History would disagree. We’re still living in a society shaped by Quaker beliefs about sex, children, and the human body in general.
It’s telling that the article didn’t interview anyone with expertise on the history of sex or people who study sex professionally (as academic scientists and researchers). Porn is definitely more easily viewed than ever before and that may be shaping kids views of sexuality but how is that shaping adult’s views of sexuality? Why are kids special?
I’ll tell you why kids are special: It’s because it has become acceptable to assume that kids being exposed to sex of any kind is somehow “bad”. Nowhere in the article do they talk about why it is that kids aren’t learning about healthy sexual relationships: Because we hide that from them.
No one wants to talk to their kids about sex but if there’s one thing you should tell kids (not just your own!) about porn it’s this: It’s fake
It’s the classic puritanical/quaker view of sexuality. Kids should be shielded and protected from any mention of sex and sexuality. Then when they turn 18 or get into their first sexual situations a switch is flipped and they’re chastised for not “knowing better”.
“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn.
Children aren't quite as good as the unborn, but they're close. Advocating for children still lets you feel good about yourself without having to actually associate with children. They're a group it's pretty much OK to be paternalistic toward. If they do resent your condescension, you can easily write it off because they're just children.
I answer every question my son has honestly and in plain, easily understood language. He’s in middle school. Boy are his friends being fed some bullshit from their parents and unfettered access to the Internet. Smile and nod, kiddo, then come ask me. If I don’t know, we’ll look it up together, but I will not keep him in the dark. The dangerous thing about sex is ignorance of it. And yeah, porn ain’t real.
Another factor is the increasing focus on work from home, and remote learning.
The less “forced” in-person interaction you have with a wide range of people, the less practice you get in developing the social skills that would be useful in navigating relationships later in life.
Definitely didn’t realize this was such an old article. Side note, it’s probably also worthwhile to discuss how things have changed in the past decade.
There was a kid staying with a relative (I think) in a building across from me and I joked that I’d start blasting hardcore porn on my projector with my blinds up to teach him about the birds and the bees.
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