"We're all still learning about how to talk about porn": Teacher and administrator perspectives about inclusion of education about pornography in Massachusetts high school sex education programs.

INTRODUCTION

Despite evidence that pornography is used by adolescents to learn about sex, there are no empirically supported, school-based sex education programs currently available in the United States (US) that include education about pornography.

METHODS

This qualitative study, conducted in 2022, inquired with high school health teachers (=9) and administrators (=8) in Massachusetts about students' sex education needs and barriers and facilitators to the provision of education about pornography as a part of school-based sex education.

RESULTS

There is a clear need and desire to include education about pornography in school-based sex education, but there are also substantial barriers. Some of these barriers are logistical (e.g., having enough time to cover the topic), while others are more political (e.g., concern about pushback from the school board, parents, and the community). Even with those concerns, participants provided multiple strategies to decrease the likelihood of pushback and expressed hope that the needs of the students would prevail.

CONCLUSION

A critical next step will be to take a community-informed approach to develop and assess the feasibility and acceptability of education about pornography within a school context.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Teachers and administrators in the US are facing a barrage of political and legislative campaigns that seek to limit or control the topics they teach. To facilitate the inclusion of education about pornography in school-based sex education, policies at the local, state, and national levels will need to state that such education is a necessary component of current sex education curricula.