London - Around 53 percent of 11 to 16-year-olds have encountered lewd material online, nearly all of whom (94 percent) have seen it by the age of 14, according to research by Middlesex University.
It leaves many children at risk of becoming desensitised to its impact, say researchers.
More then 30 percent of the 1 000 children surveyed first saw pornography on a handheld device, according to the survey commissioned by the NSPCC and the Children's Commissioner for England.
Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “A generation of children are in danger of being stripped of their childhoods at a young age by stumbling across extreme and violent porn online.”
The Independent