A lack of education and open dialogue with parents is one of the main reasons why young people are using pornography to educate themselves about sex.

The Classification Office has released a national report today on why young people use porn, based on in-depth interviews with 50 diverse New Zealand youth, over three years.

It follows the nationally representative survey NZ Youth and Porn (2018) and an analysis of the content of mainstream porn - Breaking Down Porn (2019).

Findings suggest pornography is normalised for youth and is used as a default learning tool for sex.

Overall young people felt it had a negative impact on body image/confidence and girls who watched porn felt a double standard and that it can negatively influence sex. They also felt they would be judged by parents for asking or wondering about sex.

New Zealand's Chief censor David Shanks hoped caregivers could better equip their children - especially over lockdown when internet usage would be high for most households.

"It will be a surprise to no one that young people use porn for sexual arousal, but it may be news for some that they also commonly use it to learn about sex, sexuality and gender - even when they know it presents an unrealistic and at times unhealthy view of all those things," Shanks said. Read more via RNZ