By Chris Avery
According to psychologists, the number one reason college students use porn is for a distraction. The next most common reason students watch porn is for education on sexual intercourse, and for stress relief.
In a peer-reviewed study about user demographics in Online Sexual Activities (OSA), the authors mention all three uses.
“More than three-fourths of OSA users reported that they had used OSA for distraction. Education and coping with stress were the second most frequent reasons,” said the authors.
A NAIT student provides his experience with porn. Benjamin Smith* admits his primary reason for using pornography.
“When I take a break from studying, I watch porn. It’s my release. But it makes me lazy. I lose all motivation after a session.”
Losing motivation to study can present a challenge for students at NAIT. This situation is not helped by the endless amounts of pornographic content found online.
A quick Google search reveals an ever-growing library of free porn. Such online content is easy to access from virtually any device.
Porn is everywhere: in social media, pop culture, music and movies. People are watching the content all the time.
According to a statistic from online pornography giant Pornhub, viewing porn is a major part of online streaming. In 2019 there were over 42 billion visits to Pornhub, which means there was an average of 115 million visits per day.
With the availability of porn at your fingertips, students can easily lose focus. Brown admits to this and he may be like many others.
In another study about college students that use porn, the authors discover that few college students are using porn to relieve stress.
“Although many college students are using pornography for sexual arousal, physical pleasure, and assistance in masturbation … few even among high users are using it as a tool to escape or self-soothe.”
The study goes on to state “the finding is surprising especially considering that previous research has suggested that college students experience notable rates of stress and therefore enact various coping strategies to curb it.”
Whether you are using porn to distract yourself from your studies, to teach yourself how to sexually perform, or to relieve yourself from stressful studies, know that you are not alone.
*Name changed to protect the identity of subject.
