When Children Watch Pornography Online
The Kerala High Court recently held that there was no offence in watching a porn video in one's private space without showing it to others, while quashing a criminal case against a youth by Aluva police in 2016 for watching a porn video on his mobile phone on a street near the Aluva palace at night. The court, however, observed that there would be far-reaching consequences if minor children start watching porn videos, which could be easily accessed via mobile phones.
The High Court's caution to parents to safeguard their children from the dangers of online pornography raises serious concerns due to the widespread availability of pornographic websites on the internet. 'My husband and I were shocked when we learned about our son's porn consumption. He is just 12 years old. We had no clue how to confront him with the issue. So, we decided to take him to a psychologist. We were horrified to learn from our son that a lot of his friends also watch porn videos and discuss them in their class. With the help of the psychologist, we gave proper counselling to our son, and we have been keeping an eye on his online activities since then', said a mother who wished to remain anonymous due to concern about privacy and potential repercussions.
A study for the Children's Commissioner for England reveals that children are being exposed to online pornography as young as nine years old. Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souzasaid it was 'deeply concerning'. The commissioner also pointed out that the behaviour of children as young as eight was being affected by porn consumption. According to a report, Indian children are exposed to pornography as early as thirteen years of age. In another distressing incident, the panchayat of Dhigana village in Jind district reported students watching porn on tabs given by the government.
India's relationship with pornography has always been complex, as the social fabric of the country keeps away from open discussions about sex. Despite the taboo and society's aversion to addressing sensitive issues such as sex and porn, there is a high consumption of porn among Indians. According to the data released by Pornhub, one of the most popular adult websites in 2018, India stood at the position of third, following the United States and the United Kingdom, in terms of porn consumption.
Although the legal framework of India doesn't recognise watching pornography in one's privacy as an offence, production and distribution are deemed illegal and are also punishable. Despite consumption being legal, there have been several instances where the government has attempted to ban pornographic websites. The reason behind the ban imposed in 2018 was a horrific incident in which a 10th standard girl was raped by four of her seniors, and the boys confessed to the police that they committed the crime after watching pornography. Our country has been witnessing several sexual crimes that are being committed by children. In November 2022, a 10-year-old boy was arrested by the police for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl in Kanpur. In the same month, another 17-year-old boy was held for raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in Chhattisgarh. In yet another woeful incident, a 15-year-old boy was held for raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl in Shivpuri, in February 2023. In all these incidents, the juvenile perpetrators have one thing in common: the motivation to commit such a heinous and gruesome crime stems from watching pornographic films.
According to psychologists, the issue of porn consumption among children is pressing and needs to be treated with utmost seriousness. 'I get around 8 to 10 cases related to porn addiction on a weekly basis, and unfortunately, almost half of the cases are related to porn addiction among children. There was a case in which the parents of a 13-year-old boy were informed by the school management regarding their son's unacceptable behaviour of touching other children in an inappropriate manner. It turned out that the boy heavily consumed porn. Similarly, there was another distressing scenario in which a boy, who was only 8 years old, was brought in for counselling because he tried to touch the private parts of another boy. It also came to light that the boy got his initial exposure to porn from his father's mobile phone, and then he started to watch it frequently. Parents who watch porn should be responsible and careful when they hand over their phones to children. Pornographic consumption can negatively impact children's attitudes and beliefs towards sex and increase their risk-taking behaviour. It also normalises rape and other deviant sexual acts in the minds of children, which can lead to serious disorders such as paraphilia. “Overall, pornography adversely affects children's social and emotional well-being, and casts a negative shadow on their interpersonal relationships and academic performance,” said PK Ali, a clinical psychologist at the Mind Weavers Mental Health Hub, Kozhikode. He is also currently pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology at the Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (IMHANS), Kozhikode.
PK Ali added, “it is crucial to note that all children who are exposed to porn will not suffer negative consequences; some may view it out of curiosity or as part of their sexual development without significant issues. Factors such as individual characteristics, family dynamics, and the nature of the contents consumed play a pivotal role in deciding the impact of pornography on children. Ultimately, the ways to tackle the issue of children's vulnerability to porn include educating children about healthy sexuality, fostering open communication, and providing guidance to children to help them cope with the intricacies of sexually explicit contents in the digital era. I have encountered an unfortunate incident in which a 15-year-old boy was expelled from school for trying to abuse a minor. The boy had serious porn addiction issues. In another regrettable event, the parents of a 13-year-old boy caught him hiding behind a camera in their room. When they checked his search history, they were shocked to realise their son's porn watching habit.”
Watching pornography at a young age leads to serious psychological and behavioural issues in a child. “The dangers are not restricted but include self-stimulation at a very young age, abusive mentality, and the creation of an extremely distorted picture of sex in children's minds,” said TP Jawad, another clinical psychologist at the Wellness Clinic, Kozhikode, based on his experience dealing with the issues of porn consumption among children.
Jawad warns of the dangerous consequences on the well-being of children owing to the widespread consumption of pornography. 'Creating awareness among children and parents about the dangers of online pornography is the need of the hour, as digital devices are an unavoidable aspect of our present-day education system, and it can be misused by children. Schools must come forward to take up the responsibility of creating awareness, as that is the only solution to protect an innocent child from falling prey to the unrealistic and deviant depiction of sex in porn videos,” he said.
In an era where technology is growing by leaps and bounds, making the internet and smartphones an integral part of our lives, how society is going to grapple with the complexities of children's exposure to sexually explicit materials online remains crucial. Preventing children from watching porn videos would be a herculean task, as kids are born into a world of sophisticated communication devices and uninterrupted and high-speed internet connectivity, where it is quite strenuous for parents to keep the children's online activity under their radar.
The only way going forward is to impart proper sex education to children at a very young age in schools as well as in homes. Schools should not hesitate to introduce appropriate sex education into their curriculum, as the present way of imparting sex education in schools is a farce that doesn't go beyond teaching human anatomy. A recent initiative undertaken by the district administration of Thiruvananthapuram under the banner 'Project X', that was launched on July 25 to impart comprehensive sex education to teenagers in 50 schools in the district is commendable. Such projects that aim to educate children on sexuality are the need of the hour, and they need to be adopted by other districts and states as well.
(Neeraja is a doctoral student at the University of Calicut)