By Alysse ElHage, Institute for Family Studies, Sept. 30, 2021
Alysse ElHage is Editor of the Institute for Family Studies blog.
Children’s exposure to porn is one of the top concerns mentioned by parents on the 130,000-plus member parenting and tech Facebook group I recently joined. With a 10-year-old son begging for more gaming time and a 16-year-old daughter hoping to join Instagram, I needed the feedback and support from other parents on the page, who exchange information daily on navigating screens and encourage one another against the “digital empire” that threatens to consume our children.
A recent discussion topic was the Wall Street Journal’s undercover investigation of TikTok, which revealed the popular app pushes hundreds of sexually explicit ads to teen users as young as age 13, including links to sites depicting hard core porn. While some parents seemed surprised by the news, most acknowledged that porn is readily available on popular apps like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and others. …
