Pornography - Dangers

Access by children to pornography

• “It is like a car crash.
  You want to look away but can’t.”
  (Age 14)Pornography which is legally restricted to adults can easily be accessed by children online.
• A child who can’t browse through a sexually explicit magazine in a store can easily view explicit images and video online.
• Also, obscene materials which are illegal even for adults can easily be accessed online.
• Unsolicited “push” pornography and e-mail links are very prevalent and are sent to everyone – including children.
• Keyword searches: Children using search engines to locate legitimate information can receive links to pornographic sites.
  
  
  
• Access may be:
  • Unintentional - "Stealth Sites" - pornography sites are designed to take advantage of innocent mistakes in order to expose people to graphic sexual images. Even “innocent” website addresses can lead directly to pornography.
    • URL’s (Uniform Resource Locators): The incorrect one can take you to a sexually explicit site. How?
      • Assumptions: You’re "certain" that you know the URL
      • Mistaken: Use of ".com" versus ".org" etc…
      • Spelling errors: Transposing characters
    • Unsolicited "push" pornography and e-mail links are very prevalent and are sent to everyone - including children.
    • "Keyword Searches" - children using search engines to locate legitimate information can receive links to pornographic sites.
  • Intentional - Curiosity in children is natural, but learning about sexuality online is not usually the best place.
    

Distribution of Child Pornography The Internet has provided child pornographers with a powerful and anonymous distribution vehicle. Possession and distribution of child pornography is illegal under state and Federal laws.

Putting Cyberporn Availability into Perspective Pornography Time Statistics Every second - $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography Every second - 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography Every second - 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States * according to toptenreviews.com