Eight out of ten 18 year olds say it is too easy for young people to accidentally see pornography online, according to new polling for the think tank IPPR by Opinium. The exclusive polling of 18 year olds shows that seven out of ten say “accessing pornography was seen as typical” while they were at school. They say it became common when they were typically 13 to 15 years.
The polling paints a picture of British teenagers uncomfortable with the impact of online pornography on young people’s attitudes to sex and relationships. It also shows today’s teenagers want relationship education, as well as sex education, delivered in schools by trained experts and external visitors. The polling shows teenagers engaging in dangerous behaviours:
•Almost half (46 per cent) say “sending sexual or naked photos or videos is part of everyday life for teenagers nowadays.”
•Seven out of ten (72 per cent) 18 year olds say “pornography leads to unrealistic attitudes to sex” and that “pornography can have a damaging impact on young people’s views of sex or relationships” (70 per cent).
•Two thirds of young women (66 per cent) and almost half of young men (49 per cent) agree that “it would be easier growing up if pornography was less easy to access for young people.” Two thirds (66 per cent) say “people are too casual abut sex and relationships.”
It also shows a big gender difference in male and female attitudes among 18 year olds:
•Almost eight out of ten young women (77 per cent) say “pornography has led to pressure on girls or young women to look a certain way,” while almost as many (75 per cent) say “pornography has led to pressure on girls and young women to act a certain way.”
•Far more young men agree (45 per cent) that “pornography helps young people learn about sex,” compared to young women (29 per cent). While young women are far more likely to disagree (49 per cent) that “pornography helps young people learn about sex,” compared to young men (28 per cent).
•Half as many young men (21 per cent) as young women (40 per cent) strongly agree that “pornography leads to unrealistic attitudes to sex”. Half as many young men (18 per cent) as young women (37 per cent) strongly agree that “pornography encourages society to view women as sex objects”.
More than eight out of ten (86 per cent) agree that sex and relationship advice should be taught in schools. More than a third (37 per cent) say sex and relationship advice should be taught from the beginning of primary school and almost half (49 per cent) from the beginning of secondary school.
It also shows that seven out of ten (68 per cent) 18 year olds want sex and relationship education taught by a trained expert and four out of ten (40 per cent) want it taught by an external visitor who doesn’t usually teach at the school, while just two out of ten (19 per cent) want it taught by a teacher from the school.
Dalia Ben-Galim, IPPR Associate Director, said: “This new polling data shows that pornographic images are pervasive in teenagers’ lives and that young women in particular are acutely conscious of how damaging they can be. It paints a worrying picture about the way online pornography is shaping the attitudes and behaviour of young people. It is also clear that young people believe the sex education they currently get in school hasn’t kept pace with the realities of their digital and social media lifestyles. Young people want sex education that includes relationships, taught by experts, preferably who are visiting the school rather than having to discuss these issues with their teachers or their parents.”
About the survey
Opinium conducted online interviews with 500 UK adults aged 18, between June 19 and 27, 2014.
Comment
David Emm, Senior Security Researcher, UK at Kaspersky Lab. David offered top tips to parents about keeping children safe on the Internet, whether protecting them from pornography, cyberbullying or general inappropriate content.
1. Talk to them about the potential dangers.
2. Encourage them to talk to you about their online experience and, in particular, anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. Protecting children from cyberbullies is especially challenging with smartphones as they can be targeted in so many ways, especially out of view of their parents. Deal with cyberbullying as you would in real life by encouraging children to be open and talk to a trusted adult if they experience any threatening or inappropriate messages. Numbers and contacts on apps can both be blocked if they are making children uncomfortable.
3. Set clear ground-rules about what they can and can’t do online and explain why you have put them in place. You should review these as your child gets older.
4. Use parental control software to establish the framework for what’s acceptable – how much time (and when) they can spend online, what content should be blocked, what types of activity should be blocked (chat rooms, forums, etc.). Parental control filters can be configured for different computer profiles, allowing you to customise the filters for different children.
5. Don’t forget to make use of settings provided by your ISP, device manufacturer and mobile phone network provider, eg. most phones allow you to prevent in-app purchases, so you can avoid them running up hefty bills when they play games.
6. Protect the computer using Internet security software.
7. Don’t forget their smartphone – these are sophisticated computers, not just phones. Most smartphones come with parental controls and security software providers may offer apps to filter out inappropriate content, senders of nuisance SMS messages, etc.
8. Make use of advice on the Internet – including CEOP’s thinkuknow website.
