In what may be the largest and most comprehensive study on Canadian children and Internet use, the group MediaSmarts found 40% of boys and 7% of girls seek out pornography online. The survey looked at more than 5,400 students in classrooms across Canada for the study “Sexuality and Romantic Relationships in the Digital Age.” Students in grades 4 to 11 were surveyed, but questions about sexuality were only asked to those in grades 7 through 11.A third of the boys who searched for porn searched for it daily and a third searched for it at least once a week. By contrast only 7% of girls polled admitted to watching porn. The authors point out this is much higher than when they last conducted the survey in 2005. In addition, the study questioned children about sexting, which is defined by the study as sending or receiving “sexy”, “nude” or “partially nude” photos. Almost one in ten boys and girls said they had sent a sext themselves, while one in four said they had received a sext. The authors suggest the gap may be a result of sext being sent to more than one person or being forwarded.
Author’s note: As men, we are primarily visual based beings; this became wholly evident early on in my life, when, at my Catholic grammar school, we older boys traded back and forth various stolen and found Playboy magazines while the girls voraciously read through the semi-salacious pages of Judy Blume. Later, when I initially entered the then sleazy world of porn consumption, it was a somewhat comforting world of all-male voyeurism and unbridled licentiousness; and, in that, there was a sort of comfort in the fact that there were others who shared your proclivities. On the internet, that feeling of porn community has gone through a metamorphosis and henceforth become intensified. This is most powerfully symbolized by the phenomena of the child/teen porno “selfie.” Children have become so accustomed to pornography that they feel totally at-ease with placing themselves inside a pornographic framework: i.e. me as porn star. Yet, this is a childhood experience, I did not have. However, the reality became abundantly concrete when a woman I have known for several years approached me about her middle school son that recently received a partially naked photo of a female classmate. Most surprisingly, the image originated from the girl herself; and was quickly passed around by a cadre of boys. This story was further remarkable because I know the mother as an incredibly involved and conscientious parent. In the end, it’s a sad truth, that porn has touched everyone: even the most innocent.