Here at Barnardo’s, the UK’s leading children’s charity, we were shocked to discover that more than a quarter of our frontline workers who responded to a recent survey had supported vulnerable children who had accessed online pornography.
Disturbingly, the survey also revealed that accessing online pornography is having a hugely damaging impact on children – by normalising abusive behaviour and causing children to develop unrealistic or harmful expectations of sex and relationships.
When asked about the impacts of viewing pornographic material when under the legal age of 18, nearly a third (32%) of workers said it had led to the children they support developing unrealistic expectations of sex and relationships while 28% said it led to children displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour.
Nearly a quarter (22%) said underage viewing of pornography negatively affected mental health and wellbeing, while 12% said it normalised abusive or exploitative behaviour.
We must do all we can to ensure that our children do not grow up seeing these images. So Barnardo’s is calling on the new Culture Secretary, the Rt Hon Nadine Dorries MP, to put the safety of children and young people first with its proposed Online Safety Bill.
It is imperative that all commercial pornography sites take steps to ensure that children cannot easily access pornographic content; that sites and apps are designed with children’s safety in mind and that they prioritise removing harmful content.
Sarah Crawley
Director, Barnardo’s Cymru and South West
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