Alberta boys view porn at 'frightening level'

More than one-third of 13-year-old Alberta boys view Internet porn "too many times to count," and parents have only the vaguest notion about it, a groundbreaking study suggests. "If you're 13 and you can't put a number on the times (you've used porn), that's a little frightening," University of Alberta researcher Sonya Thompson said yesterday. [...]

Ms. Thompson analyzed responses to an hour-long questionnaire from 429 rural and urban Grade 8 students with a median age of 13.5. She asked about their exposure to and use of sexually explicit material on TV, DVDs, movies and the Internet, as well as about their interaction with their parents about such material. The Internet was the most common way for kids to get access to porn, with about three-quarters of students reporting such contact. Ms. Thompson found almost one-quarter of the boys watched pornographic DVDs or videos "too many times to count" and 35 per cent said the same about Internet smut. The corresponding figures for girls were 4 per cent and 8 per cent. Three-quarters of the boys and almost half the girls said they deliberately logged on to sexually explicit material.

Ms. Thompson knows there's nothing new about the fascination adolescent boys have for naked women. But she suggests live-action sex on the web or on DVDs -- especially as more extreme acts become more widely available -- is a whole new level.

source: Article < Alberta boys view porn at 'frightening level' > by Bob Weber; www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070223.PORN23/TPStory/National; globeandmail.com (Canadian Press); 23 February 2007