The BBC are today reporting on a study by the University of Middlesex which attempts to give an indication of the scale of inappropriate sexual material being accessed by school-aged children. Key findings of the study include:
About 53% of 11- to 16-year-olds have seen explicit material online.
14% of the young people who responded had taken naked and/or semi-naked images of themselves, and just over half of these (7% overall) had shared these images .
Only 24% had first seen pornography for the first time on a desktop computer, with more mobile devices being used much more.
It is likely that statistics like these, which are very similar the OSA’s own findings, may be a conservative estimate of what the true situation is with many children being uncomfortable or embarrassed to complete such studies with full honesty. To read more information about this study visit the BBC news website.