Pornography realistically portrays sex, according to a majority of boys and almost 40 per cent of girls, a new survey has found.
Questioning 11 to 16-year-olds, researchers found that nearly 60 per cent of them had first seen pornography at home.
The study asked how young people felt about seeing pornography.
Childhood
One teenage girl said it was “disgusting and degrading”. Another girl reported that she felt uncomfortable watching the images, while a teenage boy said at first he was uncertain but ‘didn’t feel so bad’ after his friends starting talking about it.
Dr Elena Martellozzo, who co-led the study, said there was a “huge task ahead for parents, teachers and policymakers”.
The Chief Executive of the NSPCC, which was also involved in the report, said: “A generation of children are in danger of being stripped of their childhoods at a young age by stumbling across extreme and violent porn online”.
Exploitative
Researchers questioned 1,001 young people in an online survey, with smaller groups also taking part in online discussions. All who took part had permission from their parents or carers.
Nearly 30 per cent of young people said they felt shocked with they first saw pornography
When asked about their response to pornography, twelve per cent said it was scary, while 20 per cent described it as exploitative.
Nearly 30 per cent of young people said they felt shocked when they first saw it.
In a question on how realistic pornography was, out of those who answered, 53 per cent of boys and 39 per cent of girls said it was true to life.
Alarming
The report stated that: “Most young people think it would be good to have better checks on people’s agesbefore they can see porn online”.
Christian charity CARE, responding to the report, saying the information was “both shocking and hugely alarming”.
Nola Leach, CARE’s Chief Executive, said: “The damage porn does to a child’s understanding of normal sexual behaviours is truly disturbing.”
Protection
“Children deserve the strongest possible protection online so it is vital that immediate action is taken”, she added.
The Government said keeping children safe online is one of its “key priorities”, and noted that proposals on the issue would be introduced in a new Bill.