Q: I Caught My ADHD Son Watching Porn!
Adolescents and teens are sexually curious. This is normal, but kids who use pornography to satiate their curiosity may develop unhealthy expectations about physical intimacy. Here, Ryan Wexelblatt suggests ways to educate tweens with age-appropriate materials and talking points about porn and sex.
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Q: “My son is 12 years old with ADHD and he has an issue with porn. I have found my tablet in his room and went through the history and found porn sites that he has visited. My husband has talked with him about it, however he just can’t seem to control himself. I hide all the devices and he will tear the house apart to find them. I don’t want this to turn into a porn obsession or for him to develop inappropriate sexual thoughts and behaviors. Help!”
A: “Your 12 year old’s curiosity about pornography, and his repeated viewing of it, is a natural curiosity and it is developmentally appropriate. What you need to do is provide him with educational materials designed for his age that will fulfill his curiosity, because just saying to him, ‘We don’t want you watching this’ won’t make his curiosity go away. The resource that I highly recommend is…”
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Ryan Wexelblatt, LCSW is the facilitator of the ADHD Dude Facebook Group and YouTube channel. Ryan specializes in working with males (ages 5-22) who present with ADHD, anxiety with ADHD, and learning differences; he is the one professional in the United States who specializes in teaching social cognitive skills to boys from a male perspective.
