Findings: Children Stumbles, Watch n Copy Online Pornography

The findings, from a survey of one thousand children by the Children's Commissioner, the NSPCC and Middlesex University, are likely to intensify the debate around internet restrictions on explicit material.

Young children are watching, copying and becoming "desensitised" to porn, according to new research.

The report found a quarter of 11-year-olds have seen online porn - and by the age of 16 that figure rises to half.

A third of 13 to 14-year-old boys who have seen porn say they want to copy the behaviour they have seen, while many have not searched for it but have stumbled upon it online by accident.

Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield said: "Many children and young people who view pornography are disturbed by it. It is worrying that millions are viewing it, whether they're stumbling on it by accident or actively searching for it."

Kieran, aged 15, said: "You get it on social media like Instagram, Snapchat, even things come up on Twitter like porn websites that you might accidentally click on.

"People who are 10 and 11 - they don't know what it is and they click on it."

Charlotte, 15, said: "Porn creates unreal expectations of what sex is like and on the relationship as well. They are pretty much perfect people and it does make us feel insecure about everything."

Maddy, also 15, added: "Some people are getting pressured into having sex because of porn. It's sort of expected, nowadays."

But a psychotherapist who specialises in addiction to porn said blocking explicit material altogether was not the answer.

Paul Hall said: "I don't think it is possible to ban pornography that is just not realistic at all.

"Putting blockers in place, trying to restrict access to young people and vulnerable people obviously makes sense, but I think we'd be naive as a society to think that would stop young people from accessing it."

The report comes after a spate of high-profile cases linking violent crime to perpetrators with untreated porn addictions.

A senior barrister said that for some young people, desensitisation to porn was normalising violence and abuse.

Mark Fenhalls QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said: "The level of sexual assaults feels like it is increasing. People think that the kind of things children are doing to each other are more serious than they used to be.

"One can't help but feel that's because these children have got access to this kind of behaviour on phones - unregulated access. They're showing each other in the playground. And they think it's normal as a consequence."

The report does not provide any evidence of a link between porn consumption and sexual assault, but one organisation that educates children about healthy relationships said that more sex education could protect children from harmful effects.