Many kids under 12 watching porn

Majority of teens surveyed want their access restricted

Aquarter of Kiwi teens have watched porn before the age of 12 — and most want restrictions on what can be accessed, a new report reveals. The NZ Youth and Porn report, released yesterday, says many teens between 14 and 17 already feel reliant on pornography, despite feeling troubled by what they view.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification’s report was written from a survey of more than 2000 Kiwi teens in that age bracket.

“This survey has been an opportunity to get young people’s experiences on the table — to give them a voice to tell us how and why they are viewing pornography,” chief censor David Shanks said.

“We feel it is vital to put our young people front and centre in the debate around internet porn. Listening to what they have to say will give us the best chance to make a difference, and to help them.”

The survey showed a quarter of teens have seen porn before they’re 12, usually by accident or by having it shown to them.

The survey also revealed 72 per cent of teens who had viewed porn recently saw things that made them uncomfortable, and 42 per cent of regular viewers wanted to spend less time looking at porn, but found that hard to achieve.

The report said some were struggling with levels of usage that could be considered “compulsive”. Some teens reported feeling upset, sad or unhappy while viewing porn.

Shanks said there was debate around whether porn could be clinically addictive, but people were getting hung up on terminology.

“If people are wanting to do it less and they can’t, then that’s a problem we should address.”

He said there were “very real connections” between this research and the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction report, also released this week. “This research shows us that young people want restrictions around what they can watch ... Their overwhelming consensus is that porn is not for kids.”

Of those surveyed, 71 per cent wanted more restrictions for kids and young people accessing porn. One in 10 have become regular viewers by age 14.

Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin said she would look at what the Government could do in terms of regulations. “I’m going to be moving as quickly as I can,” she said.