4th August, 2008
GLYNIS QUINLAN

Billboards displaying sexually charged advertisements, pole-dancing kits for children, graphic sexual music videos on Saturday mornings, lingerie for pre-pubescent girls, bimbo games…these are just some of the examples of the highly sexualised environment in which children are now being raised.

Most recently the depiction of children in art has also entered the fray, with community attention drawn to artist Bill Henson’s photographs featuring naked pre-pubescent children and Art Monthly Australia’s decision to publish a photograph of a naked six-year-old girl on its front page.

There was, justifiably, community outrage about these incidents, with several prominent political leaders also expressing their concerns. There has also been widespread community concern about the current sexualised environment and the messages being sent to children in terms of how to be successful and popular, as well as the impact this has on their development.

Sadly, children are being forced to contend with a culture that gives the repeated message that people’s value mainly lies in their sexual attractiveness. This message is fed to them very early in their games, magazines and TV programs and is reinforced by similar and perhaps stronger messages in the mainstream culture, particularly regarding the persistent depiction of women as sexual objects for men’s pleasure.

The result is that children are forced to deal with sex and sexuality before they are developmentally ready and, adding insult to injury, they imbibe a very distorted view of these issues from the surrounding culture.

Take, for example, some of the blog comments sparked by a recent article on the appalling state of advertising standards: “My five year old son loudly asked, 'Mum, what's hot sex?' after seeing a billboard near a Parramatta service station"; and “Why should I have to explain to my eight year old daughter what male sexual dysfunction is when I'm just trying to drive her to her dance class?"

A broad range of groups share a strong concern about our sexualised environment, including faith groups, family groups, women’s groups, think tanks such as the Australia Institute, professional bodies, and many mums and dads in the community who are trying to raise well adjusted children in an increasingly toxic environment.

After conducting a review of the sexualisation of girls, the American Psychological Association, the largest body of psychologists in the world, found that there was ample evidence to show that sexualisation has negative effects in a variety of domains, including such things as physical and mental health, and attitudes to sexual harassment and sexual violence. Of course the depiction of girls as sexual objects is also likely to have a negative effect on the developing attitudes of boys.

The Australian Medical Association has also expressed concerns about the hazards of idealised media images of the perfect body and the impact this has on self-esteem and dangerous eating patterns.

There are many actions that could be taken to improve this situation if only legislators can develop the political will to address this toxic culture.

Unfortunately, a recent Senate inquiry into the sexualisation of children in the contemporary media environment tinkered around the edges of the problem and missed a real chance to initiate constructive change to better protect children.

Instead of dealing with the need for greater government regulation which gives priority to the interests of children, the committee appears to have been snowed by the very industry they were inquiring into – effectively leaving the issue in the hands of the media and advertising industry to self-regulate.

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has called for urgent action to address growing concerns over the sexualisation of children. This should include:

• Establishing an independent regulatory system to oversee all media exposure and advertising which impacts on children and teenagers;

• Appointing a Federal Commissioner for Children, who would be independent of government, advocate for the needs of children, review policies and legislation which affect children, and educate relevant professionals and the public about the dangers of sexualising marketing practices;

• Funding a large-scale study into the full range of positive and negative social influences on a child’s growth to adulthood.

ACL would also like to see an end to the ‘artistic merit’ loopholes which are allowing children to be exploited in art works and publications. Recently we wrote to the Prime Minister asking that he direct the next Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) to address this issue, including concerns that exemptions in the National Classification Scheme for ‘artistic merit’ are circumventing community standards. Pleasingly, the NSW Government now appears to be calling for similar action.

There is strong evidence that Australia’s sex-saturated culture is causing a variety of harms to our children. Action needs to take place swiftly, before further damage occurs.

The Government and the community should give high priority to putting in place concrete measures to bring an end to the exploitation of vulnerable young people.

Glynis Quinlan is the public relations manager for the Australian Christian Lobby and a journalist with Debate magazine.

FOR MORE OF THE LOBBYIST'S VIEW...  | more... |