Forty-two percent of Internet users ages 10 to 17 said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span, the study said. Of those, 66 percent said they stumbled upon the porn accidentally while surfing the web.
The results of the study were revealed the same day another report said more teens are watching videos on the Internet on a frequent basis.
In that study, market research firm Jupiter Research said they found that 53 percent of online teens watch video on the Internet occasionally and 22 percent of them view video weekly or more frequently.
Jupiter said that, like their adult counterparts in the online video audience, teens rely on the recommendations of friends to help them find video on the Internet.
Forty-four percent of teen online video viewers usually find the programs they watch based on friends’ recommendations via online or offline channels, the study said. Other popular means of discovering online video include personal blogs and social networking sites like MySpace, as well as search engines.
“Teen-oriented online video services will prove lucrative, but firms offering them must proactively address parental and privacy concerns to be successful,” Jupiter Reseach President David Schatsky said.
In the Pediatrics study, researchers found that more than one-third of 16- and 17-year-old boys surveyed said they had intentionally visited porn websites, while only 8 percent of girls that age had done so.
Researchers in that study said kids stumble onto online adult images through talking online with friends, visiting chat rooms and playing games.
They said filters and blocking software helped prevent exposure, but was not 100 percent effective.
