Sexualistation of Young People

self-presentation could also mean that
young people are exposing themselves
to danger: recently, public attention
has focused on the use of social
networking sites to sexually solicit
underage children and young people.
18. With the rise of the internet, it is not
now a case of if a young person will
be exposed to pornography but when.
Before the mainstreaming of internet
access, it was asserted that the average
age of first exposure to pornography
was 11 for males 26 ; however, latest
research suggest that this age is now
much lower. 27 A recent YouGov survey
found that 27 per cent of boys are
accessing pornography every week,
with 5 per cent viewing it every day.
The survey also found that 58 per
cent had viewed pornography online,
on mobile phones, in magazines, in
films or on TV. Another study showed
that a quarter of young people had
received unsolicited pornographic junk
mail or instant messages while almost
one in eight had visited pornographic
websites showing violent images. 28
19. By the age of 15, 95 per cent of young
people have their own mobile phone. 29
Mobile phones allow young people
easy access to all kinds of online
content, regardless of whether or not
it is appropriate. Figures show that in
2007, mobile phones were the UK’s
biggest distributor of pornography. 30
The use of mobile phones as a tool
for bullying, controlling or monitoring
a dating-partner has attracted
considerable media attention recently,
and was frequently raised during the
evidence sessions held as part of
26 Bryant (1985)
27 Greenfield (2004)
28 Livingstone and Bober et al. (2005)
29 Ofcom (2008)
30 Juniper Research, Quoted in: Daw and Cabb
(2009)
this review. 31 Mobile phones are also
being used for so-called ‘sexting’ – the
sending, often unsolicited, of sexually
explicit messages.
20. With advances in technology, video
games are becoming increasingly
graphic and realistic. 32 At the same
time, children are more and more
likely to play games without adult
supervision: three-quarters of
12–15-year-olds have a games console
in their bedroom. 33 Many games
feature highly sexualised content and
there is a notable lack of strong female
characters. 34 The link between violent
content and aggression has been cited
in several studies 35 and it is widely
accepted that exposure to content
that children are either emotionally
or cognitively not mature enough for
can have a negative impact. Whereas
parents are not likely to allow their
children to watch an 18 film, they are
much more lenient when it comes to
allowing their children to play ageinappropriate
games. This may be
because they do not fully understand
either the realism or the themes that
these games contain.
The role of parents, schools
and corporate responsibility
21. The evidence so far indicates that
it is time we critically examine the
cumulative effect of the media
messages to which our children are
exposed and how we can mitigate any
negative effects resulting from them.
Installing filters on computers and
locks on mobile phones is of course
important. But sexualised content
31 Evidence Hearing Sessions for the Review
(May 2009 – July 2010)
32 Martinez and Manolovitz (2009)
33 Ofcom (2009)
34 Dill and Thill (2007)
35 Anderson and Dill (2000); Freedman (2002);
Deselms and Altman (2003)
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