A few days ago an article called “Czech children are threatened by the network cyberbullying and pornography” appeared at iDNES. In the article the experts give their opinion on the issue of risky behaviour of children in cyberspace. What struck me most, however, is a quote from NCBI Lenka Eckert, who commented on the issue of watching pornography by children. Unfortunately, the text showed that she does not evaluate this activity negatively, but she sees pornography as "something that is good ... and what can be perceived as education." Although the quote – according to her, is distorted and taken out of context of the whole interview, it incited me to write at least a short comment.
A. Why sex education is so important for children
In the childhood future basic sexual attitudes of each person are formed and it is clear that any mistake that appears at this stage can be easily carried over into adulthood. This can be demonstrated on a situation when there is abuse of a child and then this experience can be transferred to an adult in their future sexual partners. It is also true that those who were maltreated in childhood can transfer this experience to their own children. It is therefore obvious that pornography consumed by children cannot be perceived in the same way as adult pornography.
Let’s come out of the text: "It [pornography] does no harm to them usually, maybe it can be even as good as education." She adds that in the past the teenagers borrowed their parents' magazines and today they look it up on the Internet. "Something else, however, is extreme and illegal cases of pornography such as pedophilia or zoophilia," she says (Source: iDNES). Let me disagree with this formulated statement.
It is clear that sexuality naturally belongs into human life, it should not be taboo, but rather it is necessary for the child during the human life naturally gain information about sex (whether from friends, parents, teachers ... and the easiest way: through Internet). It is absolutely right, if a child sees a naked picture of the man or women, but pornography is not the way to educate the children.
B. Effects of pornography on child
First, it is necessary to separate good terms and common terms. It is common that children (like adults) watch pornography on the Internet that is available and is no longer the taboo in public as it once was. The question is whether this is good and what consequences it carries. For many years, psychologists and sexologists have monitored the impact of pornography on the psychological development of young people and the results are known, though not always unambiguous. Let us try to summarize the essential findings:
1. Watching pornographic programs wakes early interest in sexuality, the child gets distorted idea about sex (especially in establishing and maintaining intimate relationships between partners). According to sexologist Radim Uzel, pornographic images represents false image of intimate contact (giant penises, unrealistic prolonging of sexual intercourse, ejaculation exaggeration, etc.), a child in puberty can then easily succumb to the impression that it should be like that. Pornographic and erotic movies then often present that
the ideal is orgasm of man and woman at the same time, which is actually a rare exception. The same myth is also an all-night sex. The desire to imitate the above often leads to frustration and dissatisfaction. More can be find in “Pornography gives a false picture of intimate contact” by Radim Uzel. Furthermore, pornography presents that sexual intercourse includes violence and vulgarity (not mentioning minority sexual deviance in this case) etc.
2. For girls, watching the pornographic and erotic films is likely to develop anorexia and other eating disorders. In a desire to imitate the perfect look for women of "fairy tales for adults" girls are able to do anything. This is not only pornography, but also common forms of advertisement. In pornography the contact with naked body is significantly more intense than it is in the case of advertising.
3. Children are often not mentally mature for the information about sex and eroticism, they are not ready for this information. Attitudes of psychologists and sexologists to this matter are varied, some of them defend this position in the spirit of "purity protection", some are sceptical on this issue, but the fact is that mental and physical development of the child does not take place at the same pace and physical maturity is often overtaken by psychological maturity. Pornography influences mainly the mental component of the child's personality. By pornography we do not present true "information about sex” to children, but in the original meaning the "instructions for prostitutes" (in Greek: porné = prostitute, grafein = write), the information is false, exaggerated, caught up in the extreme. And this way of stating information can cause trauma, fear and anxiety of children. The imitation of submitted forms of behaviour will be stated below.
4. Watching pornography by children can have an effect on unplanned parenthood. The pornographic images do not solve what to do when a couple having sex conceives a child. In the real world, however, this is solved every day. Likewise, we can not ignore the risk of spreading venereal diseases. This is not a problem of pornography, but rather a question of sex education. However, pornographic images usually do not care about contraception at teenagers. In many pornographic movies sex is unprotected.
5. The transformation of women into sexual objects. In pornography, women are generally perceived as erotic tools that are used to stimulate the libido. In the pornography industry, a woman is classically presented as "goods" or as a "slave". Acceptance of this kind of behaviour is not ideal for children. In his study Ordinances to Add Pornography to Discrimination against Women Edward Donnerstein confirms that the people who are exposed to pornography for more than six weeks have increased sexual "callousness" in relation to women, there is a trivialization of rape as a crime, there is a development of a taste for watching more violent and deviant pornography, there is a preference for no monogamous relationships, etc.
6. A large number of pornographic films contain violence as presented in the form of a simulated rape. The influence of watching violent content on children and teenagers has been globally discussed for many years; some studies (e.g., Buckingham, D., 2011) suggest that consuming violent programs does not lead to violent behaviour of children. However, many other studies (Marshall, W.L. and others) point out that if the child under 14 years of age is exposed to pornography, he/she is prone to deviant sexual practices in adulthood, especially rape. The same study, for example, states that more than a third of sexual assailants stated that they were incited to the crime by pornography. As for sexual deviants, 53% stated that they used pornography as a stimulus before the attack on the child.
7. Pornography presented to children increases their tolerance to normal, but also deviant sexual practices. Pornography is often used to reduce the barriers associated with sexual activity in a wide range of risk communication phenomena, such as cybergrooming. If the contact with pornography is frequent, the child then perceive the content (even if it is the paedophile) as harmless as something that is actually normal.
8. Pornography presents to children the idea that sex without responsibility is acceptable and desirable. It is a sad fact that a large number of the population agrees with this view, this behaviour is common in the population. The question is how this fact is acceptable and desirable at children. Form your own idea.
9. Children who are repeatedly in contact with pornography can copy this behaviour in relation to other children. According to research by Stephen J. Kavanagh children imitate what they see or hear, and children, exposed to pornography, tend to try to get these forms of behaviour towards younger, smaller and more vulnerable children. In a study carried out by a team of dr. Bryant on 600 boys and girls in the USA, the author showed that 91% of boys and 82% girls at secondary schools were exposed to hardcore pornography, while 66% of boys and 40% of girls would like to try out something of what they saw. We are talking about children aged from 11 to 15 years.
10. Contact of children with pornography has an influence on the development of their own identity. This process is described in detail by dr. Victor Cline and others, for detailed development see e.g. http://www.protectkids.com/effects/harms.htm.
C. Pornography and erotica is not taboo
Sexual feelings and desires are totally natural for children and young people in puberty. Likewise, children's curiosity in sex is normal and healthy. It is absolutely right that the child is looking for information about sex, he/she wants to explore his/her sexuality, children look for sources of their knowledge. The question is, however, with which forms of sex or sexual practices children will be exposed in the earliest stages of their lives and how it affects them. For adults pornography and erotica has long been taboo, in relation to children, however, the regulation of this type of content should take place by parents.
D. Legal and illegal pornography in relation to children
In relation to children the Criminal Code is far strict, because § 191 (formerly 205) prohibits the disclosure of ANY pornographic works to persons under 18 years of age. In relation to the child, therefore there is no such thing as legal use of pornography. It is just ill/legal in relation to adults.
E. Myth "When I was a child, I also watched porn and it did not affect me negatively"
First of all, it should be noted that before 1989, pornography was not publicly distributed in the Czech territory, it was not on television, not commercially available, it existed exclusively in the form of semi-illegal magazines or VHS smuggled from abroad. Pornography was considered (as I have read) for "twisted figment of bourgeois society." To get a magazine showing deviant sexual behaviour or sexual behaviour as homosexuals was nearly impossible. After 1989, there was a massive increase of pornography in the form of erotic and
pornographic magazines (first foreign, then domestic production), since 2000, thanks to a gradual expansion of the Internet, the amount of erotic and pornographic sites has increased. And thanks to the expansion of the Internet in households pornography became easily available.
20 years ago, a 15 years old child did not have a chance to get the access to transsexual sadomasochist porn, to zoophile pornography, to fake rape; to records of swingers’ party ... today it is a matter of 10 seconds. Therefore the consumption of pornography cannot be compared in the form of faded magazine smuggled from abroad or Italian VHS with monotonous Czech dubbing with pornography, which is normally open to the public and widespread at present. Erotica penetrates into the common print and certainly has an effect on the sexual behaviour of children, which is reflected for example in the form of sexting and other related phenomena.
The myth that children do just what their parents did before them is a myth - the content and accessibility is different than it was 20 years ago. And it is really difficult to determine the boundaries of "extreme pornography", or say which pornography is "good" and which is "bad", it is to some extent a matter of taste and of social tolerance.
F. Optimistic conclusion
Everyone can consume pornography; it's his/her own thing, right, freedom. In relation to children, however, let’s realize that repeated consumption of pornography certainly has an impact on their development. We should not consider pornography as something that has "educational character and it is something good." Pornography represents to children an unreal world with different rules than in reality, it can develop abnormal behaviours towards women, the sexual act, the sexual practices, etc. The problem is not that pornography shows sex, the problem is the form of presentation.
G. One more really good advice
If you catch your child watching pornography, try to explain him/her that pornography does not capture the real sexual act, but it is simply a made-up film that does not reflect the reality. Explain that what they see in the film is not real in the real world. It means that when a repairman comes to your apartment to fix a broken washing machine, he will not require sex from the owner in return. When a policewoman stops you on the road, it does not mean that you have to tumble her to the trunk of your car and start an attack on her erogenous zones ... simply pornography are actually "fairy tale for adults", not "educational materials".
Kamil Kopecký, Ph.D., Palacký University Olomouc, E-Bezpečí
Sources:
České děti ohrožuje na síti kyberšikana i pornografie. IDnes.cz
http://zpravy.idnes.cz/ohrozeni-deti-na-internetu-ddm-/domaci.aspx?c=A130813_154132_domaci_mzi
Radim Uzel: Pornografie poskytuje falešný obraz intimního styku. Novinky.cz
http://www.novinky.cz/zena/vztahy-a-sex/216469-radim-uzel-pornografie-poskytuje-falesny-obraz-intimniho-styku.html
Děti a sex na obrazovce. Děti a média.
http://www.detiamedia.cz/art/1448/deti-a-sex-na-obrazovce.htm
Uzel, R. Vliv pornografie na delikventní chování mládeže. Plánování rodiny http://www.planovanirodiny.cz/view.php?cisloclanku=2006010916
Weis, P. a kol. Sexuologie.
Gillík, R. Vliv televizního násilí na děti se zveličuje. Digizone.cz
http://www.digizone.cz/clanky/vliv-televizniho-nasili-na-deti-se-zvelicuje/
Hughes, D. R. How pornography Harms Children. Protectkids.com
