Exposure to Internet Pornography and the Effect upon Levels of Sexual Knowledge and Sexual Attitudes in Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the currents status of exposure to internet pornography on the part of elementary students and to analyze the impact upon levels of sexual knowledge or sexual attitudes in such children. The participants in this study comprised 536 6th grade elementary school students. The data was analyzed by means of T-tests, F-tests, Pearson's correlation and regression analysis. The results were as follows. First, 32.5% of the subjects had experienced some degree of exposure to internet pornography. Second, sexual attitudes and sexual knowledge were found to be higher in accordance with the general characteristics exhibited by the girls, these same sexual attitudes and sexual knowledge amongst girls were observed to be even higher when they were exposed to internet pornography. Third, the characteristics of this exposure to internet pornography did not significantly impact on levels of sex knowledge. However, the characteristics of exposure to internet pornography did significantly impact upon sexual attitudes. In particular, gender permissiveness, attitudes regarding pornography, and attitudes towards physical contact did have a significant impact.