# Why aren't kids "allowed" to watch porn?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 15, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611 "2003-10-15T18:16:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/1 "2003-10-15T18:16:01Z")
This is one of those questions that normally never enters one’s mind, but it just popped into mine and I’d like to see if I can get some Straight Dope.
What’s with the age (18 or 21, region dependent) limitation for viewing porn? That is, what is it meant to accomplish? If, say, an elementary schooler gets their hands on an issue of _Swank_, will their heads explode? Will a preschooler grow up into a serial killer if he logs onto _Tommy’s Bookmarks_ a couple times?
This is just one of rules for which I’ve never heard an explanation, and I’m seriously beginning to wonder if there is one.
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### Author:  [@Kewk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kewk)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/2 "2003-10-15T18:21:37Z")
I think a better question is why can they watch violence and not sexual conduct?
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### Author:  [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/3 "2003-10-15T18:27:08Z")
Because after you’re 18, you’re way past the age where you’d be too embarrassed to ask Mommy and Daddy to let you watch .
Somewhere between the Age of Reason and the Age of Consent is the Age of Bold Inquisitiveness.
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### Author:  [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/4 "2003-10-15T19:11:35Z")
George Carlin quoting someone else: “I’d rather have my kids watch a movie about two people making love rather than two people trying to kill one another.” Of course, the numbers of individuals involved in said films tends to fluctuate, but the sentiment bears reflection.
I’d have to say it reflects our attitutde as a society that public viewing of sex is not always right & moral because it results, in essence, in an orgy involving the movie stars and the viewer(s). Not always criminal, but always immoral in our predominantly monotheistic culture.
The morality of kiling one another is more easily defined: Cops, soldiers and self-defending persons are allowed to take lives. All other takers of lives are criminals. Pretty black and white in terms of law as well as morality.
As a society we assign an arbitrary age at which point the individual is believed competent to make moral judgement calls. Since there’s not a whole lot of judgement involved with the morality/legality of killing, it’s a _relatively_ safe topic for audiences who have attained only a small level of moral understanding. An 8 year old usually has a good understanding of when it is “right” to kill and when it is not. The concept of the soul-burning joy of an orgy, however, should be withheld until moral judgement (and indeed sexual relevance) are better able to be understood by the individual.
Also, kids tend to lose things. If we let them rent all the XXX movies, they’d just lose them or tape “Clifford” or “Arthur” over the program and then we adults would have a more difficult time obtaining the material for our own viewing satisfaction. The internet is a God-send solution to this problem!
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/5 "2003-10-15T20:48:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Why aren’t kids “allowed” to watch porn?
\*\*
Because it would be, um, _wrong_?
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### Author:  [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/6 "2003-10-15T21:13:03Z")
**Crafter\_Man** uh…the question was, roughly “why” is it wrong? “Because” is not an answer.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/7 "2003-10-15T21:26:05Z")
“What’s with the age (18 or 21, region dependent) limitation for viewing porn?”
That depends on where you are & your location field is blank. So, what country?
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/8 "2003-10-15T21:32:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Matchka \*
> \*\ ***Crafter\_Man** uh…the question was, roughly “why” is it wrong? “Because” is not an answer. \*\*
Hmmm. Call me unenlightened, but if you have to ask “why,” then I really have to wonder… :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/9 "2003-10-15T22:02:49Z")
OK. You’re unenlightened. You assume much to believe that everyone has your exemplary moral barometer.
I was attempting to respond to a GQ post in a logical fashion, not respond to a IMHO or Pit thread assuming everyone shares my pedantic middle-aged dogma. “Because I said so” does nothing to enlighten, inspire or give insight into the exercise of free will, it only serves to oppress.
but this is becoming a hijack.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/10 "2003-10-15T22:27:27Z")
If the reason _why_ it is wrong is so obvious, **Crafter\_Man** , then state it. Enough of the eye rolling.
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### Author:  [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/11 "2003-10-15T22:31:25Z")
by the way… common misconception…
you may have seen real nudity in a movie… a ‘real’ boobie… a penis in 28 days later, a vagina in “from hell” good chance you have NEVER seen a bit of violence. you might see things that look like violence, but not a soul was harmed in doing it. you rarely see ‘fake’ nudity.
the “why violence but no sex in movies” is a fake question, and the question is “why alot of pretend stuff but no real stuff”
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/12 "2003-10-15T22:31:44Z")
Is there any evidence that viewing pornographic images is damaging to post puberty young adults?
Is there any evidence that such images being available lead to more underage sexual activity?
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/13 "2003-10-15T22:33:30Z")
The horror of kids seeing porn is such a non-issue.
Speaking for the guys anyway (not sure, but it always seemed like the girls weren’t interested in porno) whether it was adult videos, Playboy, or even just National Geographic we all looked at porn from about age 12 on (up to and including right now ;)) and it didn’t make any of us deviant serial killers. In fact, it didn’t do any harm **at all**.
All it does is embarrass your parents.
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/14 "2003-10-15T22:34:22Z")
\*\* you rarely if ever see real sexual activity in a movie either, so burn that strawman **owlofcreamcheese**.
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### Author:  [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/15 "2003-10-15T22:37:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \*
> \*\*Hmmm. Call me unenlightened, but if you have to ask “why,” then I really have to wonder… :rolleyes: \*\*
If you are unable to _explain_ “why”, then perhaps you don’t actually understand it yourself.
There are really two parts to the OP; the easy part has basically been answered, i.e. why is there an age limit, beyond which it’s “ok” to view porn. As a society, we believe that “children” are not capable of making an informed decision about some things that “adults” are capable of, and legally there has to be some specific age that divides “children” from “adults”.
The more difficult question is why is viewing porn deemed possibly harmful to children? I don’t claim to have the answer, because I don’t really understand the attitude myself, but I know that it stems from the Puritan heritage of US/western society. Even though it’s been hundreds of years since the Puritans, their effect on our society’s views and morals still exists. There is a belief (right or wrong) that if a child is exposed to porn it can adversely affect his phsychological development.
Personally, I think it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg sort of thing. In other words, our society views sex and nakedness as “dirty”, therefore it believes that exposing children to it is “wrong”. If the society didn’t view sex as “dirty”, there would be nothing wrong with children being exposed to porn. But this is getting into IMHO territory.
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### Author:  [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/16 "2003-10-15T22:54:35Z")
Eeeeek! a Strawman!
Bippy…then…how do they get all those images of…you know…the old “in-out?” Are you suggesting they are faking it? or that some computer animator has a REALLY cool job?
Don’t worry, I think I get what you’re saying, but if I were to tell my wife that I soiled my John Thomas while starring in an adult movie but, “Hey, don’t worry, it was all just acting,” she’d probably react differently than if I told her I played the evil liquid metal termiantor in an action movie.
My guess is you DO see real sexual activity in the same sense that you DON’T see real violence (outside of a Snuff film, which Cecil says don’t exist).
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### Author:  [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/17 "2003-10-15T23:26:29Z")
well no crap bippy! thats why people come up with the false delema of
why do you see violence in movies but not sex?
you don’t! you never ever ever see violence in movies. EVER. you see make belive. watch a thousand movies and you will see not a second of violence.
there is not a double standard for sex and violence. you see roughly the same amount of each: zero. although you can see a bit of real nudity here and there but never a drop of real blood.
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### Author:  [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/18 "2003-10-15T23:31:06Z")
_As a society, we believe that “children” are not capable of making an informed decision about some things that “adults” are capable of_
What “informed decisions” would a kid need to make while watching porn?
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### Author:  [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/19 "2003-10-15T23:47:53Z")
“Porn” films often do show actual sexual activity, according to every source I’ve ever read regarding the porn indistry. They’re pretty open about that.
However, the point is moot. Society and laws draw no distinction between the viewing of simulated sex and ‘real’ sex, and very little distinction between anything beyond incidental nudity and sex. For example, there is no sex in a Playboy centerfold, or many video presentations of such models. Not all centerfold models participate in movies that display or simulate blatant sexual activity.
The law does not take any note of the ‘reality’ of the act portrayed. It’s all porn, even if it’s just a naked person posing with their own hands well away from their own genitalia.
By contrast, consider the child pronography laws. It is quite a serious offense to possess or view pornographic images (and even text literature, according to many successful convictions - at least one person was prosecuted for possessing self-written stories in their own diary!) Yet it is quite legal for an adult to view images that deliberately give the impression of being underage models. The sites even advertise the resemblance. Indeed, it would be legal (in general) to simulate the portrayal of involuntary underage sex, while the actual act (filmed or not) would be among the most serious of offenses.
“Real sex” (or nudity) is relevant to the laws on pornography featuring underage models, but it is irrelevant to the laws on underage individuals _viewing_ otherwise legal pornography.
\*And I don’t even want to get into the issue of underage viewers of pornography of underage models their own age 🙂 \*
Also, appropos other arguments made here, it is quite legal and even popular for PG-13 and -17 films to portray _teenagers_ (real and protrayed) seeming to perform acts that are illegal (even serious crimes) and getting away with it, or even prospering - everything from Risky Business to Porky’s to any number of ‘street gang’ themed films. Even in the PG realm, we expect our children to have the common sense not to emulate everything they see, even if their ‘peers’ are doing it with minor consequences, or none at all.
I think the simple answer, as it is with so many things, is that _some_ parents would be embarrassed (It doesn’t matter if _most_ parents would be embarrassed - they probably would be - but as long as the minority is vocal and can claim ‘traditional’ justification, they will have strong sociological arguments to maintain the status quo.
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### Author:  [@Herge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herge)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-kids-allowed-to-watch-porn/207611/20 "2003-10-15T23:52:17Z")
owl, the violence in movies is real enough that kids won’t know the difference. Take a movie like Casino, just one example of hundreds. A kid watching Joe Pescie stab someone in the neck with a pen, or watching him get beaten to within an inch of his life with a baseball bat, isn’t going to be able to understand the difference.
In the same way, some sex scenes in movies are real enough that a kid won’t really understand that its make believe.
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