Pediatrics Study Shows Unwanted Porn Reaching Almost Half of Online Kids

A study to be published in the February issue of Pediatrics shows that 4 in 10 children ages 10 to 17 encountered pornographic images and sometimes movies online in the year prior to the study.  80% of those encounters were not deliberate searches but the results of spam, downloading, and misspelled words in web addresses.  The other 20% where porn was sought out found that kids were disturbed by the graphic nature of what they saw.  Another statistic showed that 80% of those who sought pornography were boys.

The study took place via telephone surveys conducted between March and June 2005 in the U.S.  The study authors speculate that the number for those seeking porn may be higher due to embarrassment over reporting their encounters.

Bloomberg has the story.  Other reports are in Playfuls, the New York Times, and Forbes.