The BritMums Blog

How advertisers intend to ‘let children be children’

Since June’s Bailey Review raised concerns over the commercialisation and sexualisation of children and called for more responsible behaviour by broadcasters and advertisers, pressure has been on advertisers to control the “wallpaper” of sexual imagery facing today’s children.  

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says it has taken a number of steps to help protect children, including – as it was asked to by the Bailey Review – reducing inappropriate sexualised imagery from outdoor advertising where kids could see it.

What people are talking about: The Chinese parenting model

How do Chinese parents turn out music and math prodigies? Easy, says one mother in the Wall Street Journal. They're stricter, stress academic achievement more and don't let their kids get away with the stuff that Western parents do.

Amy Chua, a Yale professor, describes an incident of hair-tearing, screaming, full-out war in her house when she demanded her daughter play a piece of piano music correctly. The article has inspired more than 5,000 comments on the WSJ site, with good reason: it drives to the core of what parents believe about raising kids. (Chua has also responded to readers in a further article that - as I read it anyhow - seems to soften her message. It also points out that the title of the article was chosen by WSJ editors, not her. A piece in today's Sunday Times also describes how her method didn't work on one of her daughters.)

British Mummy Blogger's Cover Girl!

Move over Gisele Bundchen, there’s a new cover girl in town. Massive congratulations to Catherine from Baby Genie who this month can be spotted staring out from the cover of the Tesco magazine. The magazine has a circulation of two million and a readership of around six and a half million, so it’s fair to say this is one BMB member who’s getting some great exposure.

Her starring role is down to fellow blogger Liz from Living with Kids, who in her work as a freelance journalist was looking for mums to include. In the same issue Amy Lane and Mary Poppinsare also featured with tips on making £100 in your spare time.  So the two BMB members  - and their fabulous cakes and crafts – are now household names.