Dangers of x-rated material on children

It is no secret that children may be tempted to sneak the odd X-rated magazine and share it with their friends.

But Ballito-based counselling psychologist Lisa Grant-Stuart said the real dangers are often bought into the home by the very people who should be protecting them, their parents.

“Parents are often oblivious to the severity and extent of material that is available from their homes.

“Visit a website which critiques the popular Grand Theft Auto 5 and one only needs to witness the sexual and violent activities that children are able to witness and perform in this virtual reality space,” said Grant-Stuart.

The other common problem areas include movies and series accessed while parents are out and/or asleep via DSTV or Netflix and the ever-concerning access to the Internet.

“From a psychological perspective, exposing children and teens to R-rated visuals has profound and long-lasting consequences.

“The youth learn through modelling and will base their actions on what they have seen and experienced.

“An adult can watch a series like Game of Thrones, which has extreme violence and sex scenes at times, but when a child watches it, they cannot cope with what they see.

“Restriction ratings have a solid and sound purpose; they exist because certain ages are not emotionally and/or cognitively equipped to deal with explicit material in a healthy and normal way. Remember, what has been seen, can never be unseen.”

She said exposure to explicit material normalises violence and pornography for minds and bodies that are ill-equipped to deal with this information.

“This may result in kids acting out ‘scenes’ among one another in the form of bullying or sexual exploitation.”

In addition, she said this desensitisation will make children more susceptible to the grooming process practiced by paedophiles.

This is what she said parents should know:
The Child Care Act states that exposing children (anyone under the age of 18) to inappropriate material constitutes a criminal offense. T

he Act makes no distinction between intentional exposure (knowing that your child is playing an R-rated game) and accidental exposure (having your child secretly stay up and view pornography on TV).

Parents who do not take every measure to prevent this are liable to be criminally charged.
Make use of satellite blocking features to prevent children from viewing R-rated TV programmes in your absence.

Do not allow children to play videos games which are R-Rated. These games seem innocent in the early stages of the game, but there is a reason for the restriction.

Install blocking/PG safe software on your child’s electronic device prior to use.
Some children may still access explicit material, despite all best intentions.

However, the blocking features and parental supervision sends the strong message that certain behaviours are either unacceptable and/or for adults only.

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