E-Safety: Age Verification and Online Pornography
Internet Matters
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Internet Matters commissioned this research to better understand parental views around online pornography in light of the forthcoming introduction of age verification on commercial pornography websites.
- Internet Matters (2019)
Academic reports have highlighted that, by age 15, children are more likely than not to have seen online pornography.
Researchers sought to establish whether parents felt that the government's plans to introduce age verification on commercial pornography websites will make a difference to children viewing adult content.
They also aimed to discover what parents are doing to equip children to deal with adult content and what they feel they need to address these issues.
Results
In order to establish how to address concerns and whether parents feel a need for greater restrictions - whether that be parental controls or a government age restriction - the research also looked at what the concerns are for parents surrounding pornography.
The research found that while parents understand that online pornography is not a true representation of real-life sex and relationships, they are concerned that this is not always obvious to children, particularly if they are using pornography to learn about sex.
Mothers are more inclined to hold a negative view toward online pornography than fathers overall, so it is unsurprising that they are more likely to be concerned about the ways in which online pornography can endanger their children's wellbeing.
The results showed that parents had concerns about how pornography may provide their child with a distorted view about healthy relationships and sex, how women are treated in these relationships, consent and how pornography could lead to a lack of confidence in body image.
Implications for parents
Pornography is a challenging topic for families, causing awkwardness for both parents and children. Although more than half of parents say they would have a chat with their children about it if necessary, many are unsure how best to go about it, and often have the conversation in response to an issue.
Some parents avoid the conversation altogether for religious reasons and others fear that it would ignite, rather than quell, curiosity. A significant minority of parents are not comfortable having this conversation. Not only is it a difficult subject to talk about to children, it is hard to discuss this around friends and family.
But many parents realise that exposure to online pornography is inevitable, this is especially so for parents of older children. Parents also recognise a clear material difference between a child stumbling across it and actively seeking it out.
Six out of 10 parents agree that it is very difficult for parents to make sure their children don't get to see pornography.
And 71 per cent of parents agree that it is too easy for their children to access pornography online today.
Parents have revealed their need for help - and although 67 per cent of parents think parental controls are helpful in preventing their child from seeing online pornography, 76 per cent think there should be greater restrictions online.
With the government's plans to age-verify adult content set to be rolled out in the spring, parents have overwhelmingly agreed (83 per cent) that commercial pornography sites should be required to verify the age of users before they can access content.
Age-verification was approved as part of the Digital Economy Act in a bid to stop under-18s accessing inappropriate content and the government has designated the British Board of Film Classification as the age verification regulator.
Under the new plans, there is set to be a legal requirement to verify a user's age as over 18 before being allowed to access to adult sites. A further 69 per cent of parents of children aged four to 16 said they were confident that the government's new ID restrictions will "make a difference".
Implications for practice
- Two in three parents want schools to be involved with teaching their children about online pornography and the implications of watching it. There are three key areas they expect to be an integral part of sex education:
- Teaching children that the bodies portrayed in pornography are not "normal". The bodies are often enhanced or camera tricks may be used.
- Interactions between adults do not reflect typical relationships.
- How watching online pornography could over time impact their self-esteem or make them feel that everyone else around them is engaging with sexual activity or watching it all the time.
- Besides educating their children about this topic, parents also look to schools to provide advice and support for themselves.
- The research also revealed that parents are looking for practical information about how to prevent their child from watching pornography online and accessing certain sites.
- They also want advice on how to talk to their children about online pornography, and to learn how to approach their child using the correct language or topics based on their age. The research found an online space is ideal for parents as it allows them to access information when necessary and appropriate for them.
Internet Matters is an organisation of online safety experts that help families keep their children safe online
Read more from the E-Safety Special Report
FURTHER READING
- Online Pornography Parents Guide, Internet Matters, January 2017