More and more children and young people are being exposed to pornography and sexting at an early age. This is the result of a representative survey by the NRW media authority, in which around 3,000 children and young people aged eleven to 17 took part. The first such survey was conducted in 2023, with which the current results were compared.
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This year, significantly more children and young people, 42 percent, said they had already seen porn. In 2023 it was still 35 percent. The increase was only recorded in boys and girls aged 11 to 13.
WhatsApp group chats play a big role
Another finding of the survey is that children are often exposed to porn and sexting for the first time unintentionally. Accordingly, those affected find it difficult to classify what they have seen. The study authors suspect that porn consumption also makes it easier to create and send pornographic material. 42 percent said that porn prompted them to sext. However, the proportion of those who have already sent sexting messages is small. It was nine percent of those surveyed.
The situation is different when it comes to receiving such messages: a quarter of children and young people said they had already received a sexting message. Of these, 79 percent said they received the message without asking for it. According to the question, sexting messages were defined as intimate text messages containing sexual content, nudity or emojis with explicit sexual intentions. WhatsApp group chats in which messages are exchanged appear to play a particularly important role.
Threats while sexting are not uncommon
27 percent of those who send sexting messages said they often send them to people they don’t know personally. The same applies to porn. The survey results also show that more than a quarter of sexting respondents have been threatened that their sexting content would be forwarded or published if they don’t comply with certain demands.
“We are called to protect minors. With education and contact points in everyday life and with reliable youth media protection in the digital world. We are tackling this issue with proposals such as Media Scouts NRW and our approach to combating the lack of youth protection. On the world’s largest porn platforms,” comments Dr. Tobias Schmid, director of the North Rhine-Westphalia state media authority, study.
Complete Study can be viewed on the Media Authority website,
(MKI)
