Ep.292: How Porn Hijacks Kids' Brains (and What Parents Can Do)
Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker
Dr. Meg Meeker
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is pornography hijacking your child’s brain?
In this essential episode of Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker, Dr. Meg sits down with Parker Hymas, Director of Public Outreach at Fight The New Drug, to expose the growing threat pornography poses to kids and teens in today’s digital-first world.
📊 First exposure happens as early as age 9.
🧠 Discover how pornography rewires young brains and distorts healthy relationships.
💬 Learn how to start honest, shame-free conversations with your children before the internet does.
From the neuroscience behind porn addiction to tools for empowering your family, Parker Hymas shares evidence-based insights and real-life solutions every parent needs.
In this episode, we cover:
- The alarming rise in early exposure to pornography
- What porn does to the developing brain—based on science
- The mental and relational fallout of chronic porn use
- Debunking the myth of “harmless” pornography
- How to talk to your kids about porn without shame or fear
- Actionable resources from Fight The New Drug to protect your family
Our Guest:
Parker Hymas is the Director of Public Outreach at Fight the New Drug, a non-religious, non-legislative nonprofit raising awareness about the harmful effects of pornography. Through science, personal stories, and engaging presentations, Parker equips parents, educators, and communities with tools to understand how porn impacts the brain, relationships, and society.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Pornography is easier for kids to access today than ever before. |
| 0:06.9 | Studies show the average age of first exposure, listen up, parents, is as young as 9 or 10. |
| 0:16.4 | It's no wonder so many parents feel overwhelmed or unsure how to handle it, especially with so much |
| 0:22.7 | hypersexualized content, just a click away. Joining us today is Parker Heimus, Director of Public |
| 0:29.1 | Outreach at Fight the New Drug, a nonprofit working to educate people about the harmfully |
| 0:35.0 | effects of pornography. |
| 0:41.0 | This is parenting great kids with Dr. Meg Meeker. |
| 0:44.1 | Parker, thanks so much for joining me. |
| 0:46.6 | Yeah, thanks for having us. We appreciate it. |
| 0:53.6 | Tough topic. And it's one of those topics that parents just sort of want to turn their face away. |
| 0:56.0 | Because I, every once in a while, |
| 1:00.9 | talk to parents about, you know, pornography being at their kids' fingertips, particularly if they're walking around with a cell phone in their hands and they think, oh, no, no, no, my son or my daughter |
| 1:05.5 | would never do that. They're a good kid. Let's talk about the digital minefield. Now, we know that kids are getting exposed to porn |
| 1:14.6 | younger and younger. And I often tell parents of those good kids, which all parents say, and they are good |
| 1:21.4 | kids. Kids don't have to go looking for it. Sometimes it just jumps in them. So what are the most |
| 1:27.2 | common ways kids are seeing |
| 1:31.4 | pornography? Yeah, absolutely. So a couple great things you've already mentioned, right? One of |
| 1:37.0 | which is that just because your child's been exposed to or consumed pornography doesn't make |
| 1:41.4 | them a bad kid, right? Like, it's an unhealthy decision. We want kids to make healthier decisions to participate in healthier behaviors. But it doesn't make them a bad kid, right? Like, it's an unhealthy decision. |
| 1:44.5 | We want kids to make healthier decisions to participate in healthier behaviors, |
| 1:48.0 | but it doesn't make them a bad kid. |
| 1:50.5 | And by and large, the vast majority of kids say will at some point be exposed to pornography, |
... |
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