Office of Communications (Ofcom) (return to blog) Blog

December 2009 saw the publication of Professor David Buckingham’s independent report into ‘The impact of the commercial world on children’s wellbeing’, which suggests that the debate about the impact of the commercial world on children is a polarised one, between those on the one hand who see children as victims, and others who see all children as confident and media-savvy consumers.

The report notes that while there are risks and a need for appropriate safeguards, the commercial world and the media offers children great opportunities for learning, social development and enjoyment. It states that children and parents need help in acquiring the skills to exploit these opportunities whilst staying safe.

In a significant step forward for the campaign to have media literacy embedded into the National Curriculum, The Government will support and facilitate tackling the issues that have been raised in Professor Buckingham’s report by:

• promoting greater media literacy for young people – the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to look at how schools can help boost children’s online skills and teach young people about how to stay safe online through the recently launched UKCCIS strategy;
• setting up a panel to specifically see what place there is in the curriculum for further media literacy skills;
• updating the ‘myguide,’ website for parents to give them advice on everything from ‘phishing’ to spam to chat rooms and music sharing to help parents tackle the commercial messages that their children engage in;
• exploring the scope for developing a set of voluntary principles to underpin all forms of marketing and promotion of food and drink to children, particularly where established mandatory self and co-regulatory regimes do not exist; and
• the Chief Medical Officer publishing his guidelines on the health effects and risks of children drinking alcohol.

Author of the report, Professor David Buckingham, said: “Today’s children are growing up in an increasingly commercial world. Although there is a continuing need for regulation, we also need to ensure that children are informed and empowered consumers.”

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said: “Keeping children safe is all our responsibility. Often this is simply a case of arming parents and young people with the information and help needed to distinguish harmful material and experiences from good opportunities. That’s why I think it would be useful to see if schools have place in the curriculum to boost young people’s media literacy skills to help them navigate the wide range of media on offer to them in the 21st Century.”

For more information visit the DCSF website.