01 April,2009 10:23 AM IST | | Agencies
Researchers have warned that teenagers are developing a twisted view of sex from pornography they view on the Internet.
Previous generations tended to learn about the facts of life from their parents and teachers in a respectful and moral way. But a third of children surveyed said they had learned about sex from pornography and regarded the soulless images they saw as normal.
An alarming number of teenage girls believed they should imitate pornographic scenes they had seen on the internet.
Nearly nine out of 10 teenagers aged 14 to 17 had looked at graphic images and nearly one in five viewed them more than once a week the survey found.
Researchers said a growing number of girls felt pressured into stripping on webcams for their boyfriends.
In one frightening confession, a girl of 15 told how her friends performed sex acts on webcams, replicating what they had seen on the internet or TV.
A 14-year-old girl said that if a girl sent a lewd picture of herself to her boyfriend, it was often sent on to his friends.
A third of youngsters surveyed said pornography was 'a good thing'. Boys as young as 14 admitted to swapping pornography at school, usually on their phones or computers.
The survey questioned 443 teenagers aged 14 to 17 at schools across the country.
