Researching the Affects That Online Pornography Has on U.K. Adolescents Aged 11 to 16

Abstract

This article considers data from a large empirical study of nearly 1,100 U.K. adolescents aged 11 to 16 (in a mixed methods three-stage sample) and provides an overview of their experiences of online adult pornography. The article investigates how seeing online pornography influenced those who watched it, and to what degree, if any, the attitudes of those adolescents altered with repeat viewings. It concludes with an overview of the social policy challenges, both domestic and international, posed by the findings.

Factors Influencing Initiation and Continued Sexual Activity among Adolescents in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State: A Qualitative Case Study

“…The adolescents who are usually aroused by pornographic images they watched through the internet or television would often want to put these activities into practice. This is in line with a study in England where 4% (106/241) of males, compared with 29% (56/195) of females often tried out the sexual acts they had watched online [16]. One study explained adolescents' access to and subsequent use of media as a factor influencing their sexual behaviours using the General cohort theory [18].…”

“…Some adolescents were engaged in transactional sex in exchange for gift items and foodstuff such as crayfish and fish to be able to feed and sometimes support their families. The burden of poverty on children and adolescents have resulted in risky behaviours including but not limited to drug use and multiple sexual partners [15,16].…”

‘I’m just curious and still exploring myself’: Young people and pornography

“…Although the policy focus is unremittingly on ‘Internet pornography’, young people learn about sex from a wide variety of media and the wide use of social media by young people has made it increasingly difficult to decipher what encountering ‘online pornography’ might mean. In their study, Martellozzo et al (2016) use the term ‘exposure’ more than 40 times, implying unwanted contact. They report that 28% of their young participants had seen pornography inadvertently, and only 19% had actually searched for it.…”

Intimate Partner Cyberstalking, Sexism, Pornography, and Sexting in Adolescents: New Challenges for Sex Education

“…Through their free access to ICTs, our youth have become a consumer of pornographic content. International and national studies establish the prevalence of pornography consumption between 27 and 70.3% [ 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ], with boys being more pornophile than girls [ 63 , 64 ]. The age range of initiation in pornography consumption is between 12 and 17 years [ 61 , 64 ], although some studies indicate that children are accessing pornography at increasingly younger ages, placing the first viewing at 8 years [ 60 ].…”