A survey from the British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC, found that many kids, some as young as 7 or 8 years old, encounter pornography on the internet.
Pornography Is One Click Away
According to their data, about 51 percent of children 11 to 13 years old admitted that they have seen pornography online. Meanwhile, 61 percent of teenagers 14 to 15 years old have also stumbled across adult content while browsing the internet.
In most cases, the young respondents said that they did not intend to view pornography.
"Pornography is currently one click away for children of all ages in the UK, and this research supports the growing body of evidence that it is affecting the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex, body image, and consent," said BBFC Chief Executive David Austin. "The research also shows that when young children — in some cases as young as seven or eight years old — first see pornography online, it is most commonly not on purpose."
The children surveyed, especially those under the age of 10, recalled feeling "confused" and "grossed out" by what they have seen.
Moreover, the report also looked into the effects of pornography on children. About 41 percent of those who were part of the study knew what pornography is and agreed that it can make people less respectful. Girls, specifically, expressed fears that men would copy aggressive depictions of sex in pornography.
The survey was carried out by Revealing Reality and involved 2,344 children and parents who reside in the United Kingdom.
United Kingdoms Tightening Restrictions On Online Pornography
The BBFC was appointed as the regulator for the age verification measures that will make viewing pornography online more challenging for people under the legal age.
Websites that host adult content are required to ban access to internet users who reside in the United Kingdom unless they can prove that they are 18 years old and above. The new rule was initially set to be enforced last month, but it has been delayed for another six months.
The report also claimed that 83 percent of parents and 47 percent of children who participated in the survey agreed to the proposed age-verification controls for sites that host pornography.
