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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DS12 - pornhub

21 replies

GrannyMac2018 · 18/10/2018 21:58

Checked through ds phone internet history. 2 weeks ago he watched a video on pornhub he had typed in google a porn actress name - looks like a video popped up.
We'd had a chat a few months ago as he had googled questions when at his dads, naive me as his dad gave him phone and said all security was sorted etc. Managed to change access so very limited and had conversation to speak to me / his dad rather than google understand he is curious etc but not listen to school friends or google.
Not sure what happened but date of search coincides with day he was at his friends house so looks like they watched it together. No searches since then and not sure how settings have changed so no restrictions in place.
Think I have over reacted as told him off for repeating behaviour and have taken his phone and PlayStation away.
I'm just so sad my little boys innocence is disappearing, not sure how to handle it. Feel I'm getting it wrong.

OP posts:
Bitconfused75 · 18/10/2018 22:06

It's a tough one - been there too. With my lad I had a very frank and open conversation about pornography and the pluses and minuses of accessing it.
I'm not sure if it was the embarrassment of discussing porn grip with his mum but he's not really bothered since.
I think it's a fairly natural curiosity and I don't want to add a layer of shame to sexual feelings, but I need to be clear why I don't like it.
My view is you have to be able to talk about things without the threat of punishment otherwise they stop talking.

GrannyMac2018 · 18/10/2018 22:09

Thanks for replying. The first time I did handle it better I didn't want him to feel ashamed of his curiosity but at the same time understand porn at 12 will skewer his view of sex.
This time think I overreacted as felt all that previous convo had fell on deaf ears but now I'm thinking about it it was one search since then. And it seems he watched the video once not on any following days.
Grateful to know it's not just me. Not an aibu so much as a handhold needed. Thanks x

OP posts:
Bitconfused75 · 18/10/2018 22:18

To be fair to teenagers (and almost teenagers) they have so much information at their finger tips it's no surprise they go looking.
Since then we've discussed trans issues, bisexuals and teenage pregnancy - and each time I try and keep a neutral face. Inside I'm screaming 'But you're my baby boy!'
Hard I know - maybe return his stuff with an apology and an explanation of why you feel so strongly about it?

Babycham1979 · 19/10/2018 00:03

Whether you like it or not, your baby is growing up. And whether you like it or not, this is a normal part of male sexuality. Don’t make him feel awful about himself and his desires/curiosity. Give him THE TALK about the facts and then allow him to explore.

Guilt, shame, self-loathing; that’s how you raise a sexually dysfunctional adolescent.

Rixera · 19/10/2018 00:10

If he's seeking out porn, he already has those 'urges'. It's up to you how you deal with it, but OH and I have already discussed what we will do when DD reaches that point and we are of the opinion that I'd frankly discuss the harmful aspects of it, make sure she knows not to go on any dodgy sites or pay for anything, but otherwise, what she does in her private time is private.

DaisyDreaming · 19/10/2018 02:06

Is your definfinitipn of dodgy sites all porn sites or just some Rix? I’ve never been onto pornhub but was horrified when someone posted the titles of 10 most viewed free videos on pornhub

Godimsounimaginative · 19/10/2018 07:38

You punished him for watching porn?? Well done for teaching you son his sexuality is wrong.
Why not discuss sex with him normally? Not this fluff about only when youre married and just to make a baby. Sex is normal, masturbation is normal.
He shouldn't be punished for or ashamed of the sexual feelings he has.

GrannyMac2018 · 19/10/2018 07:40

graphic*
The first time I handled it well - I think one of my reasons for over reacting yesterday was the type of video - it wasn't a loving sexual encounter it was bordering on hard core - 'my huge Penis destroys tight teenage pussy' - she was on all fours her face looking shocked.
We will have the talk again and I'll say the same thing as last time I understand the curiosity and that his body will have these feelings however exploring pornhub to satisfy them will give him a warped view of sex too young. I would have thought a 12 year old having access to categories defined by race/ ethnicity , 'cumshot' 'orgies' 'transgender' 'fisting' 'teenagers' 'bondage' is not the best way to raise him to view sex as a loving consensual act between two consenting adults. He can explore all the 'extras' as an 'adult' !!
The categories and type of sex listed on there is overwhelming for a 12 year old and it will be too soon before the basics don't satisfy him. @Babycham1979 - my main problem is the content he is exposed to on pornhub - have you viewed some of the videos - how easy it is to end up on a video of a woman made to look like a school girl been asked to have oral sex with her teacher for extra marks - I would have thought that had more chance of influencing him to become a dysfunctional adult then me telling him of for something he has been told not to do.
And I'm saying this as someone who has watched porn myself regularly and visits the site regularly but even I have been freaked out by some of the content.
At 12 bikini pics should be enough if anything not full blown access to the whole world of sexual fetishes and I'm saying that as someone who masturbated from a very young age to channel 5 late movies lol.
I even had a dream last night that he'd gone back to being young but I was told it was temporary .... if only !

OP posts:
GrannyMac2018 · 19/10/2018 07:44

As I've said I've had the talk with him before about sex , feelings being normal..... but for reasons mentioned in the post above I did tell him I don't want his 'sex education' to be from a porn site such as pornhub.
If you go on it and think the full range of content available on there is suitable for a 12 year old that's up to you but I personally wouldn't want even my adult partner getting off on some of content and as i said I'm far from a prude I use the site myself.

OP posts:
bubbles092 · 19/10/2018 08:05

I know it's hard but it's perfectly normal!

MetalMidget · 19/10/2018 08:14

I think you're being very responsible, OP. A lot of porn (especially the type you've described your son watching) has a terrible effect on boys, and consequently the girls they have sex with. The free sites also often host to stuff where the women have been trafficked, or revenge porn (not to mention being riddled with malware infested pop-up).

LuluBellaBlue · 19/10/2018 08:15

My 14 ds also accessed some hard core rape style porn. I went mental, very upset with him and took phone etc away.
Read up loads on teenagers, porn etc.

Realised he has to be able to work out how to self regulate himself, he has to choose what he wants to watch and not and figure out how it makes him feel.

I apologised to him for my reaction and explained that it was due to my own experiences. It’s been over 6 months now and I have told him I won’t check his internet history ever again.
It’s his choice if he choices to watch that sort of thing, however I don’t really think he has only because we’ve opened up a whole new level of discussions and frankness.
So discuss the issues around porn, photo sharing, the mass of semi naked teenage girls pics that many were probably only privately shared and are now in the internet.

The change in him has been great and he now has many female friends at school that chat to him and come to him for support as he’s apparently not one of the many teenage boys pestering them for sex pics.

So basically I’m saying it’s perfectly normal and could be a turning point to raising awareness of feminists issues :)

TenForward82 · 19/10/2018 08:18

@godimsounoriginal well done for completely twisting everything OP has said. Porn is not sexual education. It is fictional entertainment. OP sounds like she's doing a great job.

Thesmallthings · 19/10/2018 08:22

My ds also 12, almost 13 has been caught viewing them sites.

I agree punishing him isn't completely right, I explained why I didn't want him watching that stuff, that it was completely normal and hes not werid but he is able to understand some things, that porn isn't like real life sex , he asked me some questions.
It was horrible and I felt so guilty but I presented my self in a non judge way and we made it a light breezy convo and even had a giggle at how awkward this conversation was.

I did how ever tell him he wasn't to take his phone or laptop into his room past a certain time and I would still be checking his phone (one of the rules we had when he got it)

I fully expect to have this conversation again but I think the key is to be able to talk and be open

SharpLily · 19/10/2018 08:31
Confused Why not discuss sex with him normally? Not this fluff about only when youre married and just to make a baby.

Where did the OP say she told him to wait for marriage?

There's a big difference between letting your 12 year old know that sex is normal and fun and letting them watch 'brutal gangbang' and 'destroying teenage babysitter' videos. A very big difference.

CupMug · 19/10/2018 08:43

I made it perfectly clear to my kids that they were forbidden to watch porn in my house. I took every possible step to make sure it was as difficult as possible and they also knew what the consequences were and that I would follow through on them. Now they are adults they can watch what they like. It doesn’t concern me at all.

Like fuck has that got anything to do with with teaching them that ‘sexuality is wrong’. I was ok with them having partners sleep over as teens and we’ve all been able to talk and joke about sex about sex - Im not a prude, I just refused to have porn in the house.

I think it’s lazy and poor parenting to allow young teens easy access to porn etc - the stuff online has got nothing to do with the type porn my generation could see in porn mags.

Madratlady · 19/10/2018 08:56

I’m amazed at the amount of people who seem to be suggesting 12yr olds should have free access to porn. That’s going to give those children a really skewed view on what sex is and what sex should be like, the majority of porn is nothing like real life and they’re likely to have some unrealistic expectations of their future partners if they’re allowed to use porn for sex ed.

smurfy2015 · 19/10/2018 09:10

GRAPHIC

I can understand to some extent OP. I was staying for a few days with my brother when middle nephew borrowed my laptop, he was 12/13. it was in my bag in the room I was sleeping in. It didn't have a password.

When I next opened it up, I had various "ads" which showed me something was up as no I didn't want a hookup. The history showed about 3 hours of gay porn.

The main family computers were all in the living area so could understand why not those. Brother (not his bio dad) had 2 work laptops each related to his daytime job and weekend hobby job so he didn't go for those as would be easily found out.

I took him away from the house alone in the car and talked to him.

It all came tumbling out.

Turned out he had felt that he might be gay. His friends kept calling him gay and that he was bumming his close pal, this had become a rumour and friends of friends called him "Bummer".

He couldn't search on family computers and so when he saw a chance to actually find out what happens sexually between 2 gay men he took a chance and that was via my laptop.

Also knowing that I would probably approach him about it and give him a chance to talk it out, I'm very open-minded and trained years before as a peer sex ed advisor so was probably a good one all around. His mum would have gone ballistic straight off the mark.

It was devastating to him and his head was all over the place as he didn't have a mobile with a data package (he had a brick as lost so many) and poor signal where he lived.

While I drove, another bombshell dropped, he was also using drugs and explained why as they made him aggressive in some ways and horny in others.

It helped him to defend himself which he hadn't revealed why the aggression which had lead to detentions and finally being excluded from school for several days on 2 occasions in the previous 6 months.

Add puberty into the mix as well and I had one very mixed up kid.

In his case, it was he actually wanted to see what sex involved with 2 men and the videos he watched actually made him feel far worse. He had no interest what he really wanted was what I would now term as a "bromance" - close non-sexual male friend

He fully accepted that's his opinion and that 2 gay men are free to have sex whatever way they want with consent from both of them.

He said he was about to switch over to see how men and women had sex become I came back into the room and he had to replace laptop asap.

He had the basic gist from a biology point of view but had a million questions and couldn't ask google or internet due to above reasons.

So literally we had an AMA and I gave him suitable resources and info to go along with it.

We also discussed at length his now revealed drug problem and he had been buying anabolic steroids which explained how he was gaining a bit of muscle which was generally put down to all the weights and stuff he was constantly doing (to counter the need to go,go, go) , the severe acne (which can also be put down to being a teenager) and other effects.

I pointed out to his horror that the high doses he was taking could actually shrink his testicles and that scared him.

We were out for about 6/8 hours in total and stopped off for food, this whole conversation explained an awful lot, he was querying his sexuality ID, he was being bullied over "being gay", he wasnt getting reliable info as knew the internet didnt always tell you everything and thought watching it happen would help him understand and didnt feel he had anyone to talk to on a daily basis, he had been excluded from school, he had a million questions about sex and an active drug problem most of the symptoms and signs which were put down to puberty.

After all this and he was cried out, we made our plan. I would talk to his bio dad, his mum and my brother who was like a dad to him.

We would make an appointment with the GP and asked who he wanted to go with him so I ended up going and explaining the situation to GP. He got checked over physically and then the mental processes started, he was fed up with the way it all made him feel.

The GP in the interim of getting other professionals in as he wanted to just stop the steroids started him on a slow reduction plan and wanted to start the plan while he really wanted to do it rather than wait.

All 5 of us (4 adults and him) had a meeting with school and got them on board. It explained a lot for them too and they were unaware of bullying but it was nipped in the bud with a full school reminders re bullying and the consquences for those caught and support for others who may be and vigilence by all esp by staff.

He was "off sick" for a couple of weeks while he started withdrawal so by the time he went back, it was in place. Slurs of any kind werent tolerated towards anyone.

All 4 of us as adults agreed to answer any questions as openly and honestly with him but not in front of each other or his younger siblings.

He is now grown up now and in a long term relationship with a woman who he has full respect for and treats her well. They have 3 children and one on way.

He credits that day as being a day that changed his life, it started with porn but by opening up dialogue and keeping it open, answering questions and showing respect and listening to him, we got to underlying problems and what was really going on

Not saying any of this is like your DS however keep the channels open and keep talking,

Porn is not real life. Explain it like that, they set up a scene, stop and start with cameras from all angles, the male is often injected to keep erect for the duration and there are a lot of different things and that women are not sex toys.

They have real emotions, feelings and have normal lives just like you and he does.

Things dont happen like in the films and they certainly dont happen like in porn.

Re consent which is not always obvious in porn I suggest you show him a clip from youtube

You are doing great OP - keeping channels open and yes there is a lot of stuff on pornhb which is iffy and Im far from a prude as well.

(I know this is long but it gives the background to it all)

Good luck

Jakethekid · 19/10/2018 09:23

I don't have a teenage son so I don't feel I can comment suitably on what I would or wouldn't do. However I just wanted to say that be security may be fine on your son's phone (his mobile data may be set to block such things) but if he was at a friends house and used their wifi, the friends wifi may not have any secuirty set up to block these websites.

I feel for you and your son. It cant be a comfortable conversation to have for either of you.

SmiledWithTheRisingSun · 19/10/2018 09:28

Oh Lordy this thread 😳 I have two much younger DCs and can't really even imagine them being teenagers yet. I truly WISH the internet did not exist sometimes. Sorry I know that's not much help OP just not looking forward to having to deal with all this.

Good luck. You sound like a loving parent trying to do the right thing. Acknowledging that sometimes we don't always get things right first time & figuring things out with out kids is really the best we can do sometimes right? Don't be too hard on yourself or your lovely boy BrewThanks

Rixera · 19/10/2018 13:28

@daisydreaming not all porn sites are dodgy. I don't get off on visual porn but OH uses it. I prefer written erotica.

I would be a complete hypocrite to tell her not to use porn when both of us were seeking it out at that age. And when I got a virus on my computer, and was scared off looking anything up, wrote it. And would take requests from other girls I was friends with, lol.

And though I know my habits & proclivities stem from my background, my partner and I have been involved in the BDSM community for many years, and my partners, despite being well rounded individuals, have pretty much all felt the same way, that their preferences didn't just pop out of nowhere in adulthood.

Now obviously none of this is witnessed or known about by my child, and neither do I want to know if she has the same preferences, but I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with it if everything happens with a dialogue of consent & mutual enjoyment. If I find fetish based porn on her computer, I'll treat it the same way as anything else. Make sure she knows the age of consent is there for a reason and she's not to be persuaded otherwise, make sure she understands consent, make sure she understands porn is not reflective of real life, make sure she knows not to click dodgy sites.

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