Teenagers exchanging nude pictures online

Psychologist blames this exposure of body parts on lack of sex education and the reluctance of parents to counsel their children.

KUALA LUMPUR: More teenagers are having virtual sex, snapping pictures of their private parts and taking videos of themselves “in action” for their partners, causing a hike in child pornography materials, said a psychologist.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Psychologist Prof Hilwa Abdullah blamed this on parents and the lack of sex education in schools.

“Teenagers are caught off guard by their bodily changes and the sexual intensity experienced heightens as they reach puberty.

“No one tells them why they feel this way. No one tells them about the changes in their body.

“Parents are too shy to relate these changes to their kids. And sex education is lacking in schools,” she told FMT.

She was asked to comment on the recent police statement that Malaysia ranks third in Asean or Asia when it comes to child pornography.

The information was revealed by the police during a forum organised by R.Age, the youth lifestyle section of The Star newspaper. A panellist, Marie Laure Lemineur, said globally the top two countries in the area of child pornography possession are the United States and the Netherlands.

Leminuer had urged parents to educate their children on the dangers existing online and in the real world and to take steps to avoid them.

Those aged 18 and below are considered under the child category.
Hilwa said she was not surprised with the ranking of Malaysia in Asean as most teenagers in Malaysia are ignorant of their bodily changes and it becomes lethal with the ownership of smartphones.
“Most children own a smartphone these days. It is not a very smart combination.”

Her research and counselling sessions with teenagers showed Malaysian teenagers are “very sexually active”, but the parents are not aware of this.

“Parents have given smartphones to their kids. Some of them will google for the bodily changes, but sometimes they take a step further and explore with one another or send pictures to their boyfriend or girlfriend or even take videos of themselves in action.”

Other than tightening cyber laws on child pornography and having effective ways of detecting child pornography sites, she said children need to know about sex education when they are as young as five years old.

This will enable them to be aware of “right from wrong” and children can put a stop to any sexual abuse going on by informing their parents or caretakers.

The children can also take action if someone is snapping inappropriate pictures or touching them wrongly.

“This subject needs to be discussed in school. Kids need to be told when they are 10 years old what they should expect once they are 13 years old.

“They need to know about sexual reproduction and bodily changes. They need to know about the cyberworld and the effects of it.

“Most of them are unaware of the impact of their postings on WhatsApp.”

She warned of the situation as a lot of teenagers regretted their actions later on in life and advised parents to talk to their children about sexual reproduction as “a lot of our kids need to know the facts”.

Hilwa said the situation in rural areas was no better. She mentioned parents who would send their teenage daughters with their neighbour’s son to school.

“I have been counselling a lot of parents and teenagers. They may send their 14-year-old girl on a bike with a 16-year-old neighbour’s son. At this age, they are sexually active.

“This is not a day-old or two-day ride. Over the weeks, the accidental touches while the bike goes over a bump and as they go to school together leads these youths to having sex. There are a lot of such cases.”

She said the key to reducing child pornography was education and awareness.

“It is time for children to know the facts so that they are better prepared to face the changes in their body and for younger children to know what is right from wrong.”