As Ms Gopalakrishnan rightly pointed out in this article published by The Straits Times (Over 470 youth arrested for sexual crimes in 2023; offenders’ exposure to porn cited as a reason, 16 April 2024), teens are turning to the internet as a source of information on sexual health and relationships, which potentially exposes them to sexually explicit materials that encourage distorted views of sex and misogynistic attitudes. The normalisation of violence against women depicted in such content can influence viewers’ behaviour, as seen in the rise in youth sexual offending.

While concerning, teens turning to alternative information sources suggests gaps in our existing sexuality education in terms of teaching them about issues that they are interested in learning and/or are facing in their day-to-day lives.

To bolster the upcoming early intervention measures, like training counsellors to recognise early signs of harmful sexual behaviours, our sex ed curriculum needs to take a more preventative approach by cultivating porn literacy. This will help adolescents develop essential critical thinking skills to unpack the sexual scripts, norms and practices depicted in porn.

More broadly, such a curriculum should cover a wide range of topics, including healthy (and unhealthy) relationships, gender-based violence and the debunking of sexist beliefs. Providing a safe space for children to learn about these issues ultimately promotes gender equality, delays the onset of sexual activity, reduces risky sexual behaviours, lowers rates of domestic and intimate partner violence and improves contraceptive use, amongst many other benefits.

Read our 2021 op-ed on pornography and sexuality education here: https://www.aware.org.sg/2021/09/dont-let-pornography-become-your-childs-default-sex-educator/