Many children enjoy watching TV rape scenes and come to see sexual assaults as something common, according to a survey.

"Some children even say they want to be like leading male characters so that they can rape a woman," Dr Nop-padon Kannika, head of Assumption University's research centre, said yesterday. "This is worrying."

Conducted from April 24-27, the survey covered 2,159 respondents aged from two years old in Bangkok and major cities. According to the survey, rape scenes are the favourite among 21.1 per cent of children aged between 13 and 19, 10.3 per cent of children aged between two and six, and 6.4 per cent of those aged from seven to 12.

Common affair

"Many respondents have also come to see rape as something common," Noppadon said.

Asked what they saw most often on TV, 53.6 per cent said "women in revealing clothes", 42.8 per cent said "kissing and hugging" and about 39.2 per cent answered "physical assaults".