| |
|
|
The New Normal? -- Youth Exposure to Online Pornography
Wednesday April 6, 2011
by Daniel Weiss
Many parents’ greatest fear concerning the Internet is that their children will encounter and be harmed by online pornography. These fears are well-grounded. Research conducted over the past decade has documented significant rates of exposure for both boys and girls. One team of researchers concluded that “exposure to online pornography might have reached a point where it can be characterized as normative among youth Internet users, especially teenage boys.”1
Australian researchers Michael Flood and Clive Hamilton report that, “It is fair to conclude that anyone who uses the Internet extensively has a high probability of coming across sex sites when searching for something else or being sent pornographic links or images via email.”
____________________________________________
By age 18, most boys and girls have seen pornography online
The Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography reported in 1986 that the largest group of pornography users was boys ages 12-17. A study published in 1989 found that by the age of 15, 92 percent of boys had looked at or read Playboy. The average age of first exposure was estimated to be 11.2
In the past decade, most research has focused on the Internet’s role in pornography exposure among youth. A 2006 study of 563 college students found that 73 percent of respondents had seen online pornography before age 18. First exposure typically took place between ages 14 and 17. The researchers concluded that, “If participants in this study are typical of young people, exposure to pornography on the Internet can be described as a normative experience.”3
Exposure to Internet pornography4
|
|
Boys |
Girls |
|
Yes, before 18 |
93.2% |
62.1% |
|
Yes, after 18 |
4.2 |
20.6 |
|
Never |
2.6 |
17.3 |
Among those exposed, age at first exposure5
|
|
Boys |
Girls |
|
8 |
0.6% |
0.0% |
|
9 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
|
10 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
|
11 |
1.7 |
1.0 |
|
12 |
10.9 |
7.7 |
|
13 |
16.0 |
15.3 |
|
14 |
21.1 |
12.4 |
|
15 |
22.9 |
22.5 |
|
16 |
20.0 |
33.0 |
|
17 |
5.7 |
7.7 |
(numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding)
Mean age at first exposure
Notes:
The research above doesn’t account for offline pornography exposure. A study conducted in 1999 found that among young regular Internet users ages 10-17, just as many youth had intentionally sought offline pornography as online pornography.6
Researchers are calling online pornography exposure a “normative experience” for both boys and girls. The question for parents, academics, medical and mental health professionals, and elected leaders is whether we are willing to let high rates of pornography exposure continue as the “norm” for future generations.
____________________________________________
Most online pornography exposure is unintentional
The Crimes Against Children Research Center measured children’s online pornography exposure in 2005 and found that 42 percent of youth Internet users ages 10-17 had been exposed to online pornography in the past year. Among those exposed, 66 percent reported they had not sought the exposure. The rest reported seeking pornography or a mix.7
Youth reporting unwanted online exposure in 20058
|
Age |
Boys |
Girls |
|
10-11 |
17% |
16% |
|
12-13 |
22 |
24 |
|
14-15 |
26 |
37 |
|
16-17 |
30 |
38 |
Notes:
Not only are significant numbers of children being exposed to online pornography against their wishes, this number is rapidly increasing. One in three youth ages 10-17 reported unwanted exposure in 2005, up from 25 percent in 2000.9
____________________________________________
Older youth and boys are more likely to seek pornography online
The majority of youth that reported seeking out online pornography were teenage boys. One-quarter of boys ages 14-15 and almost four in 10 (38%) 16- and 17-year old boys had gone to pornographic websites on purpose in the past year.
Youth reporting intentional online pornography use in 200510
|
Age |
Boys |
Girls |
|
10-11 |
1% |
2% |
|
12-13 |
11 |
3 |
|
14-15 |
26 |
5 |
|
16-17 |
38 |
8 |
Number of times spent viewing for more than 30 minutes11
|
|
Boys |
Girls |
|
Never |
30.6% |
76.8% |
|
Once |
6.9 |
9.1 |
|
Up to 10 times |
27.8 |
11.4 |
|
More than 10 times |
34.8 |
2.7 |
(numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding)
Reasons given for intentionally viewing Internet pornography12
|
|
Boys |
Girls |
|
Wanted the sexual excitement |
69.3% |
16.8% |
|
Curious about the things people do sexually |
53.1 |
26.1 |
|
Wanted information about sex |
39.7 |
19.5 |
|
With friends who wanted to do it |
34.1 |
20.8 |
Notes:
Both unintentional exposure and seeking online pornography seem to start very early in boys. An estimated one in six (17%) of 10- to 11-year olds report unwanted exposure, but within a few years, a high percentage of boys are seeking pornography. By young adulthood (18-26), 86 percent report having used pornography in the past year. Researchers say that while interest in sex is developmentally appropriate in the teen years, the pornographic content to which teen boys are exposed can warp healthy sexual development.
Adolescent girls do not show much interest in online pornography, but millions of them are unintentionally exposed to it. The Crimes Against Children Research Center found that 14- to 17-year old boys are five times more likely to seek online pornography than girls their age.
Parents should note that a significant percentage of exposures came when a child was with others. Parents should consider coaching children on what to do if confronted by a situation where others want to look at pornography. Children may stay and watch because they don’t know what to do and are unprepared for the peer pressure.
____________________________________________
Conclusion
In his study of pornography use and acceptance among teens in Australia, researcher Michael Flood found the following:
“When asked whether watching X-rated videos is widespread among boys of their age, five out of six boys (84 percent) and the same percentage of girls said that it is. …The fact that most 16- to 17-year-old boys and girls believe that watching X-rated videos is widespread among boys suggests that watching these videos is considered to be normal or at least common behaviour among boys. The normalising of this activity may give pornography consumption a high degree of social tolerance and acceptability within youth culture” (italics added).13
The research indicates that millions of American children are being exposed to pornography every year. Our culture’s lazy tolerance of pornography, even that which clearly violates the law, is translating into acceptability in youth culture. Sadly, pornographic sexuality will be the “norm” for many children, twisting their perceptions of sexuality, gender and relationships in ways that will negatively impact future generations. Yet, the cause is not hopeless. We can begin to turn the culture around.
See also:
In the Bull's-Eye: Pornographers Target Children Online
Pornography in the Bedroom in a Digital Age
Youth Exposure to Pornography Worldwide
Daniel Weiss is ROCK's director of research and national outreach.
Endnotes
____________________________________________
1 Janis Wolak, Kimberly Mitchell, David Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, Volume 119, Number 2, February 2007, p. 251, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/119/2/247. (accessed June 2, 2010).
2 J Bryant, D. Brown, “Use of pornography,” Pornography: research advances and policy considerations, Hillsdale (NJ): Erdbaum; 1989, p. 25-55.
3 Chiara Sabina, Janis Wolak, David Finkelhor, “The Nature and Dynamics of Internet Pornography Exposure for Youth,” CyberPsychology & Behavior. December 2008, 11(6): 691-693.
4 Sabina, Wolak, Finkelhor, “The Nature and Dynamics of Internet Pornography Exposure for Youth,” CyberPsychology & Behavior. December 2008.
5 Sabina, Wolak, Finkelhor, “The Nature and Dynamics of Internet Pornography Exposure for Youth,” CyberPsychology & Behavior. December 2008.
6 Michele L. Ybarra and KimberlyJ. Mitchell, “Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Study,” CyberPsychology & Behavior, Volume 8, Number 5, 2005, pp. 473-486.
7 Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, February 2007.
8 Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, February 2007.
9 Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, February 2007.
10 Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, February 2007.
11 Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, February 2007.
12 Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users,” PEDIATRICS, February 2007.
13 Michael Flood, Clive Hamilton, “Youth and Pornography in Australia: Evidence on the extent of exposure and likely effects,” The Australia Institute, Discussion Paper Number 52, February 2003.
|
|
|
|
