Many Kids and Teens Exposed to Unwanted" Online Porn"

Sexually explicit images and websites can appear out of nowhere on the Web — in "spam" email, pop-up ads, and searches while looking up innocent topics. A new study takes a look at how often kids and teens are being exposed to Internet pornography and whether they're seeking it out or just happen to catch inappropriate material while online.

In 2005, 1,500 10- to 17-year-old Internet users nationwide were surveyed by phone for the study. Though most "were not upset" by what they saw, 42% said they had been exposed to online pornography in the past year.

Of those who reported seeing online pornography:

• 66% said all exposure was "unwanted" (they hadn't sought it out)
• 34% said the exposure was either "wanted" (they'd visited X-rated sites or downloaded provocative images on purpose) or both wanted and unwanted (they had intentionally looked for online pornography and had seen it without trying)

The study showed that 44% of the kids and teens that searched for online pornography were also more likely to look for sexual content when in the company of "friends or other kids."

Few girls, regardless of their age, said that they tried to find online pornography. Among youths who searched for suggestive websites in the past year, rates were higher for:

• teens
• boys
• kids who used file-sharing programs to download images
• youths who reported being harassed or sexually solicited online
• those who scored in the borderline or clinically significant range for depression

Filtering, blocking, or monitoring software did help reduce the rate of unwanted exposure. But the study's researchers point out that the software alone doesn't provide enough protection — more than half of families with home Internet access use some of these programs, yet many kids and teens are still being exposed to online pornography.

Parents have another line of defense to help shield kids from inappropriate content — attending an Internet safety presentation by a law enforcement agency, says the study.

The study calls for more research on the impact of Internet pornography on kids and teens given "the high rate of exposure, the fact that much exposure is unwanted, and the fact that youth with certain vulnerabilities, such as depression, interpersonal victimization, and delinquent tendencies, have more exposure."

What This Means to You

You can't stand over your child's shoulder, ready to jump in front of the screen at the first sight of exposed skin. But you can help keep X-rated online material out of your home by using:

• parent-control options, offered by many Internet service providers (ISPs)
• software that can ban access to certain sites based on a "bad site" list
• filtering programs to keep certain sites from coming in
• programs to monitor and track your child's Internet activity

It's also a good idea to:

• Put the computer in a common area.
• Share an email account with younger children to monitor incoming messages.
• Bookmark favorite sites so that it's less likely your child will stumble upon sexually provocative content because of a simple typo.

Source: Janis Wolak, JD, Kimberly Mitchell, PhD and David Finkelhor, PhD; Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire; Pediatrics, February 2007.