MEDIA RELEASE
Wake up call: do we see our kids as commodities?

Jane Roberts, President of the Australian Council for Children and the Media, trading as Young Media Australia (YMA), today supported comments made by Dr John Irvine, child psychologist and author, about the trend to ‘adultify’ children. Dr Irvine was responding to concerns expressed by many children’s professionals about the recent photograph of an eight year old child model posing with ‘heroin chic’ eye make up, sultry expression and bare shoulders. While not commenting specifically about this photo, he saw the increased ‘adultification’ of children as a wake up call for society.

Ms Roberts stated: “We fully support Dr Irvine’s comment that, as a society, we need to talk not just about child protection but about childhood protection. Young Media Australia has become increasingly concerned that the healthy development of Australian children is being compromised by their exposure to inappropriate media content including advertising pressures from a highly sophisticated marketing industry who now directly target our children.

Callers to the Young Media Australia Helpline consistently express frustration that it makes the job of parenting even more difficult when media advertising puts pressure on their children to look a certain way or have certain things in order to be accepted.”

YMA is committed to promoting better choices and providing stronger voices in children’s media. It is Australia’s only national advocacy organisation representing the interests of children and young people in relation to print, electronic and screen-based media, and provides a valuable resource for legislators, regulators and the media. The Young Media Australia Helpline (1800 700 357), which recently celebrated one year of operation, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for parents and caregivers who wish to discuss any aspect of the impact of the media on children.

For more information or to arrange an interview,
please call Jane Roberts (WA) on 0410 509 685, or
Elizabeth Handsley (SA) on 08 8201 5256