Karnataka: Distress calls from parents! Save my child, he's watching porn

Bengaluru: Beware when children are busy with Internet or mobile phones, they might be addicted to pornography! In a startling development, supervisors working with the Child Helpline 1098, which receives more than 15 calls every day, have seen a marked rise in minors watching porn. A nodal supervisor from the toll free helpline for children in distress, said, “There is an increase in the trend where children belonging into the age bracket of 14 to 18 years are being addicted to pornography. Every day the helpline receives around 15 to 20 calls from parents seeking help.”

It was found that around 80 per cent of the addicted children had their own mobile phone handset with access to internet. "During the initial stages, the parents were not aware that their children were into watching pornography on a daily basis. They found out accidentally and realised that their children were into something abnormal -  it was pornography.”  “In one of the cases, the parents of a 16 year old found that their Internet bill had risen dramatically and when they checked the desktop of the child, they found huge downloads of pornographic content that he was transferring  to his mobile phone and sharing it with other friends through Whatsapp,” he added.

 Another officer said one of the reasons for the rise in pornography addiction is that there was no peer group. He said, “These days even a five year old is busy with a mobile phone or a tablet. There is no interaction between parents and their children and the only interaction between them is about academics and studies.”

 He said that when distressed parents call, seeking help "all we can do is, send a counselor.  But how long can a counselor stay with and visit the child? It is time that the parents realize that they should act as counselors,” he added. It is not addiction but easy availability of materials, said Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, additional professor at SHUT clinic, Nimhans, “We cannot exactly call it as an addiction but it can be put into the bracket of Frequent Users. People these days can easily access to anything they want. Children should indulge in conversation and physical activities which help in diverting their mind,” he said.