This week, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School has been hosting a series of presentations aimed at educating students, parents, teachers and healthcare providers about the harms, conversations and cultures of pornography.
The presentations are being led by Culture Reframed, a global organization that aims to address the harms of pornography and hypersexualized media on youth. The series kicked off Tuesday morning with a wide-ranging presentation for parents and community members.
“Our pornified culture has cannibalized the way we see images, the way we see women, the way we see men, the way we see relationships,” said Gail Dines, PhD and founder and CEO of Culture Reframed, on Tuesday.
Pornographic ideas and images show up everywhere in today’s culture: in sexualized advertisements, on social media and video games, in relationships and in intimate scenarios.
Parents also underestimate their kids’ porn use by 10 times, said Mandy Sanchez, PhD and director of programming at Culture Reframed. And as access to free, violent porn grows, images and ideas of female degradation and submission can influence how teenagers approach early relationships and sexual encounters.
“Their sexual scripts are being hijacked by an industry that says porn is sex,” said Ms. Sanchez. “And then they think porn is sex is love. Porn is sex is love is violent. Porn is violent, and then sex is violent.”
On Wednesday, Culture Reframed gave similar presentations to students, explaining the addictive and harmful nature of pornography and its normalization in the media.
“When they’re on gaming platforms or porn sites, we want them to understand what they’re seeing,” said Amy Lilavois, wellness coordinator and an adjustment counselor at the high school. “That is not love, and that is not sex, that is violence. So then you can make an informed decision about what you’re consuming.”
The presentations are part of an ongoing effort at the high school to end sexual and gender-based violence, the principle goal of Stand With Everyone Against Rape (SWEAR), a retreat and workshop series for juniors. Throughout the year, SWEAR students discuss gender roles, rape culture, toxic masculinity and the impacts of pornography.
According to Matthew Malowski, an adjustment counselor at the high school, pornography is the most difficult issue to present to the community. The shame and judgment around pornography use leads to a lack of open conversation about its harms, he said.
“This is the number one conversation that comes up [at SWEAR] every single time: Why is this the first time that anyone’s even mentioned the word pornography in front of us?” said Mr. Malowski.
Mr. Malowski said despite the uncomfortable nature of the subject, students were engaged during the presentations on Wednesday.
“The conversations that are already starting to happen are really great,” he said. “They’re talking to each other and asking questions.”
To encourage students to talk to trusted adults about problems related to pornography use, Culture Reframed is also speaking to teachers and health professionals this week. There is another presentation for parents and community members Thursday at 6 p.m.
“This might provide parents an opportunity to have conversations with their students about this topic,” said Ms. Lilavois. “And the same thing for doctors, and mental health clinicians, and the same thing with our teachers. It’s super important that all these people are using the same language, and have the same understanding.”
One of those understandings is that the prevalence of pornography is not kids’ fault. It is the fault of the money-driven pornography and advertising industries, social media platforms that allow or promote pornographic imagery, and policy makers that have not addressed the issue, said Ms. Dines.
“We do not shame and blame the kids,” said Ms. Dines. “We do not shame and blame the parents. We shame and blame the industries that are manipulating our kids.”
Mr. Malowski said that evaluating pornography use has become one of his considerations when working with kids struggling with mental health or sleep issues.
“Now, because I’m so aware of the use of pornography in kids’ lives, it’s one of the questions I ask,” said Mr. Malowski. “Health professionals can put this into their intake, or screen for it.”
Discussing pornography is also simply a part of good sexual education, in schools and in conversations with parents, said Mr. Malowski.
“It’s part of how we talk to kids about sexuality and relationships and consent,” he said.
Culture Reframed will give a presentation for parents and community members Thursday at 6 p.m. in the MVRHS Library, and on Zoom.
This article appears in March 13, 2026.
So much better to educate the students instead of pretending there is no problem.