Sex.Talk.Toolkit.
Preventing Dating Violence
Activity
Using the research findings Emily Rothman presents, discuss which proposition is most compelling:
•Is pornography to blame for dating violence?
•Is it a coincidence that pornography users also happen to be more likely to be in unhealthy relationship?
•What causes dating abuse and how do we stop it?
•What happens when teenagers engaged in dating violence become college students? Do behaviors change? What does it take for change to happen?
Resource
Emily Rothman: How Porn Changes the Way Teens Think About Sex
•According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 5 high-school youth experience physical and/or sexual violence each year by a dating partner.
•Dating violence is more prevalent in the U.S. among high-schoolers than being bullied at school, seriously considering suicide, or vaping.
•In her research, Emily Rothman found that 11% of teen girls had been forced or threatened to do sexual things that the perpetrator saw in pornography.
•By the time they’re 18 years old, 93% of first-year college males and 62% of females have seen pornography at least once.
•A nationally representative study found in 2000 that 16% of 10 to 13-year-olds reported they’d seen pornography in the past year and by 2010 that figure increased to 30%. Research also shows that teens are more likely to see sexualized images in media other than pornography.