Head teachers want schools to teach children about the dangers of pornography in sex education classes.
The National Association of Head Teachers said children have easy access to hardcore material on the internet, and they need to be aware of its impact.
Sion Humphreys, one of the union’s policy advisors, said: “We would support children being taught in an age-appropriate way about the impact of pornography as part of a statutory Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) programme.”
Lessons
He added: “Evidence suggests 10 isn’t too young to start lessons on pornography, but it wouldn’t be a full on lesson but the grounding would be laid down.”
Meanwhile, research from Plymouth University shows some children have become porn addicts, having first viewed adult material when they were just 11 years old.
The study, of nearly 1000 young people, revealed that many are becoming desensitised to sexual images, and have unrealistic expectations of sex.
Problems
The survey also found that a third of 16-24 year olds had problems with their relationships because of porn viewed online.
Researcher Professor Andy Phippen recommended that teachers talk to students about porn to avoid future difficulties with sex.
He said: “Some people are getting hooked on the porn and then are not able to perform in the real world. It can give people unrealistic expectations. It can be very damaging for some people.”
Hardcore
He added: “If you have someone accessing hardcore porn from the age of 12, what’s that going to do to them?”
The Government is coming under pressure to introduce stricter controls on internet porn.
More than 110,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Government to make internet providers automatically block access to online pornography.