When parents learn a child saw pornography, they typically feel inept—their parenting skills less than adequate. I know because my son watched porn. Even though I homeschooled my children and taught them right from wrong, pornography found my son, and he habitually viewed it for years.
Unfortunately, our situation isn’t an isolated case. It’s all too common.
In early 2023, Common Sense Media released a 27-page report summarizing a survey they conducted with 1,358 thirteen- to seventeen-year-old teens.
In this article, I note the purpose of the report and outline some of the findings in hopes that learning these statistics will help us parent our children better. Pornography is rampant, and we can no longer ignore its presence or hope our children won’t see it. We must talk about it.
I can’t possibly hit every point or stat in the report, so I recommend reading the full report here: 2022 Teens and Pornography.
Purpose and Definition
“The purpose of the report is to understand the role that online pornography plays in U.S. adolescent life and to establish a baseline for understanding U.S. teens’ pornography use. For this report, online pornography includes any videos or photos viewed on websites, social media, or anywhere else on the internet that show nudity and sexual acts intended to entertain and sexually arouse the viewer. Pornography often features explicit pictures of body parts (such as the genitals) and sexual acts (including oral sex, masturbation, anal sex, etc.).” (All quotes in this post are from the Teens and Pornography report.)
10 Key Findings
The following are key findings from the survey.
- “Most teens (73%) reported that they have consumed pornography.” The average age of first exposure was 12, with 15% saying they had first seen porn at age 10 or younger.
- “Just under half of all teens (44%) indicated that they had done so intentionally, while slightly more than half (58%) indicated they had encountered pornography accidentally.” 29% reported both intentional and accidental viewing.
- Of those reporting accidental exposure, 63% indicated they had been exposed in the past week, “which could indicate that unintentional pornography exposure was a common experience for respondents.”
- Reported rates of exposure were similar across demographics, but there was a “significant difference by gender in terms of intentional consumption.”
- “Rates of intentional pornography consumption were also higher among respondents who are LGBTQ+ (66%), including transgender and nonbinary respondents (66%).”
- “There was tension between respondents’ enjoyment of pornography and their feelings of guilt associated with consuming it.” Most felt “OK” about the amount of pornography they watched, but “half reported feeling guilty or ashamed after watching.”
- “Teens indicated that they were learning about sex from the pornography they consume.”
- “A majority of teens who indicated they have viewed pornography have been exposed to aggressive and/or violent forms of pornography.”
- “Exposure to racial and ethnic stereotypes in pornography was also common.”
- Most teens have discussed sex-related issues with trusted adults, “but less than half (43%) have discussed pornography.”
Other Notable Findings
“Nearly one third of all teens reported that they have been exposed to pornography during the school day.” Among all teens surveyed, 23% had seen porn in person at school and 12% while attending school remotely. Of those who had watched pornography in person at school, 41% attended a private/religious school, 20% a traditional public school, 31% a charter/magnet school, and 11% were home schooled.
While there is a difference in the number of children exposed depending on their school type, we should note that all children are at risk of being exposed during the school day.
“Of the teens who reported in this survey that they have deliberately viewed pornography, 59% indicated that they intentionally consumed pornography every week (not just in the previous seven days).” Of these, 38% viewed it through social media.
Trusted Adults
Because of my interactions with parents, caregivers, and leaders, I was most interested in the “trusted adults” portion of the report. Under the list of places where teens had learned about sex, the highest-ranking category was a parent, caregiver, or trusted adult (47%), followed by friends (41%), sex education in school (32%), and then online pornography (27%). When teens were asked about topics discussed with a parent, guardian, or trusted adult, relationships came out on top (82%). Porn was the topic least discussed (43%) with sex, condoms, and birth control ranking between these two topics.
Most teens in the survey reported that conversations with a trusted adult about pornography resulted in positive outcomes.
Many teens want to have conversations with a trusted adult but don’t know how to initiate the conversation or who to talk to.
Now What?
The good news is that we can and do influence our teens, and they want to hear from us. Rather than allow these statistics to depress us, let’s be encouraged by the fact that we are now equipped to talk with our children.
The time to act is now. Please educate your children about the harms of pornography. If you haven’t broached this topic with your children, please do so. If you’ve had conversations but they’ve been awkward or seemingly unproductive, that’s okay. Try again.
For parents or grandparents who’ve learned their child has seen pornography, I recommend the following downloadable booklets in the My Child Saw Porn series at Hopeful Mom: You Are Not Alone and What Do I Do Now?Barb Winters is a Sexual Risk Avoidance Specialist, author of Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships, and founder of Hopeful Mom. In March 2025, Barb was named in the list of 20 Inspiring Women Dedicated to Making Life Safer for Kids.
