Get informed – get the facts

“Never before in the history of telecommunications media… has so much indecent (and obscene) material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many… homes with so few restrictions.”
U.S. Department of Justice

UK YouGov survey

In 2008, YouGov conducted a survey of 1,424 British youth (14-17 years old):

• 58% said they have seen pornography
• 71% of sexually active teenagers have viewed pornography
• More than a quarter of boys use porn at least once a week (5% of them every day)

Exposure survey

In 2008, more than 560 college student responded to an online survey:

• 93% of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to pornography before 18.
• 14% of boys and 9% of girls were exposed to pornography before 13.
• 69% of boys and 23% of girls have spent at least 30 consecutive minutes viewing Internet pornography on at least one occasion. 63% of boys have done so more than once, and 35% of boys have done so on more than 10 occasions.
• 83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online.
• 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse online.
• 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online.
• 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online.
• 18% of boys and 10% of girls have seen rape or sexual violence online
• 15% of boys and 9% of girls have seen child pornography.

Online search study

According to a Symantec study, after analyzing 3.5 million online searches done between February 2008 and July 2009, “sex” was the 4th most used term; “porn” was the 6th. This reflects searches done by children in households that use Norton Family.

London secondary school

In 2010, 14-16-year-olds from a north London secondary school were surveyed. They found:

• Nearly a third looked at sexual images online when they were 10 years old or younger
• 81% look at porn online at home
• 75% said their parents had never discussed Internet pornography with them

Youth Internet Safety Survey

According to the third Youth Internet Safety Survey, published in 2010, the ages when youth were unwillingly exposed to nudity online were:

• 10-12: 15%
• 13-15: 23%
• 16-17: 28%

Microsoft survey

In February 2011, Microsoft Corporation released the results of a survey conducted in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Finland, South Africa, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, Greece, and Egypt:

• 63% of parents rate online safety discussions on par with talking to their children about “the birds and the bees.”
• 64% of parents do not use online parental controls or filtering software
• 69% of parents say they take steps to ensure their children don’t stumble on any adult-related sites they have personally visited
• 67% of teens have cleared out their browser history or cache to make sure their parents couldn’t view their online activity. 31% do this “always” or “regularly.”
• 39% of teens admit to looking at websites or playing online games that their parents would likely disapprove of.
• 44% of teens have lied about their age when online.

Young People and Sexting

Sexting is sending or posting a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude photo or video of oneself. Older teens are more likely to report having sent a sext.––

According to a 2013 ChildLine poll of 500 children in the UK, ages 13 to 18:

• 60% said they have been asked for explicit photos or videos of themselves.
• 38% said they had created a sext. Of these, 32% said they had sent it to someone they knew online only (not in real life).
• Of those who sent a sext, 20% said it had been shared with others, and 28% said they did not know if it was shared.

When 535 students from 18 schools in South West UK responded to a survey:

• nearly 4 out of 10 said at least one of their friends has “shared intimate pictures/videos” with a boyfriend or girlfriend.