From a media release:
Sext up KIDS
The powder keg that is porn culture has exploded in the lives of North American children. The often-devastating consequences are explored in the new film Sext up KIDS, premiering Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 9 pm on CBC’s main network documentary showcase, “Doc Zoneâ€. Directed by award winning documentary filmmaker, Maureen Palmer (Leaving Bountiful, How to Divorce & Not Wreck the Kids), Sext up KIDS is produced by Rick LeGuerrier and Timothy M. Hogan of Dream Street Pictures (Canada Russia ’72, Sticks and Stones).
From tiny tots strutting bikini-clad bodies in beauty pageants to companies marketing itty-bitty thongs and padded bras to 9-year olds, images of ever-younger sexualized girls have become commonplace. Add to that: ever-younger boys with 24-7 access to hard-core internet porn. It saturates their lives – from skate parks to the school bus – by the time they turn eighteen, 80 percent of boys have watched on-line porn. Toss social media into the mix and kids can not only consume X-rated images, but can also now produce them. ‘Sexting’ has become a Grade 7 right of passage.
Sext up KIDS exposes how growing up in a hyper-sexualized culture hurts our kids. Teens and pre-teens show, and tell what they are doing and why they are doing it. Experts reveal startling new research, tracking how the pressure to be sexy is changing teen and sexual behavior in alarming ways, as “anal becomes the new oral.†Parents and educators struggle to help kids navigate puberty in a world where the line between pop culture and porn culture is increasingly blurred. For every parent who thinks, “that’s not my son or daughter,†Sext up KIDS is your wake up call.