Dr Michael Carr-Gregg
Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is a Consultant Adolescent Psychologist working in private practice in Kew. He has held a variety of appointments including Executive Director of the New Zealand Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.
Michael has extensive experience in the media and is currently a regular on Melbourne radio 3AW, Sunrise and the Morning Show on Channel 7. In 2002 Michael was asked to be the official psychologist to Girlfriend Magazine. He is author of 5 best selling books including the Princess Bitchface Syndrome published by Penguin in 2006 and now in its 8th reprint.
Abstract
Battling the "third parent" - What parents can do to make a difference.
Having had the nature and the extent of the problem outlined by previous speakers, the inevitable question should be - so what can we as parents do about the pornification of our environment and the early sexualisation of our children? This presentation makes some practical suggestions as to how we might [protect our children parents build resilient children based on the latest understandings and research from child and adolescent psychology and how we might make our voices heard.
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Julie Gale
Julie Gale is the founder of Kids Free 2B Kids. She is also a comedy writer and performer and has performed her one woman shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Julie has been raising public, corporate and political awareness about the sexualisation of children since February 2007. She has generated great media interest about the issue and has appeared on television, radio and in newspaper articles throughout Australia and internationally.
Julie’s work instigated changes to the children's advertising codes and she also helped to instigate last year's senate inquiry into the sexualisation of children in the contemporary media environment.Julie received a 2009 National Leadership Achievement Award from the Centre for Leadership for Women.
Abstract
The sexualisation of young people has been an increasing global issue over the past decade. Children and young teens are constantly bombarded with sexualised imagery in popular culture, advertising and marketing. Research links sexualisation with increased depression, anxiety, eating disorders and body image problems.
This presentation will include visual examples of what young people are exposed to and discuss what we as a community can do about it.
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Professor Elizabeth Handsley
Professor of Law, Flinders University (specialising in children and the media); Vice-President of Australian Council on Children and the Media
Elizabeth has a special interest in media law as it affects young audiences, and she conducts research and is supervising an LLM thesis on the regulation of food advertising in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe
Abstract
When people identify a problem in society, it's never long until somebody asks what legal measures are being taken, or could be taken, to address the problem. In this presentation, Elizabeth Handsley will explore the existing legal mechanisms for addressing sexualised media for children and discuss the limitations of those mechanisms, including the impact of debates about individual freedom and parental responsibility. She will also propose some alternative legal and regulatory models that could be more effective in enhancing the media environment for children.
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Rita Princi
Director and clinical psychologist, Princi Consulting. Rita works with, lectures to University students about, and gives regular media interviews on, children, adolescents and parents. She was national President of the Australian Psychological Society’s Child, Adolescent and Family Interest Group 2004- 2008. Through Associate with Life, she also provides workshops to the corporate world on parenting children 0-5, 6-12, and 16-19.
Abstract
Too Sexy - Too Early! : The Detrimental Effects on Child Development
The early sexualisation of children is detrimentally affecting their cognitive, emotional and social development leading to higher risks for depression, anxiety, lower self esteem, increased risk of eating disorders, awareness of dieting behaviour, dissatisfaction of body-image and reduced psychological well being.
Many researchers have blamed the early sexualisation of girls such as acting or speaking in sexually explicit overtones on the increasing proliferation of sexual images of women and girls in the media, from advertisers, music videos, song lyrics, video games, films and fashion industries bombarding children at rapid rates through 24-7 television, and high-speed internet and iphones. And then there is the sexualized merchandise for children aged 5 to 10-years-old: bralettes, mid-drift tops, mini-mini skirts, g-strings, padded bras, makeup and high heels.
Children are now being pushed too quickly into adult behaviour, however, but they have not developed the emotional or cognitive tools to manage this early sexualisation, which can lead to devastating effects.
Therefore, it is imperative that parents know about how a child develops, the critical stages of their development and how early exposure to sexualisation interferes detrimentally with the child’s development.
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