WHY PARENTS ARE TO BLAME FOR THE SEXUALISATION OF CHILDREN !

[Daanyeer]

By Daily Mail Reporter

25th June 2011


Many parents either turn a blind eye or actively encourage the sexualisation of their children, claims the author of a government report into childhood.
They see nothing wrong with youngsters lying about their ages to sign up to the social networking site Facebook, watching adult films or wearing provocative clothing.
Shop staff have been assaulted by parents after being challenged about buying 18-rated DVDs for the child with them.

The study, Letting Children be Children, has led to a pledge from High St stores to stop selling 'sexy' underwear to children and a promise from watchdog Ofcom to tighten up the use of sexual images before the broadcast watershed.
But author Reg Bailey blames 'complicit' parents for an 'unthinking drift towards ever greater commercialisation and sexualisation' of children and described it as 'poor parenting'.

He was 'alarmed' at the number of adults who bought violent video games and played them with their children.

Mr Bailey said: 'One father said it was okay he played Grand Theft Auto with his 13-year-old son because it helped them bond together.'
He told the Daily Telegraph that there 'must be easier ways of bonding' with a child than playing a game that allowed 'gangsters to run over prostitutes'.
'I am concerned any parent would ignore these age restrictions. They are there for a reason.'

His criticism came as it emerged that hundreds of thousands of children under 13 are using Facebook with their parents' apparent blessing.
Facebook bans youngsters under that age, but widescale abuse of their rules has been discovered.
Focus groups for Credos, a think tank which advises the advertising industry, found that 80-90 percent of under 13s were signed up.
Director Karen Fraser said: 'Parents have told us they don't want their children to miss out. They don't want to restrict their social life.'
The latest figures from the Advertising Association claim Facebook has 988,000 under-12s on the site in Britain. American founder Mark Zuckerberg wants the age restriction lifted.
Miss Fraser said their were serious implications if children lied about their ages because Facebook would believe they were 18 and allow gambling, alcohol and cosmetic surgery advertising to be targeted at their pages.


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