Annex A
Annex A
Review of Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood: Terms of Reference
1.
Parents express real concern about children being pressured into growing up too quickly.The Government has therefore made a commitment to take action to protect children from excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation, as part of the work of the Task Force on Childhood and Families. The purpose of the independent Review will be to assess the evidence and provide Government with recommendations on how best to address public concern in this area. In doing so, it will need to consider the findings and recommendations set out in the recent policy reviews by Prof. Tanya Byron and Dr. Linda Papadopoulos, the evidence assessment on commercialisation by an expert panel chaired by Professor David Buckingham for DCSF and DCMS and his research on sexualised goods aimed at children for the Scottish Parliament, and other related assessments (see Note below).
2.
The Review should take a wide~ranging and independent examination of the evidence and provide recommendations that are fit for purpose and meet public concerns. Recommendations should seek to identify measures that are more likely to result in businesses collectively and individually changing their behaviour and which empower consumers to voice their concerns more effectively. As such, the recommendations should be informed by the views of both consumers, particularly parents, and the business community; they should also draw on the expertise of existing regulators.
3.
The Review should be structured according to the following four themes:
a.
Risks of harm and barriers to parenting
Set out an assessment of the evidence base, including from existing reviews, to clarify what risks of harm are associated with excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation. This should be in terms of harm to children (eg. self-esteem. mental health, physical health) and creating barriers to parents exercising their parental responsibility in raising their children. In particular, the Review needs to establish the kind and scale of public concern in this area and review the extent to which they provide a barrier to parenting or a risk to children.The impact on both boys and girls should be considered equally.
b.
Principles — defining and exemplifying boundaries
Define excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation of children, by drawing on the evidence, including: from the previous reviews stated above. existing regulation, self—regulation and codes of practice. and the views of parents and young people. This
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