Youth Advisory Council Gives Young People a Voice in the Fight Against Pornified Media
By centering young voices, Culture Reframed aims to empower youth to share their experiences, contribute to educational strategies, and amplify peer-to-peer learning.
Applications for the Youth Advisory Council are open through June 23, 2025. Young people ages 15-24 who are willing and able to commit to 9-12 months and eager to help shape Culture Reframed’s future program initiatives are encouraged to apply here!
As it enters its 10th year, Culture Reframed is expanding its educational initiatives with the launch of a Youth Advisory Council. The addition reflects growing demand among young people for resources and information on how to develop resilience and resistance to hypersexualized media and pornography, and help their friends do the same.
Culture Reframed Founder and CEO Gail Dines said the Youth Advisory Council builds on the organization’s youth-centered public health approach, which targets educational programs at adults who are tasked with helping young people’s healthy development. “We are frequently asked, after we give a lecture or training, if we can provide our information directly to youth, given the quality of our materials, the power of our message, and the strength of our information,” she said.
Dines said Culture Reframed has seen an uptick in the number of requests from young people for interviews, to speak to school administrators on their behalf, and to serve on thesis committees. “Young people have reached out to us to ask for our information and resources and to ask how they can help their friends and peers learn about the issues surrounding porn and young people,” she said.
Since founding the organization in 2015, Dines and the Culture Reframed team have created and shared courses and resources on the harms of pornography to youth with thousands of parents, caregivers, and educators. As awareness of the issue grows, more young people are sharing their concerns about how it affects their friends and peers and asking for ways to help. “We have seen firsthand how dedicated young people are to having discussions with the adults in their lives — from parents and school administrators to community members — about the effects of hypersexualized media and pornography and demanding youth-centered solutions,” Dines said.
Creating a Safe Space for Young People to Speak Up About Harms of Porn
Mandy Sanchez, Director of Programming at Culture Reframed, said the Youth Advisory Council will provide a platform for youth to share their concerns about the harms of porn on their generation and take action to address the issue. “Young people have the finger on the pulse in most online spaces where adults do not,” she said. “In order to meet youth where they are, to really prioritize the issues affecting them and work with them toward meaningful change, we need to provide a safe, brave space to have their voices heard.”
The Council will consist of approximately 5-10 members between the ages of 15 and 24 who are willing and able to commit for up to one year. Culture Reframed sees the initiative as a new opportunity to expand awareness of how porn use harms young people and to provide resources and information on addressing the issue. “Youth tend to listen to their peers,” Sanchez said. “There is transformative power in peer-to-peer education to foster empathy, critical thinking, confidence, and empowerment to develop and hone the knowledge and skills they need to confidently navigate the online world.”
“We hope to provide a platform and a space for youth voices that have been drowned out by porn culture to be heard loud and clear, to provide a sense of agency and empowerment of their own lives.”
The Youth Advisory Council will serve as a two-way communications channel for Culture Reframed. Its members will provide feedback and ideas to help Culture Reframed ensure its resources reflect their needs and concerns and to shape future initiatives nationally and globally. In turn, Youth Advisory Council members will help spread the word about Culture Reframed’s courses and information through their social media platforms and with presentations to peer groups. “We hope to provide a platform and a space for youth voices that have been drowned out by porn culture to be heard loud and clear, to provide a sense of agency and empowerment of their own lives,” Sanchez said.
Harnessing the Power of Youth Initiatives to Address the Harms of Hypersexualized Media
Sanchez said she and Dines have seen the power of young people through their work in other organizations. Over the past year, Culture Reframed has partnered with two national youth-led organizations that promote safer online spaces for young people. “We have also attended national and international conferences, where we witnessed the power of youth initiatives,” Sanchez said. “Those experiences have demonstrated to us just how powerful young people can be as important partners in our work, and collaborating with them to form the new Youth Advisory Council is the obvious next step.”
“Instead of being passive consumers of the onslaught of hypersexualized and pornified images, youth can have guidance and support to become more critically media literate.”
With a goal of helping young people gain knowledge so they are less vulnerable to toxic media like porn, the Youth Advisory Council represents an opportunity for advocacy and resilience. “Instead of being passive consumers of the onslaught of hypersexualized and pornified images, youth can have guidance and support to become more critically media literate,” Sanchez said. “We believe that all young people have the right to ownership of their own sexuality, ideas about relationships, and how to develop intimacy and connection. We aim to provide the space for that voice and for young people to know they are influential in shaping this initiative from the ground up.”
Applying for Culture Reframed’s Youth Advisory Council
Applications for the Youth Advisory Council are open through June 23, 2025. Young people ages 15-24 who are willing and able to commit to 9-12 months and eager to help shape Culture Reframed’s future program initiatives are encouraged to apply!
Joining the Culture Reframed Youth Council offers a unique opportunity to:
engage and foster community with like-minded youth passionate about cultivating authentic, healthy relationships with themselves and others
develop a professional skill set (advocacy, problem-solving, marketing, etc.) and build a robust resume
advocate for critical digital media literacy for young people
