Porn is easier to access now than at any other point in history.
The rapid pace of technological advancement over the past decade means primary school children now have the ability to search the internet for anything and everything.
And one expert has revealed that kids could be exposed to huge amounts of adult content before they're even 18.
Speaking to UNILAD, Sean Clifford, founder of Canopy, an internet filter and parental control firm based in the US, said children are seeing thousands of images a year.
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He told us: "Doing some back-of-the-envelope math, given the average age of exposure and average consumption rates, a typical teenager might see 10,000 naked images by the time they are 18.
"The average age of exposure is estimated to be between 11 and 13 years of age... and dropping.
"This is startling in and of itself, but takes on added importance when you realise that porn (and especially digital porn) has a greater impact on the brain the younger it is encountered
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"This has consequences, and can impact your ability to find fulfilment in a relationship.
"The science suggests that your brain can recover from extended exposure to pornography, but it takes time.
"I'm concerned that a generation is eroding their capacity for happy and stable relationships."
These figures are based on a 2021 study into the frequency with which young men and women consume porn, and its impact on their health.
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According to the piece of research, 17.2 percent of men aged 16-24 watch porn almost every day, while 24.7 percent access it three to five days per week and 23.7 percent just one to two days a week.
Extrapolating these figures, and taking three days a week as an average, Sean says that between the ages of 13 and 18, teenagers see around 11,700 pornographic images.
Though he believes the actual figure is probably higher.
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Sean said: "As the majority of traffic flows to the tube sites, which feature endless variety and walls of videos/images, let's assume, conservatively, that the average visit results in a user seeing 15 images - be it a video, still, thumbnail, etc.
"We can debate these assumptions, and we should (maybe it is only 48 weeks per year, or 2 days per week, or it doesn't start until age 16... all would be fair points to unpack... though I candidly think the average number of images seen per visit is higher given what we know about escalation and the search for novelty), but I think it shows how that number is plausible."
Martin Preston is the founder and CEO of Delamere, a residential addiction centre in the UK.
He recently told LADbible that sex addictions were in the rise following the pandemic, thanks in no small part to the rise in porn use during the pandemic.
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Many, he said, didn't realise that it was slowly taking over their lives.
"People often experience almost a trance-like state, and this is why it can be so compulsive and so powerful," he said.
"Somebody can be functioning and going about their day, but in the back of their mind, they're planning, 'I'm going to visit those websites tonight', or 'I'm going to act out in such a way'; that trance is really powerful.
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"Losing track of time is also a really big sign; 'I sat down at 7pm, with every intention of browsing pornography for an hour, and then I intended to go meet a friend, or whatever, and the next thing, it's 3am'."
Dominic Smithers