A recent survey says that an alarming number of children aged 12 to 13 are addicted to online porn. Pornography addiction in kids usually starts when kids spend too much time in front of the computer unmonitored. Other circumstances like separation in parents, neglect and abuse also lead kids to turn to pornography.It starts of as a curiosity which becomes a habit. 12 year old Reema Sen (name changed) says, “I started watching porn at the young age of seven when my parents used to go for work and I was alone at home during the holidays. One of my friends told me about certain computer games and there was a pop-up on my computer which showed videos on sex. Clicking on to that I was completely shocked to see the porn video. When school re-opened I spoke to my friends and they said that they have also seen similar videos. Soon we started sharing and I don’t know when it became an addiction.”A major cause of porn addiction in children is peer pressure. No influence in a teenager’s life is as powerful as that of a peer. Peer pressure can impair good judgment and fuel risk-taking behavior, drawing a child away from the family and positive influences and luring him into dangerous activities. The more the child is comfortable with his/her identity, the less susceptible he/she will be towards peer pressure.Says psychologist Anjali Chhabria, “In today’s day and age, the easy access to vast amounts of information and knowledge through internet sites also creates a multitude of opportunities for kids to access porn. Kids have to do most of their school homework via the internet, and while browsing, there are many instances where random pop-ups of porn sites could arouse the curiosity of the child and may eventually lead to an addiction. Working parents also find it difficult to monitor their child’s computer usage, with no or minimum parental guidance it is increasingly easy for children to visit porn sites uninterrupted.”Obsessive-compulsive disorders can also lead to porn addiction. It leads to sexual obsessions — unwanted thoughts or images that are upsetting or interfere with an individual's life, followed by compulsions — actions that temporarily relieve the anxiety caused by the obsessions. Sexual obsessions are involuntary, repetitive, and unwelcome. The individual cannot simply wish them away. Attempts to suppress sexual obsessions don't work and may in fact make the obsessions more severe.Pornography can have adverse impact on kids. Knowing about sex through pornography can damage a young mind and gives them an unhealthy idea about sex. When they grow up they expect their sex life to be similar to the pornography that they watch.To this psychologist Varkha Chulani says, “In itself porn does not do damage. It is how it is used over time that does. A peek once in a way at a porn site to excite you is not a problem. It is when it becomes repetitive and one begins to lay it out as a standard of what one ought to be like or what one ought to get from his/her partner that it begins to be one problematic situation.”Exposure to porn may also incite children to act out sexually against other children. Children often imitate what they've seen, read, or heard. Studies suggest that exposure to pornography can prompt kids to act out sexually against younger, smaller, and more vulnerable children.Says Anjali, “Pornography interferes with a child’s development and identity. During certain critical periods of childhood, a child's brain is being programmed for sexual orientation. During this period, the mind appears to be developing a "hardwire" for what the person will be aroused by or attracted to. Exposure to healthy sexual norms and attitudes during this critical period can result in the child developing a healthy sexual orientation. In contrast, if there is exposure to explicit pornography during this period, sexual deviance may become imprinted on the child's "hard drive" and become a permanent part of his or her sexual orientation.”The most important thing for parents is to be open about the topic of porn and sex, they should be free to discuss and bring the topic out with their children. They can ask questions such as “Have you ever seen porn, when did you start, why do you watch it?” if their children are watching porn, parents should not overreact; they should take responsibility of the act and try to figure out solutions.Anjali adds, “Parents should also check for signs about porn addiction such as staying in the room for a really long time with the door locked, checking for video games and websites children are interacting with, and the images featured. More and more, violent or sexual images are creeping into what parents think are safe sites or games. So parents should be more vigilant.”Explaining consequences to children such as once an image is sent over the Internet, it is not possible to take it back. In some states, teens caught sexting are now being charged as sex offenders for distributing or possessing child pornography, and some are even being sent to prison. Also, future employers and college admissions counselors may stumble upon postings when doing research on applicants.