Analysis

Children Online

The iPhone was introduced in 2007. For the first time, people would have full access to the internet on a portable device. The delight over the popular technology was universal with little discussion of what this could mean for children.

Children use smart phones and other devices at astronomically high rates. Over 95% of teenagers have access to a smart phone and 45% admit they are “almost constantly” online.[i] Smartphones and other screens have displaced traditional ways of playing and socializing. Instead of teens playing pick-up basketball in the cul-de-sac or inviting friends over to hang out, they rely on their phones to avoid boredom, connect with friends, learn new things, and, sadly, to avoid face-to-face interaction with other people.[ii]

Younger children fare little better. Instead of playing outside, building Legos, or reading books, children spend increasing amounts of their free time on internet-enabled devices. Upwards of 75% of young children have their own tablets,[iii] while 60% of children begin using smartphones before age five.[iv] Nearly one-in-five parents of a child younger than 12 say their child has their own smartphone, and a portion of those children use social media.[v]

The results have been catastrophic. Anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide has risen dramatically among adolescents[vi] with early smartphone use linked to long-term mental health issues, especially for girls.[vii] Increased screen time also contributes to serious health issues including childhood obesity and chronic sleep deprivation, as well as decreased cognitive, social, and behavioral development.[viii]

The most tragic consequence of smartphones and internet-enabled devices for children is their potential early exposure to massive amounts of sexual solicitation and pornography. Predators use sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) to spread explicit content and connect with vulnerable teens. Some 13% of X’s content, for example, is pornographic.[ix] One in eight users under the age of 16 on the popular Instagram app report that they have experienced “unwanted sexual advances on the platform over the past seven days.”[x]

Today’s technology-savvy children are especially vulnerable to marketing efforts to push pornography on every type of mobile and media device, as revealed by these statistics:

• The average age of a child’s first internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old.[xi]
• Among teens ages 13-17, 21% came across pornography once or twice a month, and 57% sought it out at least monthly.[xii]
• Some 71% of teens report hiding online activity from their parents (this includes clearing browser history, minimizing a browser when in view, deleting inappropriate videos, lying about behavior, using a phone instead of a computer, blocking parents with social media privacy settings, using private browsing, disabling parental controls, or having e-mail or social media accounts unknown to parents).[xiii]
• In a survey at a large Catholic high school, students reported their smart phone (57%) or tablet (24%) as their primary way to view pornography, and their bedroom as the primary place for viewing it (61%) followed by some other place in their home (24%).[xiv]

To pile tragedy upon tragedy, children are not only vulnerable to viewing pornography but also to creating it. Sexting—defined as the action or practice of sending sexually-explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone—is becoming more and more common. Among 13–18-year-olds in the UK, 38% have sent a sext and 32% said they sent one to someone they knew only online; another 60% said they have been asked to share explicit photos or videos of themselves.[xv]

The effects of exposure to pornography are well-documented. For more, read Center for Arizona Policy’s Harms of Pornography Policy Page.

Parental Steps to Protect Children

The first defense against child exposure to pornography and exploitation is vigilance by parents. As researcher Dr. Patricia M. Greenfield puts it, “A warm and communicative parent–child relationship is the most important factor. 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.”[xvi] By taking a few key steps, parents can greatly minimize the chances that their children will be exposed to sexually explicit material.

Make your home a safe space. Pornographers are trying to reach teens with pornography even when the child is not actively seeking it. In fact, 79% of unwanted exposure of youth to pornography happens right in the home.[xvii]

• Install a good router on your home wireless network or add hardware to filter your router. There are many good filter options including the Circle and Bark Home.
• Keep the computer in a high traffic area, never in a child’s bedroom, even if filtered internet service is used. No filter is 100% effective, and savvy children can circumvent most filters.
• If your child has a smartphone with internet capability, contact your carrier about parental control options or install a mobile internet filter such as SafeEyes. For younger teens and tweens, consider giving them a Gabb phone instead of a smart phone.
• Supervise children’s online communication from email and social media to apps and video games to make sure that they are used appropriately.

Keep abreast of the technology used by your children.

• If your child has an internet-enabled device that can receive pictures or video, familiarize yourself with how the device works and what parental controls are available. Also check the device frequently for pornographic content. Sometimes it is hidden in “previews” available on the app even if the child does not have full access to the app.
• Learn about the websites, games, software, and apps that your children use. Protecting Young Eyes, Common Sense Media, and Axis are good organizations providing reviews to parents.
• Understand how predators operate on the internet.[xviii]

Talk to your children about internet use regularly and in age-appropriate ways. Just as a parent protects a small child from busy roads, then teaches an older child the rules of the road, and eventually instructs a teenager in driving technique before sending them out on the highway, so also parents protect their children from damaging sites and predators on the internet before slowly transitioning them onto the information highway as they become adults.

• Instruct children not to give out any personal information to anyone they may meet on the internet. This is particularly important with social networking sites like Facebook, X, and Instagram, where children might unwittingly provide a predator with details like their birth date, where they go to school, and the route they take walking home.
• Review with your children the dangers and harms of pornography. For elementary kids, read to them Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. or Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen Jenson. For teens, consider the resources at Fight the New Drug and Axis. Ask your teens about sexting and sextortion.
• Consider watching The Social Dilemma or Dopamine Nation with teens. Discuss the role of addiction in internet use and the negative effects of social media.

Policy Steps to Protect Children

Congress has tried to protect children online for decades, but the U.S. Supreme Court has stymied its efforts time and again. The Court struck down a 1996 law that punished entities who knowingly sent obscene or indecent messages to children as unconstitutionally vague under the First Amendment.[xix] Then the Court struck down a law requiring age-verification in order for children to visit sites with harmful material, stating that “filters are more effective than age-verification requirements” and do not impinge free speech rights.[xx]

Still, parents have grown more and more vocal with their concerns, especially after COVID-19-related school shutdowns placed more children online. Congress is deliberating over the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) designed to offer safeguards for children online.[xxi] In 2023, more than 40 states joined a lawsuit against Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp among others) for intentionally ensnaring and addicting children to its social media platforms in violation of consumer protection laws.[xxii]

In addition, several states have proposed and passed laws to protect children from addictive technology, including online pornography. Utah successfully passed legislation that requires social media companies to age-verify users, obtain parental consent for children who wish to join the platform, and allow parents to access to their children’s accounts.[xxiii] A number of states have followed suit including Texas, Arkansas, California, and Louisiana although most of the laws are enmeshed in litigation.[xxiv]