Online porn pushes children into risky sex
Online porn pushes children into risky sex
Fri 24 May 2013
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Report finds internet pornography is distorting young people's attitudes towards relationships and encouraging harmful behaviour
ONLINE pornography is distorting the attitudes of children towards relationships and sex and encouraging young people into "risky behaviours", according to a new study.
The report, published by the Children's Commissioner for England, says that graphic imagery is never more than a few clicks away on any mobile phone or tablet device. But rather than trying to prevent children from seeking out or stumbling across pornography, steps should be taken to improve their "resilience" to it.
Commissioner Maggie Atkinson said: "We are living at a time when violent and sadistic imagery is readily available to very young children ... It is a risky experiment to allow a generation of young people to be raised on a diet of pornography."
The survey is based on previous studies and interviews with young people in England. One previous investigation estimated that 99 per cent of young people are exposed to graphic images, and young people often stumble across it rather than seek it out.
"The report contains disturbing information about the sort of sexual activity engaged in by young people who view pornography online regularly," reports The Times. It says young people have more casual sex and boys are developing unrealistic views about women's bodies.
It adds that pornography fosters a negative attitude towards relationships and encourages "risky behaviours", including sex with multiple partners and the use of alcohol and drugs during sex.
"It can lead to more sexually permissive attitudes, more casual sex, sex at a younger age, and the belief that women are sex objects with males dominant and females submissive," explains the BBC.
Deputy commissioner Sue Berelowitz warned that what children were exposed to on the internet was "of a totally different order" to magazines like Mayfair and Playboy.
She said that lessons on relationships should start in primary school to combat the messages contained in pornography.
"The authors say the sex education curriculum needs to be more relevant to young people's lives and include pornography," adds the BBC. "They also call for more emphasis on relationship education in secondary schools." ·
theweek.co.uk
