One in 23 kids solicited for sex photos online

By Jonathan Bray

Posted on 20 Jul 2007 at 14:29

A research paper issued in the US has revealed that one in 25 children was asked to send a sexual photograph of themselves over the internet.

Commenting on the study, carried by the American University of New Hampshire, for its Crimes Against Children Research Center, psychology professor Kimberley Mitchell said that children who comply with requests could become victims, or even perpetrators of pornography.

"They're being asked to produce child pornography," Mitchell told American newspaper USA Today. "We think most children don't fully understand the stakes here. They may just see it as rudeness or sometimes even flattery."

The survey is based on a survey taken in 2005 of 1,500 children, aged between 10 and 17. Some 65 of those children had been asked to send someone a picture of a sexual nature during the year 2005.

Only 12 per cent reported the incidents to the authorities.

According to David Finkelhor, the centre's director, it's the spread of webcams and digital cameras that is to blame.

The paper also found that more children were exposed to unwanted pornography while surfing - 33 per cent, up from 25 per cent in 2000 - and that more were being bullied online.