12% of all the websites in the world are pornographic. This is useful information for parents of children and young people who use the Internet.

by Sigrun Landro Thomassen

The business education blog Online MBA have compiled some interesting figures about online porn:

• 12% of the websites on the Internet are pornographic. That’s almost 25 million sites.

• Every second more than 3000 dollars are being spent on pornography. The Internet porn industry pulls in almost 5 billion dollars per year.
• 25% of all search engine requests are pornography related. That’s 68 million a day.
• There are 116 000 searches for “child pornography” every day.
• 20% of men admit to watching porn online at work. 13% of women admit the same.
• 1 in 3 porn viewers are women. 
• The average age at which a child first sees porn online is 11.
• The average porn site visit lasts 6 minutes and 29 seconds.
• 2.5 billion emails per day are pornographic. That’s 8% of all emails. 35% of all Internet downloads are pornographic. Every second 28 000 Internet users are viewing porn.
• The most popular day of the week for viewing porn is Sunday.
  

According to Cnet, the sources of these statistics range from the National Coalition for Children and Families to SafeFamilies.org to psychotherapists at the Portman Clinic in London. There's also a compendium of statistics at Top Ten Reviews.

Children watch porn online
Kids and Media’s advisor, Kjellaug T. Tonnesen, believes that many parents aren’t aware of what their children are experiencing online:

"There is a lot of explicit porn out there, and many parents are probably not aware of how nasty some of the sites are. They are nothing like the porn magazines from the 80s."

Apply suitable user settings
When children start using the Internet it is important that parents are aware of all the content that is available online.

“Children do not necessarily seek out porn, but a few inadvertent clicks might lead them to an adult webpage,” Tonnesen explains.

“Most web browsers allow users the option of applying settings that control which content is available. We recommend that children get their own separate user account with settings applied in accordance to their age. One might also buy software that allows you to select different settings for available content.”

Trust and dialogue
However, Kids and Media’s advisor stresses that parents’ presence and dialogue with their children is equally important.

“It is important to agree on a set of rules and to talk about how to behave online, and to give children a sense of confidence and responsibility as they grow older.”

How should I talk with my teenagers about porn?
It is important, but not always easy to have an open dialogue about difficult topics with young people. Pornography is one of the most delicate issues of all.

Read: How can I get to talk with my teenagers about porn?

Some topics you could discuss:

• How common would you say it is among your friends to watch porn?
• Do you discuss porn with your friends?
• What do you think about porn yourself?
• What kind of attitudes and understanding does porn create of sexuality and male/female sex?
• If you have a boy/girlfriend, how do you think he/she would feel if you were using porn?
• The porn industry: Why do people (mostly men) create porn? How do you think it is to work as a porn model? How do you think the porn industry treats women?
• Does personal porn consumption create a contribution and acceptance of the porn industry?
• What changes has the Internet brought to the porn?
• Is it possible to get addicted to porn? Why/why not? Example: If a person were watching porn several times a week for a whole year – how easy do you think it would be for that boy/girl to stop completely?
  

Sources:

Online MBA
The Stats on Internet Pornography

Cnet
Sunday is most popular day for online porn

Related articles on kidsandmedia.co.uk:

Warns against the sexualization of society

Talk to your teenager about porn