I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Smartphones expose younger kids to porn
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Koo Sung-ae Sex educator
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Smartphones are exposing lower elementary school graders to pornography, a well-known sex education expert said on Thursday.
“Some fifth and sixth graders were forced to transfer into another school after they did bizarre acts in a classroom. They tried to mimic what adult movie actors do to their female classmates,” said Koo Sung-ae.
Koo is the founder of non-profit group Aoosung which is dedicated to promoting sex education for teenagers.
She said pornographic content “causes them to mimic unconsciously what porn stars do.”
“Once children are exposed to such obscene material, sex education is meaningless. What I see now is that sex education cannot counter the disastrous effect of pornography on childhood.”
According to a recent survey by the Ministry of Welfare and Family survey, students are in the fourth or fifth grade when they first access such material.
Another survey conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family last year showed that 23.5 percent of children watched pornography for the first time when they were at elementary school.
Koo blamed weak Internet filter software for failing to stop children from accessing.
“About half of smartphones used by elementary school students have the tool to block them from accessing adult content. This means that the other half remain defenseless,” she said. “Tech-savvy children can still have access to adult material even though the Internet filter software is installed in their smartphones.”
Filter software alone cannot block the spread of adult materials among children, the sex educator said.
“Smartphone chatting application KaKaoTalk is widely used among elementary school students. Children send adult videos to their classmates through the app,” she said.
In 2011, two out of 10 elementary school students used smart phones.