Kiddie Porn Surfers.

Kiddie Porn Explosion.

When our newspapers published those worrying figures about the 400,000+ hits per day on child porn sites, I couldn't help but feel shocked. Especially in the aftermath of all the scandals that have been in the news of late along with the police clamp down on such activity.

But when I also learn that more than half of our children are accessing porn sites on their computers it suddenly dawned on me that the previous reports of a rise in visits to child porn sites may be accounted for by the increase in children's basic curiosity and their thirst for such imagery.

I speak from experience as a grandfather, father and child. The; "You show me yours and I'll show you mine." philosophy amongst the young has been around since the dawn of pre-pubescence and alongside tentative investigational sex. How many of us succumbed to the furtive acquisition and stashing of such magazines as Spick 'n Span and H&E.

The Web is merely a modern day extension of this behaviour. Children will access this sort of material on any a number of levels which include: curiosity, titillation, daring do and peer pressure.

Some of the content will disgust and shock them as it does most adults but it is what healthy kids crave. Whether such experiences will leave the young porn surfers' with any lasting damage is debatable, only time will tell.