12-year-old boy acts out scenes from Fifty Shades of Grey with young girl in a park

  • Psychotherapist says the boy thought it was normal sexual behavior 
  • Addiction specialist Steve Pope warned watching pornography is becoming a compulsion for more and more young people
  • It comes as a ChildLine survey revealed one in ten children aged between 10 and 13 are worried they are addicted to porn
  • Meanwhile TV star Kirstie Allsopp accused the NSPCC of not doing to enough to prevent children from viewing porn online

Fifty Shades of Grey has been blamed for the skewed view children have of sex as it emerged that a 12-year-old boy confessed to acting out scenes from the erotic bestseller with a girl in a park. 

A leading psychotherapist warned about the effects of pornographic images on children today after working with the boy in the past 24 hours.

Steve Pope, an addiction specialist, says watching pornography is becoming a compulsion for more and more young people - but parents are unaware of the impact it has on their children.

His warning comes as a survey for children's charity ChildLine suggests that one in ten children aged between 10 and 13 are worried they are addicted to porn. 

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Fifty Shades of Grey  has been blamed for the skewed view children have of sex after it emerged a boy, 12, confessed to acting out scenes from the film in a park with a young girl. Pictured: Dakota Johnson in the film

Fifty Shades of Grey has been blamed for the skewed view children have of sex after it emerged a boy, 12, confessed to acting out scenes from the film in a park with a young girl. Pictured: Dakota Johnson in the film

A leading psychotherapist said the boy admitted acting out scenes from the film (pictured) believing they were a normal part of sexual behaviour

A leading psychotherapist said the boy admitted acting out scenes from the film (pictured) believing they were a normal part of sexual behaviour

Mr Pope told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'To be blunt, we have had nightmares over the effects of Fifty Shades of Grey and what children now think is normal adult sexual behaviour.

'Within the last 24 hours I have worked with a young man, a 12-year-old, who having thought that Fifty Shades of Grey was a normal part of sexual behaviour with a young girl.' 

He added: 'Yesterday we had a young man and a young girl acting various scenes from Fifty Shades of Grey in a local park. 

'In my day a bottle of cider in the local park was the great experiment.

Mr Pope explained such incidents are happening because porn 'normalises taboo behaviour.' 

He added: 'What we are moving into is long-term effects of what they think is normal behaviour. 

'It is probably one of the fastest growing areas of addiction and threats to our society known to Western culture.'  

Steve Pope, an addiction specialist, says watching pornography is becoming a compulsion for more and more young people. Stock picture

Steve Pope, an addiction specialist, says watching pornography is becoming a compulsion for more and more young people. Stock picture

He said parents are 'not on the ball' when it comes to pornography and unaware of how easily children are accessing it and the effects it is having. 

'The word addiction is a label. It is the compulsion that is the problem. It won't affect everyone, or every child, but some will come across it who have addictive personalities and through the internet they have access to an instant hit.

'The taboos get removed more and more and now we have 70 per cent of sex offenders using porn to pump themselves up to commit a crime.

'I don't think we can provide complete protection but parents must be educated.

'Jamie Oliver did it with food and now we need to do it with this – take it into schools.' 

Asked about parents who read Fifty Shades of Grey at home, Mr Pope urged them to speak with their children about why they are reading it. 

The bestselling bondage novel by E.L. James has been made into a much-hyped film starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. 

'If you are leaving literature like that around you have to certainly make sure that kids are aware of why you are reading it and what the effect is,' he said. 

Addiction specialist Steve Pope urged parents reading Fifty Shades of Grey, written by E.L. James (pictured) at home to speak to the children about why they are reading it

Addiction specialist Steve Pope urged parents reading Fifty Shades of Grey, written by E.L. James (pictured) at home to speak to the children about why they are reading it

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp (pictured) revealed she bans her sons from using the internet in their bedrooms and accused the NSPCC of not doing enough to stop children viewing porn online 

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp (pictured) revealed she bans her sons from using the internet in their bedrooms and accused the NSPCC of not doing enough to stop children viewing porn online 

'But Fifty Shades of Grey is spoken about everywhere. It is the subject of jokes and conversation. 

'Kids are inquisitive and their work-in-progress brains will go home and research it.' 

And today, TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp revealed she bans her sons from using the internet in their bedrooms.

She also accused charity the NSPCC of not doing to enough to prevent children from viewing porn online.

The Location, Location, Location star spoke out after a report for the NSPCC's ChildLine service found that 12% of children aged 12 to 13 have made or been part of a sexually explicit video.

Ms Allsopp, 43, who has two sons, aged eight and six, tweeted: 'Would you take your 12-year-old to a porn shop and say 'take your pick?'

Bondage bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey has been made into a much-hyped film starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson

Bondage bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey has been made into a much-hyped film starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson

'If you allow free access to the Internet that's what you are doing.'

She wrote: 'We have a strict rule, no internet connected devices in bedrooms. Kids tend not to look at porn, or beheading videos, in the kitchen!'

After listening to Peter Liver, Director of ChildLine, on Radio 4's Today programme Ms Allsopp said that the charity needed to do more.

'Shocked by utterly inadequate response from @NSPCC to their own report. Where was advice on protecting kids from online porn?,' she wrote.

'When is NSPCC going to say 'protect your children from viewing it online'. A chat with your child won't crack it.'

But Mr Liver said preventing children from accessing the internet at home only partly solves the problem.

He said: 'The ChildLine campaign is targeting teens as most have smart phones these days so home filtering systems only go part of the way to solving access issues. 

'Young people are curious so it's important to make sure they are aware of the potentially harmful impact of watching porn. 

'Parents need to be aware of how their children get online, and our advice recommends filters are in place on their internet devices. 

'But technology isn't the only solution and that's why we recommend parents talking to their children, and making sure they know it's OK to seek help if they are upset about seeing online porn.' 

Ms Allsopp comments come after screen stars Damian Lewis and his wife Helen McCrory revealed they forbid their two children from using computers during the week.

The couple also impose a '10-minute rule' for weekends, fearing their nine and eight-year-old boys will be unable to express themselves if they overuse technology.

The Peaky Blinders actress told Stella magazine: 'I want the children I meet to be less interested in staring at a computer screen and more interested in talking to me.

'There's a whole generation of children growing up who don't seem able to express themselves.'

Visit FAPZ page on the ChildLine website or contact ChildLine online or on 0800 1111. Counsellors are available 24/7 to offer free, confidential support and advice.