1. ACCESSING PORNOGRAPHY BY YOUNG USERS OF
THE INTERNET – HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN THAT
REPORT SUCH A BEHAVIOR ONLINE?
Marta Wojtas
Helpline.org.pl Coordinator
Nobody’s Children Foundation

2. HELPLINE.ORG.PL
• Helpline.org.pl is a specific helpline for problems
related to the Internet.
• The services are targeted at:
Children and Youth
Parents
Professionals working with children or in the
area of children’s safety in the Internet
Main partner

3. SINCE 2007
Helpline.org.pl has received over
120 000 reports

4. SINCE 2007
Helpline.org.pl has provided help in over
10 000 reports related to online threats

5. RISKY BEHAVIOR ONLINE
• A result of developmental processes
• A result of the young users’ technological
savviness
• Children and adolescents in many cases do not
perceive that their behaviors online can place
them in a vulnerable position at risk for sexual
exploitation, solicitation etc.

6. SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT
THE INTERNET
• 30 % of all web traffic is porn
• Xvideos (+18, a porn site), receives a staggering
4.4 billion page views and 350 million unique
visitors per month
• Xvideos = Facebook = Google*
* ExtremeTech raport, 2012

7. HELPLINE.ORG.PL
NEW TRENDS IN REPORTS
More and more children report facts of accessing
pornographic sites on the Internet
In many cases children who are reporting accesing
pornography are aged 8-11
In some cases children 8-11 are reporting that they
cannot stop watching porn content
Testing calls/ reports related to online threats

8. WHAT CHILDREN SAY
„All boys in my class are watching porn”
„It is not so harmful”
„I watch porn sites and I’m afraid that
parents will find out about it…”
„I cannot stop accessing those sites”
„ We have viewed movies onYouTube and
RedTube”

9. HOW DID THEY FIND SUCH WEBSITES?
• „My older brother showed me”
• „My schoolmates were talking about porn
sites, so I decided to see them…”
• „My friends showed me”
• „I opened that kind of website by accident”

10. WHY DO YOUNG USERS LOOK FOR
PORNOGRAPHIC CONTENT?
• Curiosity
• To create an impression on peers
• To find information about sexuality
• To avoid embarrassing discussions with
parents
„it’s easer than talking with parents”
• To get more stimulation

11. WHAT ABOUT AGE FILTERS +18?
• „It doesn’t matter that they are for adults, I’m
accessing them anyway…”
• „Everybody in my school watch porn sites”
• „Who cares for real age in the Internet?”
• In many cases filters +18 appear on
particular computer only once, when the user
is accessing website for the first time…

12. GOALS IN PROVIDING HELP TO
CHILDREN WHO REPORT ACCESSING
PORNOGRAPHY ONLINE
• To talk about emotions and beliefs
• To find out more about situation
background -how often, what, why etc.
• Not to encourage to access porn sites
• To explain the harm it may cause
• To refer to relevant institution, or/and to
convince children to talk to parents

13. ARGUMENTS TO EXPLAIN THE HARM
• It may have negative influence on psychosexual
development
• It may create a false image of the reality
• It may cause distortions in body image
• It may cause negative beliefs, emotions,
agitation, trauma
• It may encourage to behavior that may be
destructive
• It may lead to contacts with people who can
have bad intentions and cause a harm
• It may cause desensitization

14. TIPS FOR PARENTS
Sexual education if poor at home, poor at schools,
it may creates good backgroud for risky behavior
online.
Even well-behaved children are seeking for
knowledge about issues that are important for
them.
Talk to your child why and how porn content may
cause a harm.
Better talk to your child about sexuality, even if you
think it is too early, instead of dooming him/her to
knowledge that may be destructive

15. A CASE OF SHOWUP.TV

16. THE OBSERVERS

17. ONLINE PROSTITUTION ?

18. SEXUAL ABUSE AND SOLICITATION
• Report from an anonymous adult
„on that website every day appear children
12-15, who expose their genitals or
masturbate and many observers are giving
them reason to do more sexual behaviour
online”

19. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Marta Wojtas
Helpline.org.pl Coordinator
Nobody’s Children Foundation
marta.wojtas@fdn.pl
www.helpline.org.pl
www.fdn.pl