Bangla Press Desk: Every day, over three years, an 11-year-old boy watched pornography and thought these interactions between men and women were normal.
In 2022, when he was 14, he filmed his female classmates in school without their consent and was arrested for criminal trespassing and voyeurism.
After years of therapy, the boy, now 17, is coping well with the support of his family and understands how to express his feelings in healthier and more appropriate ways, said his counsellor.
The boy’s experience of objectifying girls after being exposed to pornography over long periods was not unique.
The police said more than 460 young people in this age group were arrested for sexual crimes in 2024, with possible reasons including early exposure to pornography and the teens’ inability to manage sexual urges.
The 2024 figure was comparable to that in 2023, which saw more than 470 in the same age range nabbed for such offences.
The arrests in 2023 were a 30 per cent rise from 2022. The police did not provide the exact number of arrests that year.
Citing the boy’s case, Mr Gopal Mahey, senior counsellor at the Centre for Psychotherapy, said what stood out was how little awareness the boy had about the impact of his actions on others.
He added: “He wasn’t trying to cause harm in a calculated way. Instead, he was re-enacting what he had been repeatedly exposed to online, as no one had spoken to him meaningfully about boundaries, consent or respect.”
With rising concerns of sexual offending in youth in 2023 and 2024, MHA and the Ministry of Education (MOE) launched comprehensive resource guides in November 2024.
MHA said a guide for early identification and intervention called “DetACT Early” provides age-appropriate guidelines for professionals to refer to when identifying at-risk sexual behaviours displayed by children and teenagers.
This guide suggests what professionals can do based on behaviours identified in the teens.
The second guide, called “Discern Online Sexual Harms”, is aimed at helping professionals manage youth exposure to sexually explicit materials such as pornography.
Said the MHA spokesman: “This guide is grounded in the latest psychological research surrounding sexually explicit materials and contains age-appropriate activities and worksheets to engage youth aged 10 to 19 in safe and interactive conversations about this topic.”
For instance, early and repeated exposure to pornography may affect young people’s understanding of healthy relationships, while inappropriate and inaccurate information may lead to distorted perceptions about sexual activities, said MHA.
Mr Gopal said: “Youth today grow up immersed in a digital culture where pornography is easily accessible, often degrading and rarely reflecting mutual respect or consent.”
He added that many young people grow up with little real-world guidance on relationships and boundaries.
As a counsellor who regularly works with teenagers, Mr Gopal said he has seen more youth caught up in saving, sharing or requesting intimate images online.
He said: “What’s striking is how often these behaviours stem from distorted perceptions rather than malicious intent.
“Many act up due to boredom, loneliness or the desire to be noticed, not realising the harm caused to others.”
MHA also cited dysfunctional family dynamics and a history of abuse as reasons that could contribute to youth sexual offending, as these may distort their views on intimate relationships.
Agreeing, Mr Gopal said: “Youth need secure, consistent relationships with adults who model respect, trust, and accountability.
“When that’s missing, when a child grows up in a home where touch is either absent or abusive, where no one talks about feelings and where ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are not respected, they carry those distortions into adolescence.”
Dr John Shepherd Lim, chief well-being officer of the Singapore Counselling Centre, said it is concerning that teens are accessing pornographic sites as what they consume online could be mirrored in their behaviour.
He said: “It is easier said than done for parents to restrict access to these sites. What parents are advised to do is to be aware of what’s going on in their children’s lives, so they can stop addiction to sexually explicit material before it even starts.”
Dr Lim said teenagers may not manage their hormones well, and their lack of adaptive coping skills to manage sexual urges could lead to sexual offending. So proper guidance by parents and teachers is needed at that age.
He added: “Trust must be built early, and should youth fall into such traps, they need to know they can confide in their parents and teachers for help to walk away from this path.” Source: DS
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