Action urged to protect children from pornography
A new report has called for urgent action to ‘develop children’s resilience to pornography’ amidst growing concern that readily available violent and sadistic imagery is distorting the younger generations views of relationships and sex.
Produced by the children’s commissioner for England the report found that children exposed to such material are more likely to become sexually active at a younger age and develop risky behaviour.
In response it is urging delivery of more effective sex education classes and instruction in how to use the internet safely.
Commissioner Maggie Atkinson said: “We are living at a time when violent and sadistic imagery is readily available to very young children … even if they do not go searching for it, their friends may show it to them or they may stumble on it while using the internet.
"For years we have applied age restrictions to films at the cinema but now we are permitting access to far more troubling imagery via the internet. It is a risky experiment to allow a generation of young people to be raised on a diet of pornography."
The call to action follows a similar recommendation from Britain’s head teachers.