Technology exposing children to pornography

Lazarus Sauti

In this global world, technology has taken the place of human beings. Children, for example, are more attached to their gadgets than perhaps with their parents.

Because of this, technology is fast becoming a curse in disguise, as it is exposing these children to pornography.

Most children are accessing pornography via mobile devices such as smart phones, and this is worrisome considering the number of individuals who have cell phone services in Zimbabwe.

At national level, the proportion of individuals aged 3 years and above who used a mobile cellular telephone in the last three months was about 68 percent, according to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Household Survey, 2014, by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat).

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MISC) 2014 also asserts that 85.2 percent of young women aged 14-24 years and 85.6 percent of young men aged 15-24 years used mobile or non-mobile phones during the last 12 months.

Seventeen-year old Brenda Mutsa from Belvedere in Harare started watching pornographic materials on her smart phone two years ago.

Daughter of a pastor, Brenda says she downloads pornographic materials from the Internet.

“I started watching pornography at the age of 15 when I received a smart phone as a birthday present from my South Africa-based aunt. I download the materials. Sometimes I receive them from my friends via Whatsapp,” she says.

Sadly, Brenda started to experiment with sex, exposing herself to Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Brenda also confessed that some of her friends have used pornography for guidance about sex, rendering themselves to early pregnancies.

Statistics, by the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS), reveal that cases of teenage pregnancies have remained high, with one in 10 adolescent girls giving birth each year.

Described by one study as “a vice that desensitises children”, pornography promotes sexual deviancy, sexual perpetration, as well as adverse sexual attitudes.

Recently, a 14-year boy from Luveve in Bulawayo allegedly sodomised his three playmates aged eight, nine and 13 after a maid exposed him to pornography.

The boy, who cannot be named for ethical reasons, appeared before senior regional magistrate, Tranos Utahwashe, facing five counts of aggravated indecent assault.

The boy told the court as well as social workers that he was exposed to pornographic material which gave him ideas to abuse his friends over a period of one month.

Studies also reveal that most children in other countries are exposed to pornography, thanks to mobile devices such as smart phones.

A 2013 survey of more than 1 000 students aged between 13 and 17 in three major South African cities found that 67 percent (84 percent of boys and 54 percent of girls) have seen a pornographic film via mobile devices.

About 53 percent of 11- to 16-year-olds have seen explicit material online, nearly all of whom (94 percent) had seen it by 14, according to a recent Middlesex University research.

The researchers questioned 1 001 children aged 11 to 16 and found 65 percent of 15- to 16-year-olds reported seeing pornography, as did 28 percent of 11- to 12-year-olds.

The study, commissioned by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and the children’s commissioner for England, also noted that many children are at risk of becoming desensitised to pornography.

“More than three-quarters of the children surveyed – 87 percent of the boys and 77 percent of the girls – felt pornography failed to help them understand consent, but most of the boys (53 percent) and 39 percent of girls saw it as a realistic depiction of sex,” noted the study.

“Some of the children’s approach to sex was also informed by pornographic scenes, with more than a third (39 percent) of the 13- to 14-year-olds and a fifth of the 11- to 12-year-olds boys saying they wanted to copy the behaviour they had seen.”

Children’s rights activist, Proud Mutauto, says pornography is as addictive as marijuana and it gives children unacceptable messages about sex as well as intimacy.

“Childen exposed to pornography, like Mutsa and Utahwashe, are at an increased danger for developing sexual compulsions and addictive behaviour,” Mutauto said.

Social worker, Milton Chitsime, says pornography affects children’s studies, self-esteems, interpersonal relationships and their attitudes and behaviours towards love.

He, therefore, urges children not to watch pornographic materials.

“Watching is not doing, but it influences doing,” Chitsime says. “The desire to experiment normally comes after watching pornography.

“Watching pornographic materials weaken your efforts to reserve your body. The idea is to stay from all things that will tempt you to disrespect your body.”

Chitsime, who is also an author, says children should not misuse social networks.

“Like any other technology, social media is a double-edged sword and its outcome depends on how it is used,” he says. “A lot start with these social networks that many children have fallen in love with.”

Humanitarian Information Facilitation Centre (HIFC) director, Virginia Muwanigwa, says children should value our culture by desisting from watching pornography.

She adds that policy makers, in line with Section 19 of the new Constitution, should come up with policies and measures to ensure that in matters relating to children, the best interests of the children concerned are paramount.

“Governments, especially in southern Africa, need also to take more responsibility to ensure children are protected, and one foolproof way to protect them is through the provision of age-appropriate sex and relationship education in schools, dealing with vices such as pornography,” she says.

South African teenage poet, Robyn Le Roux, says instead of wasting time downloading and watching pornography, children should use technology for research as well as exposing their talents on YouTube.

“Children should use technology to address issues like child abuse and addiction as well as download educational applications like Encarta, not to promote illicit sexual behaviour and other vices,” she says.

Rutendo Tapiwa, a children’s rights activist, says children should be encouraged to use social media and new technology to drive the social and economic development of Zimbabwe and the continent.

“With the advent of the Internet and smartphones, children can positively change the country as well as the continent. For this to happen, parents and guardians should guide them, as well as monitor and talk to their children about the dangers of pornography.

Teachers and individual members of society, adds Tapiwa, can also play a crucial role in protecting children.

“On top of inspiring hope and instilling a love of learning, they can provide children with safe spaces where they can interact on issues related to sex and relationships,” she said.

In a paper titled, “Inadvertent exposure to pornography on the Internet: Implications of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks for child development and families,” published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 25 (Nov/Dec 2004), Dr Patricia M. Greenfield notes: “A warm and communicative parent–child relationship is the most important factor in reducing pornography use among children.

“In addition, open parent–child channels for communicating about sexual and media experiences, sex education at home or school, and parental participation with children on the Internet are constructive influences.”

However, children’s rights advocate, Clever Ndanga, says while technology is exposing children to pornography, it can be used to effect behaviour change among children and ensure their healthy lives as provided by part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.