Shock as Fifty Shades of Grey plays a worrying role in our childrens' lives today

Psychotherapist, Steve Pope, stunned BBC Radio Five Live listeners during a discussion with host Rachel Burden this week.

Commenting on the destructive nature of pornography, the addiction therapist revealed that pornography plays a much bigger role in our children's lives than we may realise.

Discussing the effect controversial film, Fifty Shades of Grey, has had on today's youth, Steve said: "Within the last 24 hours I have worked with a young man, a 12-year-old, who thought that Fifty Shades of Grey was a normal part of sexual behaviour with a young girl."

Delving further still into the cultural impact the movie has had on the younger generation, Steve told the host: "We had a young man and a young girl acting various scenes from Fifty Shades of Grey in a local park."

Concerned about the normalisation of pornography, the psychotherapist revealed that the trend is on no small scale, saying: "It is probably one of the fastest growing areas of addiction and threats to our society known to Western culture."

Expressing worry for children who stumble across inappropriate material on the internet and find themselves compelled to learn more, Steve says: "It won’t affect everyone, or every child, but some will come across it who have addictive personalities and through the internet they have access to an instant hit."

Asserting that schools need to play a role in educating children on the issue, the psychotherapist goes on to say: "I don’t think we can provide complete protection but parents must be educated. Jamie Oliver did it with food and now we need to do it with this – take it into schools."

As a result of childrens' naturally inquisitive nature, Steve urges parents to establish an open dialogue with the their offspring because younger people will seek answers on their own with sometimes detrimental effects, saying: "Fifty Shades of Grey is spoken about everywhere. It is the subject of jokes and conversation. Kids are inquisitive and their work-in-progress brains will go home and research it."

Steve Pope's appearance on BBC Radio Five Live comes after the NSPCC released worrying figures regarding British children's use of pornography.