Everything Parents Should Know About Kids Watching Porn

Why Do Kids Watch Porn?

The above numbers may be alarming to you. However, further analysis of the study reveals the following as motivations of a kid caught watching porn.

Accidental Exposure

The internet is the primary medium through which people access information. Additionally, over 4.6 billion people globally have access to the internet, and kids are easy to get access to adult social media. However, the lack of knowledge among users on safe internet practices and proper regulation severely increases the chances of kids unwillingly accessing inappropriate content.

Keeping this in mind, the below are the most common ways a kid caught watching porn gains accidental exposure.

Search Engine Results

Businesses invest heavily to ensure they appear first on the results page. Additionally, they do this by using the most common search phrases among internet uses. For example, your child may accidentally gain access to adult content by inputting the words "adult" or "sex" in a search engine when researching a school project.

Adware and Malware

Illegal streaming and gambling sites often contain malicious software that promotes adult content. Consequently, your child's device can access this content if they visit this site using an unsecured device. Therefore, it's necessary to check if your child's phone has malware.

Peer-to-Peer Messaging

Social media is the number one medium through which people communicate. As such, your child may receive links to adult videos from their friend without knowing their authentic content. Additionally, it is common practice for teenagers to watch videos on each other's devices. Consequently, your child may get exposed to indecent content when doing so.

Curiosity about Sex

Sex education remains a hush-hush subject in many societies. Keeping this in mind, many parents avoid discussions on it with their children. Consequently, adolescents may resort to pornography as a means to gain knowledge on the subject.

Easy Accessibility

Digital media is now making adult content more accessible to the masses. To put this in perspective, porn now accounts for more than 12% of the internet. Additionally, the rapid evolution of the exchange of sexual content amongst users is making it difficult for society to enforce censorship rules. Consequently, more children can now access pornography without fear of reprimand. For example, your child can use VPN software to access any form of explicit content they desire.

Furthermore, the push to offer free internet access also contributes to how easily underage children can stumble upon sexual content. For example, the free Wi-Fi available in public spaces rarely features any form of suspicious activity tracking or filtering software to prevent your kids' devices from malicious software infection. As such, they are free to explore the internet as they wish.

How to Recognize if A Kid is Watching Porn?

Now that you are aware of the motivations for children to seek out sexual content, you must be wondering how to recognize if a child is watching porn. Well, you can rest easy as most kids caught watching porn tend to exhibit similar behavioral patterns. In that regard, you can satisfy your curiosity by observing the following warning signs from your child.

Browser History

All internet browsers maintain a record of your web activity. Once your child is away from their device, access the browser and click on the history option under browser settings. A list of web pages your child visits will appear, displaying the time and the web address link.

Do they have something to hide? Not to worry. A missing record of your kid's web activity is also a sign of them accessing unwanted content. Internet browsers offer a private or incognito mode that deletes the user's activity once they close their session. Refer to the browser's help session to discover how to retrieve deleted browser history.

Change Screen Quickly

Another warning sign of your child's naughty behavior is if they quickly navigate to a new window when you enter the room. Why else would they close the browser window if they were studying?

Sudden Changes in Behavior

Is your child getting into fights ever so often? Or, are they overly cautious for no reason? Any deviations from your kid's usual demeanor are a sign that things are amiss. So, either they are just having a bad day, or worse still, they are deep into porn.

Spend More Time Online, Especially at Night

Why is your child always sleepy each morning? This is because kids caught watching porn usually do so at night. Because they consider this time as when you are least likely to see them in the act.

Taking Device into Bathroom

Okay, it is not odd to take your smartphone with you to the bathroom. However, having your laptop or tablet with you in there is a little extreme. If you notice your child exhibiting some of these tendencies, you are right to suspect that they are watching explicit content.

Suspicious Text on Phone

Kids today have a unique way of communicating via messaging apps. For example, emojis and gifs are commonplace in today's digital world. However, some of the communication may be inappropriate from individuals looking to recruit them to sex trafficking rings. If your child actively hides or prevents you from handling their device, chances are they are getting suspicious texts.

What Are the Effects of Kids Watching Porn?

Earlier in this piece, a study reveals that most parents deny their children are watching sexual content. Among the reasons for such a high number is their unawareness of the effects of kids watching porn. So, therefore, can kids watch porn without any repercussions? Experts identify the below:

They Perform Relatively Poor at Academics and New Skill Acquisition

Early exposure to porn can affect your child's brain development. Additionally, the effects are much worse for those who watch it in excess. Your kid's brain undergoes rapid development during puberty and adolescence. At this stage, they develop their cognitive abilities such as analytics and specialist skills.

Therefore, spending more time watching porn robs them of the opportunity to acquire these necessary traits for adult life. Consequently, they mature as inexperienced and less productive members of society.

There are More Prone to Addiction and Depression

Teens cannot still manage their impulses. Additionally, it is during this time that they learn impulse control and can solidify their coping mechanisms. Continuous exposure to sexually explicit material can cause them to develop an addiction to it, as the brain seeks to achieve ever-increasing levels of stimulation. Furthermore, they are more prone to mental disorders such as anxiety, stress, and depression, which develop due to a lack of them receiving their desired level of stimulation.

They are Unable to Build Intimate Relationships

Pornographic content presents a distorted scenario of intimate relationships. Some of the material promotes violent sexual behavior. Children who continuously engage with such content often develop a misconception of how intimate relationships form between people.

Therefore, they tend to carry this obscure view with them well into adulthood. As a result, they are unable to follow social norms in establishing their romantic relationships. For example, a kid who grows up watching porn may become an abuser since they perceive that as normal in a relationship.

It Promotes Immoral Sexual Behavior

Uncontrolled access to sexual material can also result in desensitization among kids. With increasing exposure comes the chance of desensitization. Regular sexual acts no longer provide the desired stimulation, and they may opt to engage in senseless acts such as sex with inanimate objects.

Child Endangerment

Exposure to sexual content at an early age poses a significant threat to your child's safety. Unfortunately, the internet also contains malicious individuals who may want to take advantage of your kid's naivety. For example, child traffickers often target children who actively seek pornography to enslave them and engage them in illegal activities.

What Should Parent Do to Protect Kids?

You now have all the information on why do kids watch porn. Here are a few recommendations on what parents do to protect kids from its effects.

Use Parental Control Apps

You can use parental control apps like Kids Guard Pro to monitor your kid's online and offline activity. KidsGuard Pro supports both Android - KidsGuard Pro for Android and iOS - KidsGuard Pro for iOS devices. With it, you can watch all messaging programs installed on the Android and iOS devices. Additionally, you can also track their real-time location. The app allows you to set geofence to notify when your kid is off the agreed coverage. Furthermore, it allows you to secretly track browsing history, social media activities, call logs, photos and videos, etc on your kid's phone. With KidsGuard Pro, you can provide all-round protection for your kids.

It also monitors the Wi-Fi networks the phone connects to and also tracks its GPS. You can check out more of its features on the official website of KidsGuard Pro. Also, you will find a guide to how you can sign-up in less than 5 minutes.

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Have Open Talks with Kids

There is nothing wrong with discussing sex with your children. However, your kid is dependent on you to find out information concerning life's different aspects. Therefore, make time to have an open discussion with them. For example, you can provide them with an answer to the question should kids watch porn?

Normalize Their Curiosity

Your kid's body undergoes significant transformations during puberty and adolescence. For example, they start growing hair in places they never expect and cycle through different emotions.

To a young mind, this can be very overwhelming. As such, they will seek out older members of the family for guidance. Therefore, treat the conversation as a top-secret government meeting, dumb down the exchange to your child's level. You can use video aids to assist you in your session. Calm the mood by positively reinforcing your child by telling them it is okay to be embarrassed. As an absent parent, you will another that startles at my kid watches porn.

Know Their Friends

Another way that children expose themselves is through their peers. Therefore, you can get to know their friends to better monitor their interactions. However, you should be cautious of how you obtain this access. Going at it gung-ho will fracture your relationship. Instead, build trust as you get closer. For example, you can organize a party or fun day out for them and their friends.

Give the Positive Guide for Kids in Daily Life

Therefore, you just found your kid watching porn. How do you react to it? Rather than reprimanding them, Instead, acknowledge their curiosity. Doing so instills trust and admiration in your relationship. Scolding them only leads to them finding more covert ways to access inappropriate material.

Conclusion

In summary, kids watching porn can have devastating consequences to their development. You are unable to be with your kids all the time. However, with the parental control app like KidsGuard Pro, you can check your kids' offline and online activities anywhere and anytime.

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