The vast majority of Icelandic secondary school kids, boys and girls alike, have watched porn, but regular use is still very much a boy thing.
Ástrós Erla Benediktsdóttir, who researched the subject for her Master’s degree in social work, told Vísir that about 99% of boys and 80% of girls in secondary school (which in Iceland spans from ages 16 to 20, but for the purpose of this research focused only on those 18 to 20) have watched porn at some point.
From here, the gender differences diverge even further. Of those who said they have watched porn, 40% of boys said they have watched it 2 to 5 times a week in the past month, but only 2.3% of girls said the same. Girls were also far more likely than boys to have not watched porn at all in the past month, at 54% to 10%, respectively.
Ástrós believes the findings underscore the importance of healthy sex education, so as to prevent porn from becoming the model by which young people learn what sex is supposed to be like.
“Parents need to take a better look at this,” she said. “Amongst the findings that came up in my research was that young people watched porn for the first time at as young as five years old. This is very common, and it is therefore important that parents, schools and society are aware of this.”
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