The reality of the digital age that we live in is that hardcore internet porn is more vast and varied than just about anything else that can be found online. Accessing it is as easy, or even easier, than finding that perfect hilarious TikTok compilation on YouTube (RIP Vine).

For all you seasoned online meme viewers and social media browsers, it is no secret that the infamous “Rule 34 of the internet” is definitely (and unfortunately) true. In case you’ve never heard of it, Rule 34 of the internet simply states, “If it exists, there is porn of it.”

To further prove this point, just look to mega porn site Pornhub’s “year in review” statistics from the last few years. The site collects detailed analytics from their site and releases a “year in review” containing all the information like “Favorite Porn Star,” “Most Popular Search Terms,” and “Average Time Spent Ver Visit.”

In the top 10 of their site’s popular search terms for the last 6 years running is one that is very unsettling.

Check it out:

That’s right. Although it’s fallen in the ranks the last few years, since 2012—but remained in the top 10—a wildly popular search term on a porn site that got 33.5 billion visits in 2018 is TEEN.

This means there is a massive porn genre dedicated entirely to girls who look (and may very well be for all anyone knows) younger than 18 years old, which is illegal for being below the age of consent for sex. Yikes.

Related: How Teens Get Tricked, Coerced, And Trafficked Into Doing Porn

And given what we know about teen porn consumers and the makeup of the average porn site visitor, we have no reason to believe it’s only teens looking up “teen” porn. Let that info sink in for a moment.

Younger equals sexier?

Now, after seeing this data, here is what we hope most people would be thinking about: if millions of people across the globe are constantly searching and consuming porn involving and depicting teens, what do you think that is doing to their sexual tastes and expectations? Is it fair to assume that this massive consumption and demand for the “teen” genre influences the porn consumer to think that sex with teens is acceptable, or more exciting? Or that the younger the girl looks, the easier it is to have sex with her, or the easier it is to take advantage of her?

Due to the science and research on porn’s effects on rearranging and rewiring people’s sexual template, we can tell you that this is one effect this is having on our society.

For example, in a survey of 1,500 young adult men, 56% said their tastes in porn had become “increasingly extreme or deviant.” [1] Many porn consumers eventually find themselves getting aroused by things that used to disgust them or things that they might have previously considered to be inappropriate or unethical. [2]

Related: Force, Fraud, And Coercion: Uncovering When Sex Trafficking And Porn Production Overlap

Like fantasized sex with an underage teen, maybe?

The reality is that even casual pornography consumption has the power to change ideas and attitudes. [3] Even if that casual habit centers around your “average” teen girls next door in porn.

Rewiring consumers’ sexual tastes

Unfortunately, porn has become a powerful and common version of sex education for many people. And what’s most harmful is that this form of education is being delivered in a way perfectly tailored to how our brains learn. Here’s how:

Studies have shown that images are especially powerful teachers since they can pack in a whole lot of information that the viewer can understand very quickly. [4] And while words are often interpreted as opinions, our brains are more likely to interpret images as facts; after all, it’s a lot harder to argue with something you’re seeing happen right in front of you. [5]

Now here’s the kicker: research has shown that our brains learn better when they’re sexually aroused. When you add in the focused concentration of searching through pornographic images to find exactly what the searcher is looking for, and reinforcing what’s being taught with the reward of sexual climax, it creates the perfect conditions for teaching and conditioning the brain.

Related: Inside The Industry: Performers Speak Out On Trafficking And Exploitation In Porn

As a result, consistent porn consumers wire their sexuality based on the virtual images that are stimulating to their body and brain. In this case, images showing teenaged-looking porn performers. Porn consumers are training their brain to seek after images of teens being used and sometimes abused.

“It’s sad,” said Dr. Gary Brooks, a renowned psychologist at Texas A&M who specializes in studies on porn’s negative effect on men. “Boys who are initiated in sex through these images become indoctrinated in a way that can potentially stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

But thankfully, there absolutely is hope. Click here to connect with resources that specialize in breaking the cycle of going back to porn and set the individual up for a successful healing journey!

Why this matters

This is one of the many problems with porn. It is literally cultivating a society of people who find teens to be exciting sex objects. For five years running, “teen” has been one of the most searched terms on the world’s most popular porn site (and we think it’s a pretty safe bet to say that it’s not other teens who are looking).

Sound like a world you want to live in?

Us neither. So let’s change it—join us in taking a stand and spreading the word on the real harms of porn, and raising awareness that teens are not sex objects.