Working With Young People Around Porn

A one day training course for educators who want to have a greater level of confidence in teaching about porn and ‘the sex we see.’

“Very impressed with course content and how it was delivered.”

“Really impressive training day.”

“Very thorough, with lots of discussion and group work.”

“Allowed everyone to interact and encouraged people to participate and explore their own views and opinions around porn.”

Porn has never been more available than it is now. Young people can access porn on their phones, in magazines, on the internet and on the TV. Young people either watch porn willingly to explore and learn about sex and sexuality, or are curious occasional consumers, or are exposed to it without their consent. The ‘sex they see’ can range all the way from mainstream magazines, or TV, to internet ‘hardcore’ pornography. Most young people now also have the means to make their own porn or sexually explicit materials.

Often the harms of porn are overstated and often we under-estimate how much young people do actually know and understand. There is little reliable evidence to demonstrate that sexually explicit materials can be harmful to young people. However many practitioners have concerns about young people watching or being exposed to this kind of material and rightly feel that they should tackle it as part of a sex and relationships programme.

This course aims to give workers the understanding, confidence and the skills to help young people to be more critical about ‘the sex they see.’

Participants will:

  • Have the opportunity to reflect on their own values and attitudes related to porn and sexually explicit materials within a safe and participatory learning environment.
  • Understand the gendered sexual norms porn and sexual material comes from and reinforces
  • Moving away from effects of porn towards ‘affect’. How young people may be affected, and how young people affect the sex they see, in the context of broader sexuality education. 
  • Explore how talking about porn can be used as a tool to talk about self-esteem, body image, boundaries, pleasure, communication, sexual safety, the law, equality, emotions, relationships and gender.
  • Learn how to teach about the sex we see, when some people have seen sexually explicit material and others really haven’t.

All participants will receive a copy of Planet Porn, which is my very popular teaching pack. The course is very interactive but I will provide notes from the day and any additional material, links, and research that informs the course.

© Justin Hancock, 2023

Justin Hancock has been a trained sex and relationships educator since 1999. In that time he’s taught and given advice about sex and relationships with thousands of young people and adults in person and millions online at his website for young people BISH. He’s a member of the World Association for Sexual Health. Find out more about Justin here and stay up to day by signing up for the newsletter.