The Bailey Report (Letting Children Be Children, 2011) is an “Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood” that highlights a range of issues (and moral concerns bordering on panics) around families, children, childhood and the media.
These, if you’re so inclined, can be used as the basis for interesting discussions around both contemporary family life and wider social developments.
The research methodology – particularly the use of online parental surveys – is also a fruitful area for more general discussions about the reliability and validity of particular research methods.
As are Bailey’s qualifications for overseeing research of this type:
“Previous reviews of these issues have been led by eminent academics and practitioners. I am neither, but took on this task as someone who is passionately interested in supporting family life, not only through my job as Chief Executive of Mothers’ Union, a charity supporting parents and children in 83 countries of the world, but also as a parent and grandparent“.
The Independent has a short report that raises some broad questions about family, children and media (including the perennial “influence of sex and violence” on child development).
Alternatively, you can download the full report (that includes a handy summary).
And if you want to add a visual dimension to the subject, Bailey’s report features in our short film “The End of Childhood?” that’s now available on On-Demand.