TALK & SUPPORT: TEENAGERS

Simple expert tips for parents with teenagers in secondary school.

TALK TO YOUR TEENAGER

Online pornography is often teenagers’ primary source of sex education nowadays. It often presents a violent, misogynistic view of sexuality without consent. Here you get simple expert tips on how to have the pornography talk & support your teenager in various ways.

Children & teenagers are often at different levels depending on what they’ve seen and experienced. It’s therefore valuable for people with younger children to also read these tips. Feel free to tip off other parents about this site!

En svart och gul ikon av en pratbubbla.

THE PORNOGRAPHY TALK

Have the talk with your teenager in an everyday situation that’s comfortable for you both, such as on a walk or while cooking. Show that you’re interested and really listen when you talk and reflect together. It builds important trust that will enable you to maintain a productive ongoing dialogue.

SIMPLE EXPERT TIPS FOR PARENTS WITH TEENAGERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL:

  • Det är viktigt att förstå hur vanligt det är med porr som har incest-tema och kategorier där tjejerna ska föreställa unga tonåringar eller ännu yngre barn på de stora mainstreamporrsajterna, t.ex.i kategorierna  ”Teen” och ”Barely Legal”.

    Utgå ifrån att tonåringen som du pratar med kan ha sett den typen av porr många gånger. Den är mycket normaliserad och återspeglas även i populärkulturen utanför porrsajterna. Många tonåringar tycker inte att det är särskilt märkligt med den typen av porr och skämtar t.ex. om “MILF”, Mother I Like to Fuck eller “DILF”, Daddy I Like to Fuck och “Daddy”. Det är ofta en del av ett vardagligt språk bland tonåringar. 



  • Ställ frågor om tonåringen tycker att begreppen är vanliga t.ex. i skolan, kompisgänget och allmänt på sociala medier? Prata om det, om att begreppen “MILF” & “DILF” har blivit så pass vanliga och fråga vad tonåringen tänker om det. Ställ öppna frågor om sexualisering av barn på sociala medier och populärkulturen. Understryk på ett lugnt men tydligt sätt att det däremot är fel och olagligt om vuxna intresserar sig sexuellt för barn oavsett om det är normaliserat i porren.

    Var tydlig med att det är fel, olagligt och skadligt om vuxna gör något sexuellt med minderåriga, ber dem göra något sexuellt med sig själva eller andra och att det alltid gäller både på nätet och utanför nätet.

  • Prata om att det är helt naturligt att tonåringar utvecklar en egen sexualitet och att man är nyfiken på sex. Betona att tonåringar ska få definiera sin egen sexualitet i sin egen tid utan press från någon annan och att sex utan samtycke, med minderåriga eller familjemedlemmar som visas i porren skulle vara olagligt och skadligt i verkligheten.

    Vuxna behöver utgöra en motkraft till normaliseringen i porren för att öka barn och tonåringars resiliens mot om t.ex. en fotbollstränare eller en familjemedlem skulle göra närmanden. Vi behöver understryka att det inte är “normalt” utan tvärtom är olagligt.

  • Målet är som alltid att få tonåringen att vrida och vända på ämnet tillsammans, ställa frågor och hjälpa tonåringen att resonera kritiskt kring normer, trender och porren.


  • Ställ frågor om de har sett vuxna som gör sexuella inviter, tafsar eller pratar med minderåriga på ett sexuellt sätt? Är det något som tonåringen har märkt händer andra kompisar eller varit utsatt för själv, hur känns det? Visa tydligt att du står stadigt vid sidan om tonåringen har blivit utsatt och att du vill hjälpa till. Lyft aktivt av eventuell skuld eller skam som tonåringar ibland kan rikta mot sig själv och var tydlig med att vuxna alltid bär ansvar för sina egna handlingar, inte minst sexuella handlingar. 

    Berätta att du gärna hjälper till om det är något som har hänt som är olagligt och bör anmälas. Påminn igen om att det alltid är olagligt om vuxna gör något sexuellt med minderåriga - både digitalt på nätet och utanför nätet. Var även tydlig med att det är fel och olagligt om en ungdom som är över 18 år gör något sexuellt med en minderårig t.ex. en kusin, storebror, eller en storebrors kompis. Vi rekommenderar alltid att anmäla.

    Behöver ni prata med någon professionell så finns det hjälp att få bl.a. hos skolkuratorn, tjej- och ungdomsjourerna på roks.se och unizon.se via deras lokala- och digitala jourer och chattar, t.ex. ungarelationer.se.

  • Det viktigaste av allt är att visa att din tonåring kan lita på dig, att du varken kommer döma eller bli arg och att du kommer fortsätta lyssna oavsett vad de berättar. Det är mycket viktigt att de förstår att det finns hjälp att få som kommer förvalta förtroendet för att de ska våga berätta. Särskilt om de blivit utsatta eller utsatt någon annan.

    Oavsett om man har exponerats visuellt för incest-porr, blivit utsatt fysiskt eller om de själva har utsatt eller känner att de tänder på personer under 14 år eller incest-porr, så hjälp tonåringen att söka professionell hjälp, t.ex. hos skolkuratorn eller psykolog. 

  • At this age, most children have come into contact with pornography in some way. You can ask your teenager if they’ve come into contact with pornography, where they saw it and how they felt about it. Talk about the fact that what you see in mainstream pornography isn’t sex because, among other things, pornography rarely shows consent. Pornography often contains various types of violence against girls that can hurt and injure them both physically and psychologically. It often involves “gagging”, strangulation and hard anal penetration without any preparation. Tell your child that a lot of the people taking part in pornography are unhappy even if they look happy and that they’re often suffering trauma from previous abuse and are very vulnerable.

    Talk about how the more you watch pornography, the easier it is to start getting turned on by violence and things that hurt. High, frequent consumption of pornography can also lead to some blunting of sexual feelings and there is a risk that natural patterns of arousal may be bypassed. In an interview in Expressen, the association SNAF – Sexualkunskapen Ni Aldrig Fick states that “strangulation sex has become the new normal”. Feel free to read the article and talk about its contents with your teenager. Unga Relationer also highlights “strangulation sex” in witness statements in its Ettårsrapport from 2020. Boys also state, in the Unga Relationer report and elsewhere, that they get their inspiration from pornography and want to try out what they see on a girl, or a guy in same-sex relationships. Talk about the fact that some guys think that sex should be the way it is in pornography, about peer pressure and the fact that it’s easy to think that your all friends are also doing the things they do in pornography. It can lead to a person committing abuse – without realising that it is abuse.

  • Research shows that girls in mainstream pornography often appear to react either positively or neutrally to the acts they are subjected to (Genväg till forskning nr 14 Pornografi och unga.[Pornografi and young people] Västra Götalandsregionen, 2021). In mainstream pornography, girls are often subjected to degradation or pain, such as being urinated on, or aggressive anal penetration without any preparation. It can therefore be easy to believe that all girls like to take part in what you see in pornography. E.g. Pornhub has a “like” function during the videos that often shows that a large majority of viewers like the porn videos even when the content is violent, degrading and doesn’t show consent, which helps to normalise the content. Adults must make it clear that it’s important to have consent, mutual feelings, tenderness, closeness in sex and relationships and to be caring and responsive.

  • Being curious about sex and experiencing lust is healthy and natural and is a wonderful feeling. Adults have the important task of guiding teenagers with regard to consent, responsiveness and the beautiful aspects of sex in healthy relationships, as a counterweight to what is often shown in pornography. Then, it’s easier for them to sense when something’s wrong or when they’re about to cross someone’s boundaries or when someone is crossing their boundaries.

    ThThe most important thing to convey to young people is that sex should always feel good for everyone involved – before, during and after. In body and soul! Sex should always be positive, pleasurable and wonderful for everyone involved and should be based on consent obtained before each part of a sexual act. You have a responsibility to listen to how the person you’re having sex with feels throughout the sex act. If you haven’t received a crystal clear YES signal before each part of a sexual act, you need to stop and find out what the other person wants and doesn’t want. Everyone’s pleasure is equally important. Your own pleasure should never be obtained at the expense of someone else’s or push someone over their personal limits. It’s a good thing to try things out yourself in order to find out what you like.

    Be clear that your teenager does not have to put up with something he does not want to do, e.g. something that the partner has seen in porn and wants to try, for fear of not being liked or considered "boring".

  • It’s important to address the different reactions that pornography can give rise to. Such as the fact that you can get turned on, become wet and get an erection from seeing other people in sexual situations – regardless of whether or not you like what you see. Here it’s important to show understanding and safeguard the trust of anyone who dares to open up and talk about how it can feel.

  • Consent is rare, to say the least, in mainstream pornography. On the contrary, it often depicts the opposite. Ask your teenager how often they see someone asking for consent in pornography before initiating a sexual act. If you imitate what you see in an ordinary porn video on one of the major porn hubs, you risk committing a sexual assault, which is a criminal and punishable act

  • The basic principle of the Consent Act, which entered into force on 1 July 2018, is that sex should be consensual and if it’s not consensual, it’s illegal. Having sex with a person who hasn’t explicitly said yes or who doesn’t actively show that they want to take part is therefore prohibited. Tell your teenager that it’s always the person who initiates a sexual act who is responsible for obtaining consent – before every part of a sexual act. Therefore it’s not enough to get consent for oral sex, for example, if you then also initiate vaginal sex.

    Consent means that anything that’s not a crystal clear yes is a no:

    • "Wait" means no

    • "I'm not sure" means no

    • "Not now" means no

    • "I have changed my mind" means no

    • "Stop" means no

    • "It hurts" means no

    • No does not mean "persuade me"

    • No simply means no.

    A no can therefore be expressed in many different ways. Some are easier to understand, others might be more difficult. But anything that isn’t a crystal clear yes is a no! Body language can also be used to signal a no. If you are the slightest bit unsure, it’s important to stop and ask what the other person wants.

  • Talk to your teenager about what things might affect consent. How can power imbalances make someone say yes to a sexual act that they may not actually want? For example, if one person is in love but the other isn’t, if one is older, if one has a higher social status, is stronger and so on. How can fear, expectations and mental illness affect consent?

    Can consent be bought? If someone offers money or a payment of some other kind for a sexual act, consent is removed. You could turn it around and ask whether everyone involved in a sexual situation would still want to be involved if you removed the payment.

  • Ask your teenager why they think extreme pornography is so common. For example, there is great demand for new forms of pornography that contain extreme acts such as allusions to incest. There’s a lot of money to be made in the pornography industry and it is driven by demand, just like many other industries. It’s common for people who watch pornography regularly to feel that they need to see more, and more hardcore, pornography to get the same kick as when they started watching.

  • It’s important to make it clear that it’s dangerous to obstruct your breathing in any way through “strangulation sex”, for example, because it can lead to psychological trauma, brain damage and death. A 16 year-old girl died of “strangulation sex” in Sweden in 2015 and there are several documented cases in other countries of girls dying from someone obstructing their breathing during sex.

    Talk to your teenager about how much violence you can consent to. What is violence and where do we draw the line? Explain that many acts that you see in pornography can be traumatising for the person being subjected to them and can cause permanent physical and psychological damage.

  • Many of us who grew up before online pornography never heard the words “strangulation sex.” But in an interview in Expressen, a representative of the association SNAF – Sexualkunskapen Ni Aldrig Fick states that “strangulation sex has become the new normal”. Feel free to read the article and talk about its contents with your teenager. Unga Relationer also highlights “strangulation sex” in testimonies in Ettårsrapporten from 2020 and says that their reference group of young people thought that Unga Relationer’s poster on “strangulation sex” was the most important. Since “strangulation sex” is so common in pornography, it’s easy to think that this is how you “should” have sex and that “everyone” is doing it and everyone likes it. It’s easy to forget about the risks because it’s so common and normalised in pornography nowadays.

  • According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention report "Våld i ungas parrelationer" [Violence in young people’s relationships with their partners] from 2021, 44% of girls aged 15-19 have been subjected to sexual violence in their relationships with their partners. Whether or not it’s deliberate, it can be a crime and must be taken very seriously, particularly by adults who are around teenagers. We always recommend reporting it to the police.

    Talk to your teenager about how it can’t be taken for granted that your partner wants to have sex or wants to join in with various types of sexual act just because you're in a relationship. Consent is a perishable commodity that needs to be obtained from your partner before every part of a sexual act and it can never be taken for granted. If you’re responsive, it usually becomes easier as you get to know each other and each other’s bodies better. Also discuss with your teenager questions such as: What happens in a relationship when one partner consumes a lot of pornography and wants to try out things they’ve seen in pornography but the other partner doesn't want to?

    We highly recommend consulting a girls’ or young people’s on-call service at unizonjourer.se if anyone needs help and support. Anyone who is subjected to abuse in a relationship, who subjects someone else to abuse or is worried about a friend can get help at ungarelationer.se .

  • Talk to your teenager about norms, stereotypes and macho culture in mainstream pornography. How do you think you can be affected by the fact that in pornography, men are often aggressive towards girls, take what they want without asking, resort to violence and degradation and that the girls who are subjected to it often react in a neutral or positive way? What are the possible effects of the fact that in pornography, bodies often look similar, with a lot of the men having large penises and maintaining erections for a long time and the girls often having implants and having no body hair? How does it affect how sex is portrayed in pornography when there are seldom any kisses, caresses, tenderness, loving words or consent?

  • There are millions of pornographic videos with many different variations of pornography showing different types of bodies. But in mainstream pornography, the bodies represented are mainly fairly stereotypical. Talk about it with your teenager and ask whether they think that it might affect the person watching. For example, a lot of the women have reduced their labia and enlarged their breasts, lips and buttocks and the men often have large penises. It can affect the norm of how a body “should” look. A visit to the swimming baths, where you can clearly see that bodies can look different, is a good reality check.

  • Ask your teenager whether they think that it’s common for a man to maintain an erection for as long as they normally do in pornography. A lot of guys and girls feel pressure to perform in the way actors normally perform in pornography in terms of enduring pain and maintaining an erection for a long time. It’s important to state that a lot of the girls need to take painkillers and drugs to be able to shoot a porn video and a lot of the men take potency drugs such as Viagra.

  • Show as much curiosity about and interest in what your teenager is doing online as you do in what they do off-line. Their online existence is just as real and just as important to them as their off-line existence. Bear in mind that your teenager will talk to you about the things you talk to them about. So if you don’t bring up topics like social media, sex and pornography, they probably won’t bring them up either.

    Ask whether your teenager wants to show you things they think are fun online and learn about apps and games. Ask whether they want to play their favourite game with you. Showing interest is an important way of building up trust and gaining insight, both online and offline.

  • Nowadays, it’s common for guys in particular to send unwanted so-called “dickpics” to girls and nag or pressure girls to send nude pictures or nude videos, so-called “nudes”, to the guy. Make it clear to your teenager that they must never nag or pressure anyone to send nude pictures and they must never send “dickpics” to anyone unless the recipient has consented to receive the picture. Tell them that sending nude pictures without consent and pressuring someone to send them could be a crime.

    Remind them that you never have to send nude pictures just because someone nags you to do it. Also talk about the risks of sending "nudes" to other people, even to someone they know. As well as the fact that you lose control of pictures and videos once they’ve been sent and they can easily be spread on the internet and remain there forever. Also remind your teenager of the risk that someone else could forward nude pictures that are on your teenager’s phone, for example if they lend it to someone at school.

    Nude pictures and videos of minors end up on porn sites and it can be very difficult to get them taken down and they can also be uploaded again.

    Minors can get help to try and take down nude pictures that have been spread online at dittecpat.se.

  • Remind your teenager that it can be difficult to know who a person behind an online account really is. You can recommend a short film called “Jag tror att jag är lite kär i dig” [I think I’m a bit in love with you] on YouTube on the subject of grooming. The film is recommended from the age of 11. Watch it yourself before you recommend it.

    Tell you’re teenager that you’ll never get angry if they’ve been subjected to abuse. Say that you’ll always help and support them. Listen to your teen and unburden them of any feelings of guilt or shame. Get professional help if you need it, e.g. from a school counsellor.

    You can read more about nude pictures and grooming and get more advice on the Swedish Police website. If you suspect that a sexual offence has been committed against a child online, it must be reported to the police.

  • It’s a good thing to be aware of OnlyFans, which is a large social media that experienced rapid growth during the pandemic.

    It’s common for young girls to sell nude pictures and home-made pornography featuring themselves.

    Unfortunately, OnlyFans has shortcomings in its age verification for people creating accounts in order to watch and for people taking part in the material.

    Talk to your teenager about why some people, including minors in some cases, start selling nude content and what the consequences of that might be.

    Be sure to be responsive and be careful to maintain the teenager’s trust in the conversation and never shame or blame.

    We highly recommend consulting a girls’ or young people’s on-call service at unizonjourer.se if anyone needs help and support. There is a documentary about OnlyFans entitled “Pornfluencers” on SVT Play which highlights different perspectives.

  • Twitter, which has an age limit of 13, has no restrictions on pornographic content. It is completely unrestricted on the platform. However, there are restrictions on many other social media platforms, e.g. Instagram and Tiktok.

    But, just like other commercial companies, the pornography industry also uses social media, such as Snapchat and Instagram, to market itself, generate curiosity and build its fanbase. Porn sites and people who take part in pornography, or “creators” as they are called on OnlyFans, have their own social media accounts, often with millions of followers. On Instagram for example, it’s possible to link directly to an account on OnlyFans or to porn sites such as Pornhub via Linktree, among others.

    Ask your teenager whether they’ve have seen it and talk about the fact that, for example, OnlyFans is allowed to have their own account on Instagram and their “creators” can link from their Instagram accounts directly to their OnlyFans accounts and why they think this is allowed? Could it normalise creating an OnlyFans account and starting to sell your own pornography?

The expert tips have been developed in consultation with our experts in the Inheritance Fund [Swedish Inheritance Fund] project The New Normal, including:

Linn Heed
Licensed psychologist, licensed psychotherapist, sexologist

Brandon Sekitto
Family therapist, intercultural communicator

Lotta Kajving
School counsellor, behavioural scientist and certified sex counsellor

Dani Lind
Producer of the film “High Speed Internet Porn and the Experiment Generation"

Mikis Kanakaris
Activity developer & discussion leader, stiftelsen 1000 Möjligheter & Unga Relationer