Shocking New EU Survey Reveals 1 in 10 Irish Children Have Watched Porn Online

Do you know what your child is looking at when they go online? A new survey has revealed that 1 in 10 Irish children is gaining access to pornography online.

The Irish Daily Mail reports that a new survey, which is billed to be the most comprehensive and wide-ranging surveys to date on the dangers associated with the internet, has revealed that children as young as 9 years old are browsing websites that contain information about pornography, anorexia and suicide techniques.

The Towards A Better Internet For Children survey was funded by the European Commission’s Safe Internet Programme, and surveyed 25,000 families in 25 countries across Europe.

The shocking results of the survey have caused child protection groups and politicians alike to call on internet providers to introduce constraints when it comes to allowing children to view explicit materials online.

They believe that there must be a simple ‘opt-in’ system attached to the internet, which will block access to sites of an adult or ‘dangerous’ nature unless and adult requests to see the material.

“It raises a lot of questions and concerns,” said Dr Brian O’Neill, from the Dublin Institute of Technology, who conducted the Irish section of the study.

“The results are alarming. The evidence would also suggest that Irish parents are now extremely worried about what their children are seeing on the internet,” he added.

When it comes to monitoring what children are browsing online, Irish parents are the most responsible in Europe. However, they are still worried about the type of content their children are coming across on various websites.

“This is a survey from a highly reputable source and it needs to be taken seriously. It shows that children know their way around the internet better than their parents do,” said Norah Gibbons from Barnardos.

“The efforts in Ireland at protecting children from this material have been inadequate and unsuccessful. Internet providers need to seriously look at their role in this. It is their responsibility and it is they who have the power,” she added.

Ms Gibbons also stressed that there needs to be a response to the results of the survey on a “governmental level.”

What do you think? Do you believe that stronger measures should be put in place to protect children from viewing questionable content online?