the child builds a sexual intimacy and not emotional intimacy.Emotional intimacy calls for trust between partners. With the pervasive society’s sex-obsessed culture, society views sexual intimacy as a binding factor in a relationship; however, emotional intimacy makes one feel valued, listened to, and appreciated. 

Encourages promiscuity in adulthood

An earlier interest in having sex can lead to promiscuity if self-control is not exercised. The teen never gets satisfaction from one person. The teen wants to explore more about sexuality. The knowledge that different people have different sexual anatomy and hence different sexual pleasure will push the teen to sexually permissive behaviors.

Mental effects of porn

As much as they may enjoy porn, how porn affects a teen’s sexual development into adulthood varies from individual to individual; some teens undergo mental depression. They experience depressive feelings such as eating disorders, low self-esteem due to unfilled dreams, anxiety, and self-harm. The effects go as far as sharing bonding issues with others, including their parents and siblings. When they miss something, violence becomes the only way to get what they want.

 Verdict on how porn affects a teen’s sexual development into adulthood

In conclusion, porn affects a teen’s sexual development into adulthood depending on the social, mental and physical upbringing of your teen. As a parent, it is essential to know the triggers of porn. The triggers will help you guide your teen towards healthy sexual relationships, devoid of the effects of violent sexual content. In addition, it is your role to protect your teen against the mental effects, behavioral changes, and adverse effects of porn.

Understanding the sexual development of a teen is of utmost importance. It will help the parent understand the difficulties and pressures the teen goes through when exposed to adult prolific sexual content and guide them through various crossroads to maturity. As a parent, never ever underestimate the power of social media in your kid’s eyes.