UNITED KINGDOM—Founded in 1883 by philanthropist Thomas Agnew as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the since-renamed National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has over the decades shifted much of its attention from workplace abuse inflicted on minors to more modern dangers, many of which are found online.
Now the charity is issuing a warning about online porn use by young teens, prompted by research by the charity's helpline, ChildLine, that showed an alarming rate of engagement.
According to HuffPo UK's reporting on the results, "More than one in 10 children (12 percent) aged 12 to 13 have made or been part of a sexually explicit video and 9 percent are worried they are addicted to pornography. A total of 18 percent of children said they have seen porn images that have shocked or upset them, a survey of nearly 700 children for the NSPCC's ChildLine service found."
The charity also offered other anecdotal evidence that online porn is affecting young teens. "Peter Liver, director of ChildLine, said children reported that watching porn made them feel depressed, gave them body image issues and put pressure on them to engage in sex acts they are not ready for," added HuffPo UK.
In a campaign begun to address the issues raised by the research, ChildLine is advocating for direct and structured engagement with children in schools on subjects usually shunned by educators.
"The Government recently proposed plans for children aged 11 upwards to be taught about rape and sexual consent as part of PSHE in schools," said Liver. "This would include discussion around what they have learnt from watching pornography.
"Across society, we need to remove the embarrassment and shame that exists around talking about porn," he added. "Which is why we have launched a ChildLine campaign to help young people to make more informed choices."
Videos from the campaign, which is called Fight the Porn Zombies, are viewable on YouTube.
NSPCC also just launched its 125 anniversary appeal.
