Porn a real worry for parents

New research on New Zealand parents’ views and experiences of digital parenting has revealed concerns about risks related to online sexual content and behaviour.

Netsafe’s study of the parents of 9- to 17-year-olds found that while they had a range of concerns about the potential online risks their children faced, two of the top three were their child sharing nude pictures of themselves and seeing sexually explicit content.

The study also found that 20 per cent of parents were aware their child had been exposed to sexually explicit content online in the previous year, the main reasons for that exposure being that it popped up on the screen/device, curiosity, and accidental access.

Netsafe’s study closely followed the release of the Office of the Film and Literature Classification’s study on young people’s use of online pornography. Although the studies were conducted independently, “the results suggest that while parents are really quite switched on to what is happening for their child, they probably aren’t aware of everything going on for them,” according to Netsafe CEO Martin Cocker.

The rates of exposure to sexually explicit content, as reported by parents, increased with age, and was also more common among boys. One in 10 parents of 9-year-olds said their child had seen some kind of sexually explicit material, rising to one in four parents of 17-yearolds.

The study also found that most parents talked with their children about sexually explicit content on the internet.

“This is really encouraging, as we know that technical fixes such as monitoring and filtering on their own have a limited effect,” Mr Cocker said.

While parents in general felt comfortable talking with their children about pornography and sex education, a significant number were still embarrassed about doing so, the study suggesting that more needed to be done to support parents, some of whom struggled to have an open conversation with their children and said they needed information.