Religious group calls for respect for children

BYE Buy Childhood is a campaign initiated by the Mothers’ Union in Ireland and Britain to raise awareness of, and to empower families to challenge the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood through positive action.

According to the campaign: “the commercialisation of childhood has an adverse effect in all areas of a child’s life: physical health, mental health and emotional wellbeing, the values they develop, their education development and their relationships with family and their peers”.

Through Bye Buy Childhood, the Mothers’ Union is calling for change, asking marketing, media and retailers to make a difference to childhood by:

* Not taking advantage of children’s natural inexperience to sell to them.

* Not marketing or selling goods of a sexualised nature to children under 16.

* Ensuring that children under 16 are not exposed to the marketing and display of sexualised products.

About £350 million is spent in Britain annually by the advertising industry persuading children to consume, it says.

www.byebuychildhood.org