While parents say their chief concern regarding their children is not sex but time they spend consuming media, four out of ten young people have been exposed to porn online, according to two studies cited by Reuters.
When it comes to what parents are most worried about, 57 percent of respondents to an Insight Research Group survey said it was their kids' exposure to media - specifically the amount of time kids spent on different media. That's compared with only 45 percent who named sex or alcohol use.
Those fears of media consumption are given some credence by a study from the University of New Hampshire in Durham that found four out of ten kids age 10-17 had seen pornography online. Some of that content was sought out, but other exposure was accidental and largely the result of mistyped web addresses, spam email or pop-up ads.
Though many kids weren't concerned by what they had seen, child psycholgists worry about the long-term affects on children. Those seeking out the pornography were more likely to be teenaged boys; and though such behavior is not unexpected, experts do worry about how viewing porn could impact social development.