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Across the Western world, concerns about children having exposure to pornographic material continue to increase. Anti-human trafficking organizations and other groups focused on fighting additional forms of abuse and exploitation have especially sounded the alarm about this.

Unfortunately, the type of pornography that children are being exposed to is extremely graphic. The exposure is also happening at younger and younger ages. This, alone, raises questions about how observing such content will impact children's development, along with their peer interactions.

In the United Kingdom, officials have now started raising concerns about teenagers viewing pornography which includes the very graphic abuse of children.

Staggering numbers raise concerns for the futures of young people

Law enforcement, charities, and various officials who specialize in child abuse are all saying something has to give.

According to these folks, there's been a 26% uptick in adults contacting them for help after witnessing concerning behavior in their kids. Also documented is a 30% rise in minors contacting these groups for help.

As of 2020, around 66% of minors who reached out seeking support admitted they personally observed graphic imagery of other kids.

Officials on the front lines weigh in

In Britain, the website known as Shore can now help teens who feel worried about their internal thoughts regarding sex, along with their external behavior around others. Young Brits who reach out to Shore can do so via email or online chats.

Meanwhile, various charities and law enforcement bodies across the pond say more Brits below 18 are not just watching the pornographic abuse of kids, but also sharing it.

Lucy Faithfull Foundation is one charity that's on the front lines, trying to help minors in this predicament. According to the charity's senior practitioner Rachel Haynes, some young people coming across pornography are doing so via grooming from adults around them or exposure to the material via online chats with their peers.

Haynes also warns that seeing the graphic abuse of kids desensitizes minors and impacts their brains. Perhaps the only silver lining in this is young Brits are reaching out for help around them, rather than keeping all of this to themselves.