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Childwise and The Bodyshop have formed an alliance to help raise awareness about sex trafficking of children & young people.

Please sign the petition at The Body Shop or online to encourage the Australian Government to fund programs to stop the demand and supply of child trafficking for sexual exploitation in our region.

Know the Facts. (from Childwise fact sheet)

• Human trafficking is the third largest organised crime in the world after illegal drugs and weapons.

• Over 2.5 million people are trafficked in the world each year, and 1.2 million are under the age of 18.

• Children and young people are abused, beaten, raped and repeatedly sold into prostitution against their will.

• Australians are responsible for feeding demand by accessing child pornography or travelling overseas to sexually abuse a child.

• Child sexual abuse is an Australian crime even if you are overseas. Penalties include up to 25 years imprisonment for child sex or child pornography offences and up to 10 years imprisonment for planning to commit a child sex offence overseas.

• Children (under 16 years old) can never consent to sexual exploitation. It is the responsibility of adults to protect them from abuse.

See more information at Childwise.

Something that has got "much worse" according to Wolf, is the influence of pornography, which "has become the air we breathe... it's definitely affecting young women and men's sexual development deeply, deeply, deeply."

Wolf, "a free speech absolutist", does not advocate censorship. In any case, she says, attempts to ban pornography wouldn't work. "It's like the military-industrial complex: so much money's being made that there's no way to stop it at the source. The best thing we can do is try to persuade young woman and men that it's not good for their self confidence, and they'll have better sex if they choose not to let this stuff shape their sense of sexuality."

Of course, that's an argument to be made to adults who consensually consume porn.

On the current Australian debate over the display of porn magazines in service stations and supermarkets, Wolf is unequivocal. "I think it's appropriate to keep pornography away from children. I don't think it's censorship to keep public space porn free - people still have a choice about when they want to consume it. I don't feel it's right to impose pornography on - people in the public sphere."

Extract from The Sunday Age article The Porn Myth by Emily McGuire. 3/5/10

Michael Carr-Gregg and others speak out! The Australian Council on Children and the Media in alliance with Kids Free 2B Kids presents:

Bratz, Britney and  Bralettes: The sexualisation of childhood

Thursday 13 May 7:00 pm for 7:30 pm to 9:45pm
 Helen Reid Hall, Walford Anglican School for Girls

316 Unley Road, Hyde Park, SA 5061

From tiny tots to late teens, girls are being preyed on and damaged by sexualisation and media messages about weight, looks, clothes and behaviour. The messages they are getting are wrong. And the harm is real, and not just to girls.

Come and hear some of Australia's best speakers on children and teens, the issues and protections. 

v   Michael Carr-Gregg, well known author and psychologist

v   Julie Gale, founding Director of Kids Free 2B Kids

v   Rita Princi, child psychologist

v   Professor Elizabeth Handsley, Law, Flinders University

v   Archbishop Jeffrey Driver, Anglican Diocese of Adelaide

 

The last Bratz, Britney and Bralettes seminar sold out early, so book now to secure your place.

 

Tickets $27.50 

For more information go to the ACCM website

Phone: 61 8 8376 2111

Email:  admin@youngmedia.org.au

Read the article written by Julie Gale, Director of Kids Free 2B Kids on  ABC The Drum Unleashed.

Gale says "It is a continual frustration that the media will not print examples of covers of pornographic material sold within view and access of children. (or examples of content and text in unsealed mags.) So, of course, my message is continually minimised in the process. And it means that many people understandably don't really get what the fuss is about.

One of the reasons BP, Mobil and Shell/Coles Express removed all category 1 restricted magazines from their company owned stores nationwide is because I sent them graphic (but pixilated) images of the covers, content and text in magazines they were selling. I also explained that many distributors were flouting the law, and this meant that unintentionally a lot of their stores were selling illegal content.

Removing ALL cat 1 nationwide. That is responsible action... not undertaken lightly and goes to show that providing examples made the issue very clear.

It's so ironic and hypocritical that the material is deemed ok to be displayed in front of kids - but definitely far too inappropriate for the media to show.

I understand it is a tough call from the media perspective - but so frustrating for those of us who are just wanting to show it how it is."

Kids Free 2B Kids encourages you to support an Australian online petition called Say No 4 Kids aimed at getting pornographic magazines away from childrens access and view.

Click here to sign.

 

 Monday 5th April

The articles in today’s Age and SMH newspapers are slightly misleading. Below is the statement and list of signatories sent to the Attorney General’s Censorship and Enforcement working party.

To the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General Censorship Ministers.

"We, the undersigned, are opposed to Restricted p-rnographic publications and material being sold where they can easily be seen and accessed by children.

We call for the sale and display of Restricted publications to be limited to adults-only premises.

Further, we support a review of the Classification of Publications Guidelines, to determine whether there should be more stringent requirements for the display of  the so-called "lads'' magazines such as ‘People' ‘The Picture' ‘Zoo'  and ‘Ralph' magazines etc..

Julie Gale, Director,  Kids Free 2B Kids

The Hon Alastair Nicholson,  AO RFD QC, Former Chief Justice of the Family Court and Founding Patron, Children's Rights International

Tim Costello, CEO World Vision

Noni Hazlehurst, AM,. Actor, Child Advocate

Clive Hamilton, AM, Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics

Dr Joe Tucci,  CEO Australian Childhood Foundation

Steve Biddulph, Psychologist, Author and Australian Father of the Year in 2000

Professor Louise Newman, Director, Monash University Centre for Developmental Psychiatry & Psychology

Dr Karen Brooks, Associate Professor in media studies, School of Arts and Social Sciences Southern Cross University

Barbara Biggins, OAM Hon CEO Australian Council on Children and the Media

Melinda Tankard Reist, Editor "Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls", Social Commentator

Dr John Tobin, Melbourne Law School

Elizabeth Handsley, BA .LLB. LLM., Professor of Law, Flinders University

Kaisu Vartto, CEO Sexual Health Information Networking & Education SA Inc (SHine SA)

Dr Cordelia Fine, Centre for Applied Philosophy & Public Ethics University of Melbourne

Bill Jackson, CEO, Children's Rights International

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Author, Child & Adolescent Psychologist and Social Commentator

Professor Susan J Paxton, Head of School. of Psychological Science ,La Trobe University

Dr Beryl Langer, Sociology & Anthropology School of Social Sciences LaTrobe University

Dannielle Miller, CEO Enlighten Education and author of "The Butterfly Effect"

Professor Dorothy Scott, Director, Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia

Dr Phil West, Ph.D. Initiator and Co-founder: The Alannah & Madeline Foundation Founder & President Renew the Spirit Foundation

Mr Tony Pitman, CEO OzChild

Dr Emma Rush, Co-author Corporate Paedophilia.

Dr Rick Kausman,  Medical doctor and author

Lauren Kelly\, Coordinator Northern Sydney Area Sexual Assault Service Royal North Shore Hospital

Dr Judith Slocombe, Chief Executive Officer The Alannah and Madeline Foundation

Rita Princi, Child, Adolescent & Family Psychologist

Professor Chris Goddard, Director Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia, Monash University

Hetty Johnston, Founder and Executive Director Bravehearts Inc

Carla Meurs, Co-ordinator, Solving the Jigsaw

Angelique Foran, Psychologist - Child, Adolescent and Family Psychology

Miranda Chow, Project Manager, Lasallian Foundation

Ramesh Manocha, GP and Founder of Generation Next

Susan McLean, Former Police Officer & Cyber Safety Expert including child pornography and online sexual solicitation

Women's Forum Australia

Women's Action Alliance

 

 Articles:

 Put soft porn out of view:experts. Mary-Anne Toy, The Age 5/4/10

The Age poll question does not reflect the story. The question should have been -  Should pornographic magazines be removed from childrens view and access?

 Graphic images delay censor report. Mary-Anne Toy. The Age. 5/4/10

 (Headline not correct. The delay was getting the submission passed onto the censorship working party from the classification board)

Call for soft porn curbs rejected. Ari Sharp. The Age. 6/4/10

 

Kids Free 2B Kids encourages you to support an Australian online petition called Say No 4 Kids aimed at getting pornographic magazines away from childrens access and view.

Click here to sign.

There is a push from some quarters at the moment to allow video games rated R18+  to be sold or hired in Australia. 

Kids Free 2 B Kids is vehemently opposed to this.

Adults are easily able to purchase R18+ games online if they want them.

The highest video game rating currently in Australia is MA15+ and imported games are modified for the Australian market and have to meet our MA15+ rating.

All video games must pass through the classification system before they are sold /hired.

If there is too much high level violence in the MA15+ category, as some suggest, then revising the classification criteria is more necessary than adding another rating.

Adding an R18+ classification means that much more extreme violence and sexualised imagery will be available on the public shelves - making it more accessible to kids and young teens.

Many video games are fun and engaging and even educational - but others like Grand Theft Auto have an MA 15+ for a good reason.

Some people state that an R18+ classification will help parents.

Better community education about the impacts of media violence and the MA15+ rating will help parents more than being lulled into a sense of security by an R18+rating.

Parents must take some time to sit and watch video games with their kids and young teens  to really know what they are playing.

Keep higher levels of violent and sexual games off the public shelves.

"The logical outcome of saying "let's make it R so parents will understand" is that we only need 2 classifications -  G= OK for everyone,  and R= parents need to be careful. So PG and M and MA15 have no meaning for anyone? In that case we need a massive public education campaign"                                                                                                                                                                                   Barbara Biggins CEO The Australian Council on Children and the Media.

(See article below for research on the impacts of exposure to media violence.)

KF2bK director Julie Gale attended the ‘Growing up Fast and Furious' Conference on 19 March, which was held by the Australian Council of Children and the Media (ACCM) and Macquarie University.

The jury is NOT out when it comes to the impacts of media violence.

A new study published in the March 2010 issue of the Psychological Bulletin, an American Psychological Association journal, reports that "exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive thoughts and behavior, and decreased empathy and prosocial behavior in youths."

Lead author of the group of cross-national researchers, Distinguished Prof Craig Anderson of Iowa State University, said "We can now say with utmost confidence that regardless of research method-that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal- and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects ... and the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour in both short-term and long-term contexts.

Such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases prosocial behavior." The research also included new longitudinal data which provided further confirmation that playing violent video games is a causal risk factor for long-term harmful outcomes.

The team used meta-analytic procedures- the statistical methods used to analyse and combine results from previous, related literature-to test the effects of violent video game play on the behaviors, thoughts and feelings of the individuals, ranging from elementary school-aged children to college undergraduates.

Anderson, Craig A. et al (2010) Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin., Vol 136(2) 151-173.

(Extract from the ACCM newsletter)

The report conducted by psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos, looks at how sexualised images and messages may be affecting the development of children and young people and influencing cultural norms. It also examines the evidence of a link between sexualisation and violence.

Kids Free 2B Kids welcomes this excellent evidence based report and hopes that it will provide further incentive for the Australian Government to take decisive action towards stopping the sexualisation of children and young teens.

The Labor government has policy about 'reducing the damage being caused by increased sexualisation' -                SO WHERE'S THE ACTION??

Labor Policy

Chapter 7: Securing an inclusive future for all Australians.

Young Australians:

69.  ‘Labor will place a particular focus on young people's health needs, including physical and mental health, drug and alcohol education, the promotion of positive body image and a healthy lifestyle. Labor will work towards developing strategies to prevent and reduce the damage being caused by the increased sexualisation of children in the media and popular culture.'

 

Cotton On Update

In 2009, Kids Free 2B Kids led a campaign to stop sexualised slogans on baby and young children's t-shirts in Cotton On stores. Groups and individuals from around Australia and New Zealand joined in the push to get them removed.

KF2BK director Julie Gale recently met with Cotton On CEO, Peter Johnson and is very pleased to report that they are in the process of withdrawing approx 40,000 pieces from their stores.

Cotton On recognised that the t-shirts are not in line with the core values of the company, and undermine the valuable community work they are engaged in.

KF2BK congratulates Cotton On for their responsible action.

NEW YORK, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Almost nine in 10 U.S. teenage girls say the fashion industry is at least partially responsible for girls' obsession with being skinny, a survey indicates.

The survey of more than 1,000 girls ages 13-17 released by the Girl Scouts of the USA found 89 percent say the fashion industry, and 88 percent say the media, put a lot of pressure on them to be thin. However, despite the criticism of industry, three out of four of those surveyed said fashion is "really important" to them.

Eighty-one percent of the teen girls said they would prefer to see natural photos of models rather than digitally altered and enhanced images. Seventy-five percent said they would be more likely to buy clothes they see on real-size models than on women who are super skinny.

Eighty-two percent said peers, 81 percent said friends and 65 percent said parents are strong influences in how teenage girls feel about their bodies.

Nearly one-third of the girls said they have starved themselves or refused to eat in an effort to lose weight, while 42 percent reported knowing someone their age who has induced vomiting after eating, and 37 percent said they know someone their age who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder.

The survey was conducted by Tru. No further details of the survey were provided.

The Australian Sex Party has grossly misrepresented and distorted the work of Kids Free 2B Kids to push their agenda regarding their core business of promoting and defending pornography.

A press release written by Fiona Patten 27/1/10 has misconstrued and falsely represented the work KF2BK has been engaged in with the Classification Board.

We suggest Ms Patten gets her facts straight before any writing any further comments.

Our work is often misrepresented by people and groups with hidden agendas.

Read Melinda Tankard Reists blog article titled: Australian Sex Party caught out in attempt to hide reality of ‘teen porn' titles.