One of the most disturbing aspects of the Internet is the easy access it gives kids to pornography. Hard-core sexual images, which were once very difficult to acquire, are now just a mouse click away.

It’s important, however, to put Internet pornography into context. Online pornography is part of a larger picture, where ‘sexualized’ images of young people are increasingly used to sell everything from perfume to clothing. Kids are also exposed to explicit sexual material in the video games they play, the magazines they read and the movies, music videos and TV they watch.

Online pornography grabs our attention largely because of the aggressive marketing techniques that adult sites employ. Yet, in spite of all the sexually explicit pop-up windows, e-mail spam and search results, pornographic sites actually make up a very small portion of Internet content. According to the U.S.-based Online Computer Library Center, in 2002, sexually explicit Web sites represented only 3 per cent of all public sites.

On the other hand, over half of Canadian kids say they’ve ended up on an adult site accidentally, usually while:

• doing an online search for something using a search engine
  
  
• typing in the wrong Web site address
  
  
• clicking on a link in an e-mail, instant message or chat room posting
  
  
• using file-sharing software that allows easy access to pornographic images and videos

With more than a half a million adult sites on the Internet, the online pornography industry is highly competitive. Adult marketers are continually developing new strategies to drive traffic to their sites.

Some of their tactics are:

• ‘Click-throughs’: Every time someone clicks through an adult site to another one, the site’s advertising revenues go up. To increase the number of click-throughs, some sites use pop-up windows. Known as ‘mouse napping,’ this technique traps users in an endless loop of porn.
  
  
• ‘Home page hi-jacking’: This involves planting a Java script command on computers to change the user’s default home page to a porn site. Changing the home page back to its original setting appears to solve the problem until the computer is rebooted, then the offensive site re-appears as the home page.
  
  
• ‘Stealth’ sites: These are porn sites that steer users their way through a variety of techniques, including buying up expired domain names, exploiting common misspellings, or using well-known names of companies or artists.
  
  
• Using hidden key words that are picked up by search engines: Porn operators bury key words, including brand names of popular toys, in the code of their Web sites to attract children.

Trying to control porn in a global medium like the Internet is difficult at best. Most Internet pornography, while offensive and distasteful to many users, is not illegal. As well, countries have different cultural standards and legislation regarding sexual material, and content that is banned in one jurisdiction may be easily accessible on servers in another jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, even if pornography is banned in a country, it can still have a significant presence. For example, Australian legislation bans Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from hosting pornographic material on their servers. Yet a 2002 study showed that 84 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of girls in Australia have been exposed accidentally to online pornography.

Impact on children and young people

While there is little research on whether viewing pornography harms children, several recent studies have shown that when young children are accidentally exposed to online pornography they find it disturbing.

Teens, particularly adolescent males, have always been driven by natural curiosity to seek out sexualized images. This hasn’t changed. What’s different is the easy access the Internet gives kids to deviant or violent sexual content, which may have an influence on their developing attitudes towards sexuality and relationships.

Regardless of the evidence that exists concerning the effect of pornography on kids, as adults, we know we don’t want our children or students accidentally stumbling across it when they are young, or developing an appetite for it during their teen years.

• Health curriculum should be adjusted to address this new environment. Young people are being exposed to sexual images in various media so adults must establish an open and honest dialogue with kids about the kind of images they are exposed to. Discuss sexual messages in all media. Help students understand the impact of exploitive and degrading images of women and girls.
  
  
• Health teachers can direct students to good-quality Web sites that provide information for young people on sexuality and health. If the main information kids are receiving about sexuality is from porn sites, you have a problem. Explore with them the differences between normal, healthy sexual expression and the exploitive and deviant activity that is so prevalent online.
  
  
• If students come across pornography in the classroom, remain calm -- don’t get upset or act accusingly. In many cases these sites pop up accidentally and are difficult to leave, which can be very distressing for kids.
  
  
• Disable Java and JavaScript in the browser preferences. This will prevent kids from getting caught in a cycle of pop-up pornographic windows. But be aware that this will make viewing many sites impossible.
  
  
• Make sure you know where you’re going on the Web. Links on reputable sites are generally safe. It helps to bookmark favourite sites so you can get there quickly without having to type in an address. But be aware that porn operators often purchase expired Web addresses, including those for kids’ sites, when the original sites cease to exist. o Use kid-friendly search engines such as Ask Jeeves for Kids, or adult search engines that offer filtering, such as Google. Test the different search engines to see which ones give the best results.
  
  
• Situate the computers in your classroom so the monitors are highly visible.

Classroom activities and lessons:

• Sex in Advertising
  In this lesson students in grades 11 and 12 examine the use and prevalence of sexuality in advertising.
  
  
• The Pornography Debate: Controversy in Advertising
  This lesson helps students in grades 11 and 12 understand the difficulty in determining the sometimes very fine lines between erotica, freedom of expression, and sexual exploitation and to familiarize them with guidelines for making these distinctions. 
  
  
• Learning Gender Stereotypes
  This lesson helps students in grades 8 and 9 distinguish between gender message in advertisements and how men and women behave in real life. 
  
  
• The Impact of Gender Stereotypes
  This lesson helps students in grades 8 and 9 understand the potentially damaging effects of living up to stereotypes about men and women that are promoted in the media. 
  
  
• Exposing Gender Stereotypes
  This lesson helps students in grades 8 and 9 analyze their own assumptions about what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a woman. 

 
Know the Risks
Privacy invasions | Pornography | Cyber bullying | Online predators | Spam | Misinformation | Violent and hateful content | Gambling | Reporting trouble