Under-11s in therapy af ter seeing porn
Disturbed by graphic images online
PRIMARY school pupils have needed counselling after watching hardcore pornography online, it was revealed yesterday.
They saw the graphic images – sometimes by accident – because of a lack of proper age restrictions on the web to prevent children accessing porn.
In the past three years, more than 2,000 youngsters have contacted Childline’s advice service to say they have been left disturbed and insecure.
One in ten of those who received psychological help was 11 or younger, while 63 per cent were aged 12 to 15, NSPCC figures reveal.
Young people have been left worried about sex and insecure about their appearance, the charity warned.
The revelations come as age verification methods – soon to be law on pornography sites to block access for under-18s – were unveiled.
The NSPCC said it was vital that parents speak to their children – even those of primary school age – about pornographic content so that they know what may happen when they surf the web.
The charity’s research found that 46 per cent of youngsters who said they had watched porn were first exposed to it by accident – often as a result of graphic pop-up images appearing on their screens or through links sent on social media and via email.
One 13-year-old boy told Childline: ‘I have been bullied into watching pornographic videos by people at school, which makes me feel sick. One showed a woman being raped, it was so upsetting.’
An 11-year-old girl admitted she had become ‘addicted’ to pornography after being sent a link to a site and opening it without realising what it was.
She told the help service: ‘I am really ashamed and now I am getting emails from tons of porno sites. I am so scared my mum is going to find out.’
A teenage girl said she had felt ‘really insecure’ since watching pornography with her boyfriend.
‘All the girls in porn films were so pretty and perfect, so it’s left me feeling fat and ugly,’ she added. ‘I am really down and depressed.’
A conference in London yesterday heard that age verification methods – such as sending a text to check the phone contract holder is over 18 or asking for credit card, age and address – could prevent under-18s from being exposed to porn.
Laws were due to come in next month which would make explicit pop-ups illegal and leave porn giants who fail to check users’ ages facing fines of up to £250,000.
But the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport postponed the move until ‘later in the year’ after experts warned that it could provide adult sites with far more information about users. Tony Stower, NSPCC head of child safety online, said: ‘When it comes to talking about pornography, it’s important [for parents] to emphasise that these videos don’t give a realistic portrayal of sex, healthy relationships, consent or body image.
‘Children should never feel pressured by anything they see online, or to look at anything they don’t want to.’
Age regulation would not be a ‘silver bullet’, he said, but would dramatically reduce the number of children being exposed to porn online.
Lord Erroll, a director of the Digital Policy Alliance advisory group, said: ‘The point is to stop children stumbling across porn accidentally. That’s all we are really trying to do.’