First year school pupils will learn about the influence of pornography under the new plans of the National Curriculum and Assessment Council.
Kay Maunsell, associate professor of adolescent psychology and education at Dublin City University’s Institute of Education, said that children in their early teens have a lot of relationships and have access to a lot of information online.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, she said that “the level of access is quite significant. In fact, studies would show that by senior cycle, 86% of the vast majority of young males have said that they have watched pornography and 24% of young women, and over half of boys, 53%, say they first saw pornography between the ages of 10 and 13 and almost one-quarter of girls,” reports RTE.
Dr Maunsell said studies show that the impact of pornography is “quite complex.”
“For some young people, it can shape their expectations in respect of sex and what sex is and what sex isn’t,” reports RTE.
Dr Maunsell said many young people also reported stress from viewing pornography online, particularly when they were younger, “and ultimately it also has shown effects in terms of their body image and their self-esteem”, reports RTE,
The syllabus is being designed to meet the needs of the young people in the classroom and there are very strict guidelines on the subject when the new syllabus is introduced, she said.
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