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As they get older, kids need independence, and parents need the peace of mind that comes with knowing their kids are safe. How do parents know when or if to give their kids a smartphone in this porn-saturated, social media-obsessed world?
The reality is many really aren’t sure. And this is for good reason because parents have to balance navigating the social pressures of this digital age with focusing on the safety and health of their child. Smartphones that have access to the internet also have access to unlimited adult content, habit-forming games and social platforms, and even online child predators.
But what if parents didn’t have to choose between online safety and being able to communicate remotely with their kids? What if their first phone could be a safer phone?
Introducing our affiliates at Pinwheel.
What is Pinwheel?
Pinwheel created a phone to give both parents and kids the best of both worlds: A phone with everything a kid needs with none of the excesses they don’t.
Featured in CNN, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, Pinwheel smartphones promote wellness in young people.
Designed in collaboration with therapists and child-development professionals, the phones have no web browser, no social media, and vetted apps to give kids and teens the tools they need without distraction.
How Pinwheel holds up to other phone options
The Pinwheel Caregiver Portal allows parents to adjust apps and functionality based on their parenting style, family values, as well as their child’s development and schedules.
Their phones also work with major mobile carriers—Verizon, T Mobile, AT&T, Mint Mobile, and more!
But how would this “smart for kids” phone work? Pinwheel explains its innovative product in this video:
Pinwheel says they have “built a system to work with your values instead of fight them as you teach your kid to use tech.”
They’re hopeful their version of a smartphone will give parents the peace of mind they deserve.
If you’re interested in a phone from Pinwheel, check them out today!
Smartphones rule the porn scene
The reality is, if our generation and the next are watching porn, they’re probably searching it out on their smartphones.
Based on available data, the likely age of a child’s first exposure to porn is around tween years. The majority of kids are exposed to porn by age 13, with some exposed as young as seven, according to a 2020 survey.British Board of Film Classification. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. BBFCCopy
Young adults are all presented with the issue of today’s porn, and according to a nationally representative survey of teens, 84.4% of 14 to 18-year-old boys and 57% of 14 to 18-year-old girls have viewed pornography, and many are watching it on devices they have with them 24 hours a day on their person.Wright, P. J., Paul, B., & Herbenick, D. (2021). Preliminary insights from a U.S. probability sample on adolescents’ pornography exposure, media psychology, and sexual aggression. J.Health Commun., 26(1), 39-46. doi:10.1080/10810730.2021.1887980Copy
It’s infamously difficult to get stats and numbers that detail how the porn industry reaches its consumers, so the best place we have to see the state of business is from porn sites reporting their own stats.
Are these numbers to be trusted? Frankly, we’re not convinced they can be, so we take this data with a grain of salt while also recognizing that porn truly is one of the biggest issues our generation is facing.
To understand how the industry is reaching consumers and what programs and devices the average consumer uses to access the free, most hardcore content on the planet, let’s dive into the stats shared in Pornhub’s latest “tech review” stats released on their insights page in April 2021.
Over the last several years, according to their data, phones, and tablets have become the most popular way to access the massive porn site. In fact, since 2019, there has been a nearly 5% increase in consumers accessing Pornhub through their smartphones.
Take a look for yourself. Over 80% of traffic to the platform uses devices other than computers and laptops:
Image credit to Pornhub Insights
These stats are very telling. Technology has changed not only the content of porn but also how, when, and at what age they consume it.
The argument that porn “is nothing new”—that it’s been around forever and never caused any great harm—seems pretty silly when you think about how different today’s porn is from anything that existed before. The Playboy generation is now dealing with the Pornhub generation, and it’s a completely different world.
Porn is incomparably more accessible, more available, more affordable, and more extreme than anything that existed even a generation ago. Those centerfold magazines that were passed around among youth in previous generations were nothing compared to what youth the same age have access to today, and the impacts of looking today go far beyond just hoping your parents don’t find out what you’ve seen.
What did we learn?
It’s all too clear that porn is more accessible, more common, and more mainstream than ever before, and there’s no real end in sight. It’s changing the way kids grow up and challenging the way caretakers parent. So what are we going to do about it?
Fortunately for us, information about the harmful effects of porn has also never been more accessible or mainstream than ever before. So while people are logging on to porn sites and adding daily to their massive stats and using various operating systems and devices, we’ll continue sharing the facts and raising awareness that porn is anything but harmless entertainment.
Soon enough, our society will be less interested in the most degrading and humiliating content possible and more invested in real relationships.
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
This is why Fight the New Drug exists—but we can’t do it without you.
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