Has Media & Porn Culture Changed The Sex Talk? with Dr. Megan Maas, Psychologist & Sex Educator

Media Savvy Moms

Are the porn talk and the sex talk related? They should be! It’s time to consider how media and porn culture are affecting our kids’ sexual development. But first we have to see our kids as sexual beings. Say what? How in the world do we get there?

WARNING: This episode contains brief descriptions of sexually graphic content.

You’ve heard us say it a million times, but now we have a developmental psychologist and sex educator on the show to back us up: protecting our kids from pornography all comes back to the sex talk! Actually, ongoing sex talks (plural), as we like to say around here.

In this week’s episode, Dr. Megan Maas joins us for a straightforward, no-holds-barred chat about educating our kids about healthy sexuality, pornography, and pleasure. And most importantly, recognizing and respecting them as sexual beings, which she admits, isn’t the easiest thing in the world for parents to do. However, it’s a must. After all, “at the end of the day, we want our kids to have healthy, satisfying sex—not dangerous, violent sex,” she says. We have to agree!

Tune in to the show to hear Dr. Maas’ amazing research, insights, and parenting tips on kids, porn, and the sex talk.

More about today’s guest

Megan Maas, PhD, is an assistant professor in Human Development & Family Studies. Her work sits at the intersection of sexual violence prevention and sexual health promotion. She received her PhD in 2016 from The Pennsylvania State University as a pre-doctoral fellow funded by the National Institutes of Health. Her award-winning research, recognized by the American Psychological Association, focuses on adolescent sexual socialization, with an emphasis on the bi-directional role that social media, sexting, and online pornography play in the development of attitudes and behavior related to sexuality and gender.

Media Savvy Moms is a podcast by ParentsAware, an organization dedicated to helping parents talk to kids and teens about pornography and healthy sexuality. For complete show notes, visit http://parentsaware.info/index.php/podcast/.