Tuesday 15th November 2011 - Published by Kelly Jackson - Communications Executive
Christmas Porn Warning for Parents
Pornography is becoming a serious risk to children’s mental health, say leading experts, with Christmas electronics being purchased without parental control adding to the danger.
Millions of parents will go out this Christmas and purchase a gift for their children, totally unaware of what it can be used for, according to Penny Steinhauer, director of internet safety training organisation, Eye PAT.
“Many will say ‘my child would never do that’, but unfortunately even children who don’t actively look for pornography, either find it by accident or are shown it by a friend,” said Penny Steinhauer.
“It’s not just pornographic sites young people have access to – there are eating disorder sites, suicide sites, terrorist sites, the list goes on, ” she added.
Alarming figures suggesting that half of children over nine have seen graphic sex on the Internet, come as no surprise to Penny Steinhauer. She believes parents need to explain to children what is real and what is not, in the same way they would help them understand that a violent, scary or disturbing film is not real.
“Viewing these images affects children’s development and brain growth,” she said. “Think about this: London taxi drivers have an enlarged hippocampus – the part of the brain associated with spatial mapping. This enables them to do their job because of what they do all day. Our brains adapt and develop with everything we see or do. What is porn and violence doing to your child’s brain development and behaviours?”
Some 99% of parents taught at Eye PAT’s online parenting sessions say they had no idea of what was really available online for anyone to see.
Ogmore MP, Huw Irranca-Davies, says: “It was a really informative presentation that truly does highlight the dangers that children can face on these social networking sites. As a parent, I don’t think I’d be on my own in thinking that ‘My child knows what they are doing so I don’t have to worry’. How wrong can we be?”
For more information visit: www.eyepat.org
SO WHO’S BUYING THEIR KIDS A SEX SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS? - a pr2go story
