Effects of Pornography through Internet and Web Use on Young Children and Kids

By Kellie McClain

Today's culture displays a high dependency on internet usage, making the use of internet by young children increasingly common. With current youth spending more and more time online, the threat of exposure to internet pornography rises considerably. Many children rely on internet usage for several aspects of their daily lives and are likely to spend a majority of their time on the internet unattended by an adult. Whether a deliberate search is conducted or exposure is unintended, it is extremely easy to come across pornographic advertisements, videos, and images on a wide variety of websites.

Statistics show that young males are more likely to deliberately seek out pornographic websites than females, and that such searches increase in likelihood with age. There have been many correlational studies regarding the relationship between the amount of exposure any given child has to internet pornography and the attitudes of that child regarding sex as well as their sexual activity. These studies show that there is a strong relationship between higher views of pornographic images and viewing sex as nothing more than a physical act. This correlation was highest among males.

However, parents are not at a loss. There are ways in which parents can buffer the negative effects of online pornographic images, since parental influence can have significant effects on how children interpret these images and how it affects their attitudes toward sex. According to a recent study one major factor that can greatly reduce a child’s exposure to such images would be appropriate limitation or monitoring of internet activity, as well as setting up security software to limit access to certain websites.

Ways to properly educate our youth to help them develop healthy views of sex is currently still being debated. There is support for both restrictions on availability of such information as well as expansion of sexual education. Many believe that children will engage in and become knowledgeably of sexual activity regardless of restrictions created by authorities. This belief supports the idea that expansion of sexual education for our youth will be the most effective way to foster healthy views and activity regarding sex.

SOURCE: http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov07/webporn.aspx