Before the Internet took off like it is today and made its way into every aspect of our lives, porn addiction could only be found among computer addicts.
Now, the development of the Internet, as well as Internet-connected devices, has allowed children even as young as ten years old to be used to watch videos, play games, etc. Many children have accidentally approached pornographic content and heavily psychologically affected by it.
Below are 7 frightening stats about kids watching porn that parents need to know to quickly become aware of the situation, understand the risks and negative effects of pornography on their children and take the better initiative to protect their baby.
8 frightening stats about kids watching porn
- Pornography has become commonplace among young people.
- 51% of children between 11 and 13 years old report that they have watched porn at some point in time.
- 66% of teenagers between the ages of 14 and 15 report that they have seen pornography at some point in time
Most boys between the ages of 14 and 16 interviewed said they watched pornography on a daily basis. Similarly, several girls interviewed reported watching pornography about 4 times a week between the ages of 14 and 16.
2. Parents are unaware of their child’s access to pornography, especially for their daughter.
- 75% of parents in the survey said that their children have never viewed pornography online, but in fact, 53% of their children said they had actually viewed it.
- 60% of parents said that they had discussed pornography with their children. However, very few children say they ever had such a conversation with their parents.
As a result, there is a conflict between parental perceptions of their children’s pornography and actual viewing activities.
3. The exposure of children to Internet pornography affects the formation and development of harmful sexual acts.
4. The average age of first sexual violence is 15-16 and this is related to exposure to pornography (Prevention Science – 2017).
5. The average age of the first exposure was 11 (A Parents’ Primer on Internet Pornography). However, “children under 10 years old now account for 22% of the number of views of online pornography under the age of 18” (British Journal of School Nursing).
This indicates that more and more children are accessing pornography on the Internet.
6. A 2016 meta-analysis of pornography research found that teenage porn consumption was significantly associated with stronger sexual stereotypes about gender, sexual relations. sex earlier, sexual abuse behavior increases.
(Peter J, Valkenburg P M. Adolescents and pornography: a review of 20 years of research. J of Sex Research. 2016; 53 (4-5), 509-531.)
7. More than 60% of 11 to 13-year-olds are accidentally exposed to pornography
And other “surprising” statistics about pornography for other ages:
- More than 53% of children aged 14 to 15 are accidentally exposed to pornography
- More than 46% of children between 16 and 17 years old are unintentionally exposed to pornography online
8. 79% of young people are unintentionally exposed to pornography when using the Internet at home
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4 negative effects of porn on your kids
Pornographic content normalizes sexual harm
Research shows that media has the ability to significantly impact viewers’ perception, especially children.
When your child with harmful content such as violent content, gender stereotypes and most importantly pornography, your child’s worldview will suffer, increasing your child’s perspective of engaging in high-risk behaviors and negatively change your child’s perception of what good and sustainable relationships are with people.
Pornographic content causes misperceptions about their body image
Many teens think that Internet pornography actually has a negative impact on how they perceive their bodies. In boys, they are apprehensive about penis size and anxious about not having a muscular body to attract girls. Meanwhile, girls worry about not having big breasts and big butt to be attractive in the eyes of their boyfriends.
High risk of becoming porn addiction
Completely uncontrolled watching sex movies can flare from an act of mere curiosity to searching the Internet into a serious addiction. When your kids watch porn, large amounts of dopamine – a brain chemical that makes people feel comfortable are released too quickly, addiction occurs.
This leads to the story that your child is motivated to watch more sex movies or to watch more weird and violent pornography to regain the same stimulus as the first time.
Perception about sex is distorted
Pornography leads to misperceptions about social reality, leading to a high rate of group sex and child pornography. In other words, Internet pornography draws viewers away from reality.
There have been cases of porn addiction causing mental illness in sexual issues.
Some other misconceptions such as having sex is just entertainment by nature, men only care about sex and women are sexual objects or goods. These beliefs are deepened and strengthened by more and more porn watching, influencing a child’s perspective on what a healthy sexual relationship is in the future.
In general, all these distortions in this thought lead to serious misunderstanding about sex and relationships and dangerous distortion of the nature of social life.
Conclude
We hope that the mentioned above numbers will help you better understand the seriousness of the current situation of kids watching porn, as well as understand the long-term and negative effects of porn on your baby’s behavior and psychology.
To prevent this sad situation, you should proactively start conversations about pornography as well as install inappropriate content filtering software to prevent your child from harmful content, helping you keep your child’s healthy and clean online environment as well as ensures their normal and healthy development.
Reference
- Statistics: Youth & Porn
- New research commissioned by the BBFC into the impact of pornography on children demonstrates significant support for age-verification
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