"Middle School Boys Send Pornographic Material to Elementary School Daughter"…Agitated Parents "What Should We Do?"

Many Netizens Say "Should File Charges for Using Communication Media for Obscenity"
Children's Media Usage Time Reaches 185.9 Minutes Per Day

A father's story was revealed in which his elementary school daughter received genital photos from unidentified middle school boys. On the 27th, a post titled 'Elementary School Daughter's KakaoTalk Messages' was uploaded on an online community. Mr. A, a father raising an elementary school daughter, said, "My wife was looking through our daughter's phone and discovered deleted photos showing that she had received genital photos from a middle school boy."

On the 27th, a post titled "Elementary School Daughter's KakaoTalk Messages" was uploaded to an online community. Mr. A, a father raising an elementary school daughter, said, "My wife discovered from deleted photos on our daughter's phone that she had received genital photos from a middle school male student." The photo is not related to the specific content of the article.
[Photo by Pixabay]

Mr. A said it seemed that his daughter received the problematic photos from a total of three middle school boys. The daughter confessed that she got their contact information through an application. The wife contacted the parents of two of the three middle school boys who sent the photos and received apologies, but the remaining one could not be reached.

He ended the post saying, "I am wondering whether I should just accept this or try to resolve it somehow." Netizens who saw the post responded with comments such as "You should file a complaint for obscene acts using communication media," "Never agree to a settlement," and "Take the smartphone and go to the police station's Women and Youth Division." On the other hand, some netizens expressed confusion about why an elementary school daughter was contacting these boys through an app.

In South Korea, under Article 13 of the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, the crime of obscenity using communication media is established when a person causes another to receive images or videos that arouse or satisfy sexual desire or cause sexual shame or disgust through communication media such as phone or mail. If found guilty, the offender can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years or fined up to 5 million won. However, minors aged 10 or older but under 14 may avoid criminal responsibility.

According to the 'Quarterly Crime Trend Report' by the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy, the number of obscene crimes using communication media recorded 1,712 cases in the third quarter of last year.

Elementary Students Use Smartphones Longer Than TV, Average 104 Minutes Daily

Looking at the smartphone usage purposes of children aged 3 to 9, watching videos through YouTube or Netflix was the most common at 70.3%, followed by △gaming 36.9%, △searching for information on areas of interest 27.9%, △taking and editing photos 17.2%, △communication and conversation 13.6%, △searching for information for learning and assignments 12.3%, and △listening to music 6.6%. [Photo source=Pixabay]

A survey found that children in grades 3-4 of elementary school spend more time using smartphones than watching TV. According to the 2023 Children's Media Usage Survey Report by the Korea Press Foundation released on February 13, children attending daycare and kindergarten watched TV for an average of 72.2 minutes and 66.2 minutes per day, respectively, surpassing their smartphone usage times of 53.7 minutes and 36.6 minutes.

However, as grade levels increased, smartphone usage time noticeably rose. First graders watched TV for 73.1 minutes and smartphones for 60.5 minutes, showing a sharp increase in smartphone use. Second graders had nearly equal times with TV at 75.0 minutes and smartphones at 73.2 minutes. Third graders surpassed TV viewing (77.3 minutes) with smartphone use at 92.0 minutes, and fourth graders showed a steep increase in smartphone use (104.4 minutes) compared to TV (68.6 minutes).

Regarding smartphone usage purposes among children aged 3 to 9, watching videos on YouTube or Netflix was the most common at 70.3%, followed by △gaming 36.9%, △searching for information on interests 27.9%, △taking and editing photos 17.2%, △communication and chatting 13.6%, △searching for information for learning and assignments 12.3%, and △listening to music 6.6%.

Notably, the proportion of third graders using smartphones for gaming was exceptionally high at 56.2%. The report shows that the most common age for children to start using smartphones is after age 5 at 28.5%, followed by ages 3 to under 4 at 14.6%, ages 2 to under 3 at 13.6%, ages 1 year to under 18 months at 12.4%, and ages 18 months to under 2 years at 11.7%. The percentage of children using smartphones before 24 months old was 29.9%. Additionally, the percentages of children under 24 months watching TV or using gaming devices were 57.7% and 3.4%, respectively.

The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines released in 2019 for physical activity and sleep for children under 5 recommend that children under 2 should not spend sedentary time watching screens such as TV or video games. WHO also advises that children aged 1 to 4 should engage in at least 3 hours of various physical activities daily and that sedentary screen time for children aged 2 to 4 should not exceed 1 hour.

In contrast, the total media usage time including TV, computers, smartphones, and tablet PCs among domestic children was recorded at an average of 185.9 minutes per day. Particularly, children aged 3 to 4 used media for an average of 184.4 minutes daily, exceeding the WHO recommended limit by three times. The report also pointed out that contrary to WHO guidelines, 60.7% of domestic children under 2 are exposed to at least one electronic device screen.

This survey was conducted from October 26 to December 8 last year, with guardians responding about the media usage of 2,675 children aged 3 to 9 attending daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary schools (grades 1 to 4) nationwide. The sampling error was ±2 percentage points (95% confidence level).