Effects of early exposure to obscene content

Published : Dec 8, 2019, 2:05 PM IST

With widespread access to the Internet, curious teens may accidentally or intentionally be exposed to millions of pages of material that are uncensored, sexually explicit, often inaccurate, and potentially harmful.

Hyderabad: The availability of porn sites, overindulgence on watching obscene videos, are some of the major factors forcing youth to move on the wrong path.

Smartphones, laptops, more liberty, unmindful of parents warning and lack of counseling coupled with accessibility and to cheap rate internet facility can be attributed to incidents of rape and sexual assaults across the country.

Gruesome rape and murder of a 27-year-old female veterinarian, Disha in Hyderabad was the classic example of such incidents.

Four accused in an inebriated condition three of them just 20-year-old turned inhuman and ruthless had trapped hapless Disha and set her ablaze after rape and murder.

Social scientists opine that more liberty, bad friendship and easy access to the internet and porn videos are the main culprits for such heinous incidents. Youth resorting to rape and sexual assaults on females is a matter of huge concern.

A few years ago, a girl was gang-raped in a Dehradun school by her fellow students after they watched porn clips. According to news reports, the students had told the police during investigation that they had watched pornography on the Internet before allegedly raping the girl.

The advent of smartphones and easy access to the internet has led to an increase in the cases of sexual assault against women.

The government has directed Internet Service Providers to block 827 websites that host pornographic content following an order by the Uttarakhand High Court.

Subsequently, as many as 827 internet sites have blocked their porn sites. However, the distribution of obscene material still continues.

Elders should ensure that they do not carry smartphones and it is also necessary that they keep a check on them and their activities.

Parents have to instruct children on bad friendship its effect and abstain from watching such videos. Do not leave children alone, spend more time with them to prevent watching porn videos and sites.

If you suspect that your child is engaged in the content that promotes sexually explicit acts or conduct, get them counselled.

Despite the government's ban, porn sites were not fully blocked. Even today there are a number of ways through which children can come across sexually explicit material on the Internet and in other media.

As per reports, many cases have come to the forefront where children have been seen engaged in the transmission of content which depicts children engaged in sexually explicit acts or conduct. They share obscene content online and among friends.

While some youth cheat and harass girls in the name of love dating and parties, lorry workers tend to sexually attack victims like Disha by finding them alone.

Under the influence of such obscene material, men tend to assault girls sexually and use secret cameras to capture their photos illegally.