“Exposure to pornography among young children may be disturbing or upsetting. It helps to sustain young people’s adherence to sexist and unhealthy notions of sex and relationships. And, especially among boys and young men who are frequent consumers of pornography, including of more violent materials, consumption intensifies attitudes supportive of sexual coercion and increases their likelihood of perpetrating assault. Pornography is a poor, and indeed dangerous, sex educator.”

These are the conclusions contained in a review, The Harms of Pornography Exposure Among Children and Young People, written by Michael Flood, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Australia.

The review looks at several ways in which young people are affected by either intended or accidental exposure to pornography. It seems that the younger the child is, the more likely they are to be emotionally disturbed by the images they see.

As children get older, their exposure shapes their attitudes and expectations about sexual encounters and can lead to sexist and objectifying understandings of what a relationship is. This is especially so among teenage boys who due to an early exposure of pornography may go on to see violence in relationships as the norm, which in turn could encourage their participation in sexual abuse.

Emotional and Psychological Harms Associated with Premature or Inadvertent Exposure
Many young people are shocked or disturbed by premature or inadvertent encounters with pornography. Many are at an age or developmental level where they are unaware of, inexperienced in, or uninterested in sexual activities.

The review looks at  a  US  survey where  10%  of  young  people  aged  10  to  17 described  themselves  as  very  or  extremely  upset  by  unwanted exposure to pornography. A similar survey in Australia found that 53%  of  young  people  aged  11 to  17  had  experienced  something  on  the Internet  that they  thought  was  offensive  or disgusting.  Their feelings were of being ‘sick’, ‘shocked’,  ‘embarrassed’,  ‘repulsed’ and  ‘upset’.

The review also noted that girls were more likely than boys to be troubled by pornography.  In  one  study,  35%  of  girls  but  only  6%  of  boys  reported  that  they  were  very  upset  by  the images.

Today the internet opens up the world of hardcore pornography to children; images that they would not have been able to access before. It is very easy for children to accidently view these images. This can lead to great distress and misconceptions about what is shared between 2 consenting adults in an intimate relationship.

The survey confirms that videos and Internet pornography often depict sexual practices which are outside common cultural norms or even criminal, including anal intercourse, multiple partners, bondage and sadomasochism,  transsexual  sex,  urination  or  defecation,  bestiality and rape. Minors do encounter such material.
 
Sexist, Sexually Objectifying and Inappropriately Sexualised Attitudes and Behaviours
The review verified that because much to today’s pornography focuses on female bodies, is sexist, degrades women and often shows sex as acts of aggression rather than intimacy it can “encourage  girls  and young  women  to  see  themselves  primarily  in  sexual  terms,  to equate their worth and appeal with narrow standards of physical attractiveness, and to see themselves as sexual objects—to focus on  others’ sexual  interest  in  and  judgment  of  them  rather  than their  own  desires  and interests”.

Attitudes and Behaviours related to Sexual Violence Perpetration and Victimisation
The review acknowledged that “perhaps the most troubling impact of pornography on children and young people is its influence on sexual violence”. Studies have found that exposing young men to sexually violent material increases their acceptance of rape myths and erodes their empathy for victims of violence.

In a study of Canadian teenagers there was a correlation between boys’ frequent consumption of pornography and their agreement with the idea that it is acceptable to hold a girl down and force her to have sex. 
 
Conclusion
Pornography is a poor sex educator.  Most pornography is too explicit for younger children; most shows sex in  unrealistic  ways  and  neglects  intimacy  and  romance;  most pornography  is  sexist;  and  some  is  based  on  and  eroticises violence.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: Child Abuse Review Vol. 18: 384–400 (2009) Published online 2 November 2009 in Wiley InterScience Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.