‘Porn literacy’ should be included in a sex curriculum for school children say researchers at NUI Galway.

The findings, published in ‘The Journal of Sex Research’, are based on research by PhD student Kate Dawson. In her study, participants said that pornography is here to stay and, rather than trying to fight against it, youth should be equipped with the tools to use it to help them navigate their sexuality. Central to that would be eliminating the stigma associated with pornography and then helping students to distinguish good from bad pornography. Specifically, the study says, young people “need to be supported to develop the competence to distinguish between positive and negative models of sexual health and relationship from the pornography they watch.”

Ms Dawson said that at the forefront of the debate around the inclusion of pornography in sex education is the negative effects of pornography engagement, but she claimed that research showed few people experienced adverse effects from watching it.

Meanwhile, Dr Louise Crowley, a law lecturer at University College Cork, has developed a ‘bystander intervention programme’ for third and second-level students. The aim is to create a culture of zero tolerance around verbal and physical sexual harassment by empowering witnesses to call out unacceptable behaviour.

She says her research shows that the vast majority of students share an abhorrence of unwanted advances and abusive behaviour, and once they know that, it gives them confidence to speak up knowing they will be surrounded by like-minded people.