Introduction

Childhood is viewed as a period of innocence and vulnerability that demands special attention (Daly et al, 2019). These concepts have held such dominance over time that they can now be construed as hegemonic in nature. Within this discourse, sexual maturity, with its accompanying knowledge and loss of sexual innocence, is one of the dividing boundaries between childhood and adolescence, leading to an impediment in discussions around sexuality during the period of childhood (Robinson, 2008). Furthermore, the public consensus is that the sexualisation of culture, as a construct of childhood, is damaging and negative (Moore and Reynolds, 2018). Consequently, there is little discussion with children about sexuality, at home or in school; rather, any discussions mainly focus on parental concerns and specific negative outcomes for children (Flores and Barroso, 2017).

However, the online arena allows exposure to a wide range of sexual content, and children surf the internet (Ybarra and Mitchell, 2005). Since the message for children, from adults, is that sexuality is not relevant to them, they learn about it from a variety of media sources, including the internet (Longo et al, 2002). The significant adults in their lives are not always sufficiently active in the learning process and may not play a mediating role in young people’s emerging sexual activities. Sometimes, they are even oblivious to all the aspects of sexuality on the internet and are unaware of what their children are being exposed to. Sexual socialisation is a process through which children acquire their essential beliefs, attitudes, values, cultural symbols, concepts, and meanings on sexuality (Kunkel et al, 2007) and this process is affected by the attitudes and beliefs of the family, school, and society with respect to sexual topics. Children’s sexual behaviours are influenced by their age and by their socialisation (Ganji et al, 2017).

Aspects of sexuality accompany a person from infancy. When children are still at pre-school age, it is the parents’ responsibility to discuss this subject (Ganji et al, 2017). However, conversations on sexuality can be uncomfortable for parents (and for their children), so they may avoid raising the topic.