The Internet undeniably plays a significant role in the lives of children. The wealth of knowledge seems limitless, providing children with information on various topics. Through the Internet, children can explore and learn about their interest as well as communicate with others. However although the Internet delivers much promise for enhancing children's lives, there are also problems and concerns that must be discussed.

        One concern that I have, is a child's exposure to pornography through the Web. "Pornography is sexually explicit material, which is material-textual, visual, or aural- that depicts sexual behavior or acts, or that exposes the reproductive organs of the human body." The reason why I decided to focus on this topic is because I have realized through my own experience on the Web, how freely available pornography is online. From spam in my e-mail to continuous pop-ups to running a simple search on Google, pornography is everywhere on the Internet.

        Some may ask why I am only focused on pornography in the Internet, since it is also in other forms of media like magazines, movies, and television shows. I am concerned about its presence in all forms of media. But since the Internet is so easily accessible and so widely used, children are likely to be exposed to this sexually explicit material. There are over 17.7 million children in the nation that are able to access the Internet from home.(3) I work with a group of middle school girls who spend hours on the Web chatting, checking their e-mail, and looking at their MySpace. I am worried that they are being exposed to inappropriate images while they are surfing the Web.

        My hypothesis is that as the adult online industry grows and pornography increases on the Internet, more children will be exposed to sexually explicit images and some children will be negatively impacted. The purpose of this website is to show pornography’s position in the Internet, its affects on children today, and to explain various ways to protect children from pornography.