Internet pornography is “warping” children’s understanding of sex and leading them to mimic “aggressive, harmful and dangerous” behaviour, Esther Rantzen has warned.
Miss Rantzen, the founder of ChildLine, says the number of youngsters ringing the helpline who have “been deeply alarmed by watching pornography has shot up by 34 per cent in the past year”.
She said: “We received 641 calls from children who had been exposed to sexually indecent material — more than 50 a month.”
Horrifying
“The stuff our callers see is horrifying, and has stayed in their memories, haunting and frightening them”, the former That’s Life presenter added.
The stark warning comes amidst a Government consultation on protecting children online.
Miss Rantzen backs an ‘opt-in’ system which would automatically block adult content. Those who wanted to view such materials would be required to contact their internet service provider.
Aggressive
She added: “Because hardcore adult videos are now just a few clicks away for many teenagers, their understanding of what is normal is becoming so warped that they are mimicking behaviour which is aggressive, harmful and dangerous.”
She concluded: “Filters and blocks aren’t the only solution, but an opt-in system is a real protection, a positive step forward, for the sake of caring, concerned parents, but, above all, for the sake of our children.”
ChildLine, which is now part of the NSPCC, was launched by Miss Rantzen in 1986 and provides confidential advice to children and teenagers.
Adult
The Government launched a ten week consultation on the issue in June, which closes next Thursday.
One of the systems proposed in the consultation would involve a default ban where users who wished to access adult material would need to “opt in” to do so.
Another of the proposed systems would force users to choose whether or not they wish to install filters and blocks.
The third would present users with a list of content types that will be blocked unless they choose to unblock them with a simple action such as removing a tick from a box.