Porn and the playground: Who is watching what our kids are watching?
Early exposure to pornography can cause lasting trauma in children, leading to harmful, self-destructive behaviours later in life, the foundation warns.
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Iman Rappetti, in for CapeTalk's John Maytham speaks to Dr. Shaheda Omar, Clinical Director at the Teddy Bear Foundation.
Listen below:
The Teddy Bear Foundation has issued a stark warning about the long term psychological damage caused by children’s exposure to pornography.
The Johannesburg-based NGO provides holistic services to children that have been abused and says viewing of such content can leave deep, lasting trauma.
But it's a growing epidemic that few want to talk about - children as young as six being exposed to explicit pornographic content.
The organisation says it's seen a sharp spike in cases of harmful sexual behaviour linked to early exposure to online porn.
In just the past six months, 27 children have gone through a structured diversion programme aimed at rehabilitation.
Omar says children's fluency with technology means such content is available at the touch of a button:
"We are finding that three-year-olds are engaging with devices already and are able to surf (the internet)."
- Dr. Shaheda Omar, Clinical Director - Teddy Bear Foundation
"There's a lot of pop-ups that appear. Children are exposed to sexual abuse content."
- Dr. Shaheda Omar, Clinical Director - Teddy Bear Foundation
Omar says risk factors for exposure to such content include older siblings and potential perpetrators who may use such material to 'groom' children.
"These are some of the harsh realities where we find very young children are exposed to these circumstances."
- Dr. Shaheda Omar, Clinical Director - Teddy Bear Foundation
Omar says when a little child is exposed to trauma it leaves an imprint on the brain.
"It predisposes children to long-term implications of self destructive behavioural patterns."
- Dr. Shaheda Omar, Clinical Director - Teddy Bear Foundation
Scroll up to listen to the full conversation from Afternoon Drive.
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