Three decades on from the UN Convention, what does it mean to talk about children’s rights in relation to media?
Category Archives: Children Youth and Media
Child obesity and TV advertising: another case of symbolic politics
A proposal to extend the ban on TV junk food advertising isn’t supported by the evidence – and it could cause collateral damage.
The trouble with Peppa Pig
Recent controversies about a cute cartoon character are part of a longer history of adults’ responses to media for very young children.
Cyberbabble: screens and young people’s mental health
Questioning some of the media hype about ‘mental health’ in recent debates about children, young people and social media.
Introducing ‘Growing Up Modern’
Announcing my new writing project Growing Up Modern: Childhood, Youth and Popular Culture Since 1945.
The end of innocence?
Channel 4’s new drama National Treasure has brought the issue of celebrity paedophiles back to public attention. What does the most notorious and well-documented of these cases – that of Jimmy Savile – tell us about the role of media celebrity and children’s culture?
Radicalisation, social media and young people
There is growing concern about the role of social media in ‘radicalising’ your people. But the government’s response to this phenomenon is contradictory and likely to prove ineffective. Here’s why we need a more thoughtful approach.
Rush to hysteria: challenging the sugar rush
Amid the growing hysteria about childhood obesity, sugar seems to be the new heroin. Yet the official statistics on obesity paint a rather different picture. Inequality, rather than advertising, is the main culprit.
Teen sexting: from moral panic to legal absurdity
‘Sexting’ has become the focus of a new moral panic. Yet responses to this apparent problem have become increasingly contradictory and absurd. We need a more considered educational response.
Oh no! It’s an Oh My Vlog blog!
The world of young YouTube vloggers points to the limitations of optimistic claims about ‘digital creativity’.
