Porn is a public health hazard – one that’s crippling our teenagers

“I know the other boys watch it, but he doesn’t.”

An older friend was sharing her concerns over what material her 13-year-old son might – or might not – be viewing online. “I don’t think he has any interest in that stuff.”

The likelihood is that she’s wrong.

Ninety per cent of eight to 16-year-olds have viewed pornography, many while on the internet doing their homework. Research from the International Institute for Trauma & Addiction Professionals has found that the average age of first exposure to pornographic images is 11, and the largest consumers of internet porn are the 12 to 17 age group.

Last week, Utah became the first US state to designate pornography a public health hazard, declaring it an ‘epidemic that normalises violence against women and children’.

When I heard about the ruling, I immediately thought of one of my closest (male) friends. Cambridge-educated, 37-years-old and with a successful career, he’s also addicted to porn. I’d known him for years before we discussed why he never dates women: was he gay, I asked, or just not that interested?

In fact, he’s crippled with shame about his reliance on porn. It has wrecked his intimate relationships with women to such an extent that he has not had sex for nearly a decade.

“Adult movies have raised the bar for what turns me on,” he says. “I suppose I’m desensitised now to regular nudity. When I think back to my last girlfriend, that kind of vanilla sex seems boring.”

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