By Mallory Mattingly
A disturbing new report found that pornography exposure begins as early as elementary school for some children.
A survey performed by England’s Children’s Commissioner’s office found that 70% of respondents “had seen pornography online, up from 64% in 2023.” Seventy-three percent of boys were more likely to see online porn compared to 65% of girls. The average age a child sees pornography for the first time is 13. However, 27% of respondents in the report had seen “online pornography by the age of 11.”
“A larger proportion of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) (76%) had seen pornography in comparison to those without SEN (69%),” the report noted.
Tragically, most of these children aren’t searching out adult content. Fifty-nine percent reported seeing online pornography “by accident,” up from 38% in 2023.
“[Pornography] is something that is shown to them without even looking for it on the same social media sites that were designed to help them connect with other people and be entertained,” said Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza. “And it’s not just any pornography. It is violent, extreme, and degrading often portraying acts that are illegal – or soon will be.”
The report pointed to X specifically as the primary social media purveyor of the content to kids.
“The gap between the number of young people who saw porn on X and the number who saw it on dedicated pornography sites has widened in the last 2 years. X now accounts for 10% points more exposure than dedicated pornography sites (45% vs. 35%) in 2025, compared to only 4% points in 2023 (41% vs. 37%),” the report said.
Young people recognize the impact porn has on them and their peers.
“I definitely think that pornography changes people’s outlook on sex,” a 16-year-old girl told the Children’s Commissioner, “and I think that it can lead to sex being more violent […] I think it can also just make people more violent in general, even if it’s not in a sexual setting.”
“I have seen it at school that boys expect girls to look a certain way, or they are worthless, it’s horrible,” one boy, 17, expressed.
Another 16-year-old girl noted, “It’s just so common, it’s so normalised and everyone’s just so desensitised to it, but a lot of people just accept it as kind of a normal, which is wrong.”
The statistics aren’t any better in the United States. A report from 2022 found that 71% of teens reported intentionally watching porn in the past week. The average American viewer sees porn for the first time at age 12, but 15% report seeing it for the first time at age 10 or younger.
Movieguide® founder Dr. Ted Baehr warns about the dangers of pornography in his book The Media-Wise Family:
Research has shown that the exposure of randomly selected male college students to sexually suggestive R-rated theatrical movies increases their aggressive behavior toward women and decreases both male and female sensitivity to rape and the plight of the victim. After viewing this type of material, both males and females judge a female rape victim to be less injured, less worthy and more responsible for her own plight…
This study, of course, has been made all the more frightening by the growth of internet pornography. As the internet grew from being merely a service for sending text data by modem into the primary video delivery method for the mass media of entertainment, its use for spreading pornography has become ubiquitous. The quantity, and high definition quality of, pornography has exploded and one of the results has been a growth in human sex slave trafficking. As the number of men driven to the depths of pornography soars, so too does the demand for “something more.”
So, what can parents do to help their children avoid the life-altering pitfalls of porn?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:
- Use this topic as an “opportunity to let your kids know that they can come to you about anything disturbing or upsetting that they see online.”
- Watch for the way you react and don’t “blame, shame, or punish kids for viewing pornography or pretend it didn’t happen. Studies have shown that teens with worse parent-child relationships and parents who have more of an authoritarian (‘my way or the highway’) style are more likely to intentionally seek out porn, so it can help to not overreact or make your child feel ashamed.”
- Find ways to put “filters or blocks on adult content on devices.”
Christian parents can approach the topic with love and truth by reminding their children that all people are created in God’s image and that we can receive forgiveness for our mistakes through Jesus.
Read Next: UK Bill Seeks to Protect Children From Online Porn Through Required Age Verification
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