Rosemary Kempsell, Worldwide President of Mothers’ Union, writes on progress on the Bailey review and related areas.
Mothers’ Union is pleased and encouraged by the progress so far in securing greater protection for children from the pressures of a consumer and sexualised society.
Yesterday Reg Bailey Chief executive of the Mothers’ Union met with the Prime Minister, Sarah Teather, Minister for Children and other stakeholders to review the progress made on his June recommendations, and to evaluate what still needs to be implemented to achieve the goals of the report ‘Let Children be Children.’
He says “In June I set out what I believed were the best measures to protect children from commercialisation and premature sexualisation. Giving parents’ confidence to be parents, to set boundaries, and find support from industry and regulators would, I hoped, create more space for children to be themselves – without the constant bombardment of sexualised images and pressure to own the most desirable products and clothes. It seemed to me, however, that all responsible adults have a role to play in creating a more family friendly society.”
The launch of ‘www.ParentPort.org.uk a website for parents set up by the UK’s media regulators will help to enforce standards across the media to protect children from inappropriate material. The news that major internet providers will now require customers to ‘opt – in’ to receive adult content, rather than the less effective ‘opt-out’ control that currently exists has to be a step forward. However, we would like to see more providers follow suit.
There remain a number of recommendations that are more of a challenge to implement for example music video ratings and the sexualised ‘wallpaper(mentioned in the Bailey Report) that affects children outside the home.
Mothers’ Union members will continue to campaign for and promote a culture and culture-based values that do not define a person by what they wear or what they own, but one that respects everyone equally and without discrimination.
Reg: “Well, for me, success would be a change in parents’ confidence, that would show that the reforms have really started to work. And I’ll encourage businesses to be decisive. The outcome we are seeking is far too important to slip off the agenda.”