Kamogelo Olaitan
Children in South Africa are addicted to pornography, according to a research study by Unisa’s Bureau for Market Research’s Youth Research Unit.
Some of the children, especially those in high school, even watch it at school using free Wi-Fi, or sit in restaurants that offer free internet if they don’t have data.
According to the study more than 55% of the children watch pornography regularly and 10% of them watch it every day.
The research also showed that 35% of the children watch child pornography and they don’t care if it’s illegal.
Of those, 30% watch violent pornography.
Dr Antoinette Basson, a research psychologist in the Youth Research Unit at Unisa, said children usually get their first exposure to pornography by accident.
“Parents put on a movie for the child and carry on with their own activities. When a pop-up appears and the child clicks on it, it goes to a pornography website. Or they google something like ‘Barbie doll’ and they land on a pornographic website. Children are curious and go further and deeper into the porn site,” she told Rapport.
Basson also said smartphones, tablets and access to the internet were the biggest problem.
She told News24 that there were slightly fewer girls who watch pornography but that there were no demographics as the difference is small.
“t is a misconception that only boys watch pornography,” she said.
Clinical psychologist Marita Rademeyer, chairperson of Jelly Beanz corroborates the study.
She said the youngest girl she had to work with, who was addicted to pornography, was a five years old.
“She watched pornography and masturbated every day or more than once a day,” Rademeyer said.
Rademeyer said she worked mostly with primary school children who are in grade 6 and 7.
The children who are between the ages of 12 and 14 watch every category of phonography from violent to bestiality to perverted porn.
Rademeyer advised parents to talk to children even when they are as young as three about their bodies, sex and pornography in an age-appropriate way.
“If you do this from a young age, you become the go-to person for your child to talk about these things. They don’t hear it from friends or on the internet. Older children listen much more to their peer group. If you do this from a young age, they better understand how to cope with these things,” she said.
Image source: @TheIndependent
