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

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.

48% of children had seen online pornography, a third of them saw it at least once a week and nearly half had intentionally looked for it. Older teens and boys are are more likely to report that that that had intentionally searched for such content and that the online pornography they had seen gave them ideas about the types of sex they wanted to try out. "The respondents were asked to evaluate most of the online pornography they had seen, in terms of 14 different feelings/ categories, using a 5-point Likert-type scale. The overall results were extremely varied. For example, the largest proportional response is “unrealistic,” with 49% stating that they agreed with this assessment; but other statements with which sizable proportions of the young people agreed, include that pornography is “arousing” (47%), “shocking,” (46%) and “exciting” (40%).... 36% of viewers found the content “silly” and 34% “amusing.” (Martellozzo et al., 2020: 5). "As this research has shown, the exposure to explicit content can harm children and young people’s perception of sex, healthy relationships, and how they view their own bodies. During the course of this study, some children and young people asked explicitly for help and support, whether through education and/or some form of blocking the access to undesired materials. It is therefore undoubtful that some robust regulations are needed to protect children and young people from accessing online pornography." (Martellozzo et al., 2020: 8).