What Is Gooning? The Gen Z Trend That Therapists Say Parents Must Know

Don't brush it under the carpet.

Parents editor at HuffPost UK

Children chat about a lot of pretty odd stuff (remember Ballerina Cappuccina?) – however if you’ve heard them mention ‘gooning’ in conversation with their mates, or during gaming, it’s certainly worth pulling them up on it.

While you might consider ‘gooning’ as messing around or even goofing about (that’s what first came to my mind), per Mashable, it actually means “masturbating for a prolonged period of time, usually hours, without ever climaxing”.

In online spaces, it can also refer to zoning out as a result of intense sexual arousal, which Gabb (a company providing child-safe phones and tech) notes is “most often in the context of pornography”.

The issue is, if tweens and teens are using this terminology, chances are they are coming across pornography or inappropriate content online.

It’s not uncommon – over one-quarter (27%) of kids have come across pornography by age 11, according to a survey by the Children’s Commissioner.

While children shouldn’t be easily........

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