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Exploiting Childhood: How Fast Food, Material Obsession and Porn Culture are Creating New Forms of Child Abuse
Children deserve to live a life that is safe from exploitation and harm, but are we failing in our duty to protect them?
Childhood today is big business - it is impossible for any child growing up to avoid pervasive and intense marketing from companies. Whether it be for fatty foods resulting in childhood obesity, expensive franchised toys which encourage tension within families and stigma among friends, or 'pornified' role models who pervert children's ideas of sexuality, research clearly shows that commercial pressures are having a direct impact on children's psychological development and health. This book draws together a series of hard-hitting articles contributed by key thinkers on child welfare and child psychology including Oliver James, Susie Orbach and Gail Dines. Together they identify new and emerging forms of child exploitation, and editor Jim Wild constructs a powerful argument for why current child protection procedures designed to protect children from abuse are no longer adequate.
Outspoken and challenging, this book invites us to consider our responsibility for preventing the harm children are experiencing, and is required reading for anyone concerned with the welfare of children.
Childhood today is big business - it is impossible for any child growing up to avoid pervasive and intense marketing from companies. Whether it be for fatty foods resulting in childhood obesity, expensive franchised toys which encourage tension within families and stigma among friends, or 'pornified' role models who pervert children's ideas of sexuality, research clearly shows that commercial pressures are having a direct impact on children's psychological development and health. This book draws together a series of hard-hitting articles contributed by key thinkers on child welfare and child psychology including Oliver James, Susie Orbach and Gail Dines. Together they identify new and emerging forms of child exploitation, and editor Jim Wild constructs a powerful argument for why current child protection procedures designed to protect children from abuse are no longer adequate.
Outspoken and challenging, this book invites us to consider our responsibility for preventing the harm children are experiencing, and is required reading for anyone concerned with the welfare of children.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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295 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 8, 2013
This really isn't the type of book that you enjoy reading. I found it very informative and parts of it were disturbing. The portions I found the most disturbing were about certain genres of the pornography industry and violence in video games. It is very well written and parents should read it just to make them more aware of advertisements, social media, etc. and how they can affect children. I received this book free through Good Reads First Reads.
July 19, 2022
La publicité façonne notre vision du monde qui nous entoure. Elle manipule cette vision et exploite les plus faibles de la chaîne; les enfants. Ce livre regroupe d’études de cas, d’exemples et de suggestion de lectures complémentaires.
Une lecture essentielle pour comprendre l’influence de la publicité et ses mécanismes afin de protéger nos enfants. Ce livre est une véritable claque sur la gueule.
Une lecture essentielle pour comprendre l’influence de la publicité et ses mécanismes afin de protéger nos enfants. Ce livre est une véritable claque sur la gueule.
October 9, 2013
EXPLOITING CHILDHOOD is one of those books that while disturbing, it's absolutely essential for any parent, therapist, psychologist, teacher, or those working with children in any capacity.
However, do not expect this to be "easy" reading, it's quite the contrary. Despite the heavy topic matter (material possession, fast food, porn culture, child prostution, etc.), EXPLOITING CHILDHOOD is divided into sections, essays, and academic/technical type writing. Plenty of references in the bibliography for further reading.
Outspoken and perhaps on the edge--literary themes and hard-core child abuse (see that how you may--from McDonalds to sex trafficking), this book is thought-provoking.
I do wish, however that there was more information on what happens to kids who are subjected to this kind of abuse. The outcomes would vary, of course...those who are overweight due to artery-clogging foods would fare differently than say, children who were victims of paedophilia. Another minor criticism is that *some* of the research and documentation comes from the UK, I was hoping for something a little more generalized, but overall the research was from reputuable sources.
However, do not expect this to be "easy" reading, it's quite the contrary. Despite the heavy topic matter (material possession, fast food, porn culture, child prostution, etc.), EXPLOITING CHILDHOOD is divided into sections, essays, and academic/technical type writing. Plenty of references in the bibliography for further reading.
Outspoken and perhaps on the edge--literary themes and hard-core child abuse (see that how you may--from McDonalds to sex trafficking), this book is thought-provoking.
I do wish, however that there was more information on what happens to kids who are subjected to this kind of abuse. The outcomes would vary, of course...those who are overweight due to artery-clogging foods would fare differently than say, children who were victims of paedophilia. Another minor criticism is that *some* of the research and documentation comes from the UK, I was hoping for something a little more generalized, but overall the research was from reputuable sources.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews