The Education Review Office (ERO) has recommended schools teach students more about pornography after discovering it is one of the least mentioned parts of sex education.
The 2018 Promoting Wellbeing Through Sexuality Education report found less than half of high schools taught about pornography, while a lot of students access it.
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"Pornography rarely depicts meaningful consent, and often includes coercion and/or violence, particularly towards girls and women, as a normal part of sexual encounters," it said.
"Upcoming draft survey findings... highlight that many young people in New Zealand are learning about sex through pornography."
The report said it was concerning that pornography was one of the least covered topics considering the impact it had on young people.
It recommended schools further investigate the effects of pornography on students and how to teach about it to them.
Other recommendations in the report included investigating how to make sex education more accessible to Māori, Pacific and LGBT students, considering how to make schools a more welcoming environment for LGBT students and consulting with students and families when developing the curriculum.
It ended by saying schools had a responsibility to ensure the environment they created was inclusive for all students.
"Every student in every school in New Zealand has the right to be welcomed and included, regardless of where they live," it said.
"ERO would like to see far more schools across the country taking the wellbeing and safety of their sex-, gender- and sexuality-diverse students seriously."
Conservative group Family First said parents needed resources on pornography.
"Pornography viewing by young people is absolutely a major concern for parents, but what parents are crying out for is resources and an understanding of the technology, the risks, and of how to protect their children," said executive director Bob McCoskrie.
LGBT support organisation Rainbow Youth said it was disappointing schools were not properly serving students.
"We know that many schools aren’t meeting the needs of their rainbow students, and that teachers aren’t sufficiently supported or equipped to deliver best practice sexuality education," said Executive Director Frances Arns.
"The findings of this report support these understandings. There are schools and teachers doing amazing work in isolated pockets, and it’s important that we use their example to help make more systematic change."
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