Poll finds 36% of men got their sex ed from porn

A new poll has revealed the extent of pornography’s influence upon sex education and sexual practices in the UK.

In a national study, 28% of respondents said that they had primarily learned about sex from pornography, a figure which rose to 36% amongst men. Only 15% said that they had learnt about it from their sex education within school.

The figures were higher when it came to copying things people had seen in porn videos. 40% of respondents replied they had tried to replicate something they had seen in pornographic content, a figure which was as high as 49% amongst men. 31% answered that they actually felt under pressure to look or behave in a certain way to replicate what they had seen.

The uneven nature of the RSE syllabus was also remarked upon by respondents, with 40% saying they had learnt about sexual health and 39% about contraception, but just 6% having learnt about pleasure, leading many to fill the gap elsewhere. 16% of people said that their sex education was ‘terrible’.

Annabelle Knight, sex & relationships expert at Lovehoney, who commissioned the survey, said: “It’s not just the fact that this country’s sex education is bad that’s worrying, but it’s also where people are going to fill the gaps in their knowledge.

"That so many people are turning to the often unrealistic and sometimes dangerous world of porn to learn about sex, or to unverified accounts on TikTok is extremely worrying. Hopefully this campaign will firstly re-educate but also raise awareness of just how bad things are.”