Taking Another Look At That "Ambush Porn" Story
(AP / CBS)
According to a new study from the University of New Hampshire, CBS News technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg noted, 34 percent of kids between 10 and 17 have inadvertently viewed pornography online. Sieberg went on to talk about how, according to experts such as Parry Aftab of wiredsafety.org, "it's critical to have candid discussions in the classroom and the living room."
I have no doubt that kids sometimes accidentally view online pornography, and Aftab's advice is probably sound. But I think it's worth looking a little more closely at this story, which has gotten major play in many media outlets.
In any study in which people are reporting on their own habits, the information is going to be unreliable. In this study, which was conducted via telephone, that problem is magnified because of both the age of the participants and the subject matter discussed. The researchers admit as much: They told Bloomberg that some kids may have "characterized exposure incidents as unwanted because they were embarrassed to admit they sought out such material." In other words, that 34 percent figure should be viewed with skepticism.
