While porn might be easy to find, it shouldn’t replace sex education. This is something Miles “Pudge” Halter learns the hard way in Hulu’s adaptation of John Greens’ novel Looking for Alaska.

Pudge and his date, Lara, refer to a pornographic movie to help Lara figure out how to perform oral sex. As Miles and Lara watch the video, it doesn’t answer their questions about oral sex. But the exaggerated and even painful portrayal of sex in the movie does turn Lara off. That’s when they ask “an expert” on the topic, their friend Alaska, who is happy to give her classmates some pointers.

While it’s beneficial to have someone to talk to when you’re nervous or unsure about sex, many teens instead opt for a more accessible option: online porn.

The Fantasy of Porn

On average girls are 13 and boys are 14 when they first encounter porn, according to research conducted by Bryant Paul, Ph.D. of Indiana University. A national survey of teens conducted by Indiana University also found that the majority of young porn viewers believed the actors were legitimately experiencing pleasure. In reality, porn is a performance. It consists of actors and a script. As in any film or show, it’s important to understand what is authentic and what is fiction. Often, porn is a dramatized, fantasized version of sex that often depicts extreme sex acts, aggression and unrealistic body types. It also tends to view sex through a male perspective, where women’s wants and needs are second to a male partner’s.

Being curious about sex is healthy and normal. But keep in mind that if you turn to porn to satisfy that curiosity, you’re just watching someone’s exaggerated fantasy about sex and people’s bodies. And like any fantasy movie, it doesn’t represent real life.

All teens should have access to honest, medically accurate information they can trust about sex. But many states do not mandate sex education, and young people may feel like they have nowhere else to turn. Unlike Pudge and Lara, you can fortunately get accurate information about sex anytime, anywhere—right here at Sexetc.org.