Five-year-olds capable of understanding raunchy pop

Parents are growing increasingly concerned about the sexually explicit nature of pop acts as children as young as five are capable of understanding their meaning, a survey has shown.

Data collected by Netmums showed parents are worried today's pop stars are putting on far more explicit shows than when they were young and sending their children negative messages about sex.

With children copying provocative dance moves and repeating innuendo-laden lyrics, mums and dads are concerned their kids are being taught the need to wear provocative clothing and act in a sexual manner.

The Netmums poll, which surveyed more than 1,500 parents, found that 81.7% said their child had sung or repeated sexual song lyrics without realising what they meant.

A third, 33.4%, admitted that their youngster had copied overtly provocative dance moves they had seen pop stars perform.

Almost one in 12 said that their son or daughter had sung lyrics knowing what they meant.

Around 8.5% of the parents questioned said that their child was five or even younger when they first became aware of the meaning of the songs they were singing.

The most common age for children to be able to understand explicit song lyrics and actions was 10, chosen by almost a fifth, 18.2%, of parents.

The findings come after the headmistress of Heathfield school in Ascot warned teenage girls were being "manipulated and confused" by former child stars trying to break out of their clean-cut image with sexually explicit acts.

Many of the parents quizzed said they tried to protect their children from explicit music videos.

Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard said: