# Letting Children be Children/Theme 2

Published by the Department of Education in London.
​THEME 2
Clothing, Products and Services for Children
   "Designers and providers need to be challenged to consider what they are doing to children. ex is an easy sell."
   Parent, Call for Evidence response
​Overview
* Sexualised and gender-stereotyped clothing, products and services for children are the biggest areas of concern for parents and many non-commercial organisations contributing to the Review, with interest fanned by a sometimes prurient press.
* The issues are rarely clear-cut, with a fine balance on a number of points – taste, preference, choice, affordability, fashion and gender preferences.
* Retailers are aware of the issues and sensitivities and are responding.They need to be explicitly and systematically family friendly, from design and buying through to display and marketing.
WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE
That retailers do not sell or market inappropriate clothing, products or services for children.
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Introduction
As set out in Theme 1, we all (adults and children, parents and non—parents) live in a world that has become increasingly sexualised. Sexual images form a wallpaper to our lives, all—pervasive but hardly noticed.This background affects adults as well as children and is
We also examine the role of retailers in bringing products to market and their handling of sexualised and gendered products. We acknowledge the view of Professor Buckingham and his colleagues in their assessment that:
DCSF/DCMS, 2009
Child development and sexual maturity
"It's gonna make her grow up too fast, walking around thinking she's a little teenager. She ain't, she's a little girl and I want her to dress like a little girl."
"There's a concern about them knowing too much at their age. You want to protect their innocence."
"She wants to wear make—up and short skirts because she wants to look like [a celebrity] but it's too much. It's not innocent — well it is, but it might look provoking to the wrong people."
Parents, Review qualitative research
"I think it [sexualisation] has a massive influence on how they grow up... It's quite disturbing."
Parent, Call for Evidence response
These are certainly not new concerns on the part of parents and it is important to view this aspect of the debate in a wider social and historical context. The report of the independent assessment led by Professor Buckingham offers a comprehensive analysis of this wider context, and particularly highlights the role that nostalgia plays in parental and societal views of childhood:
DCSF/DCMS, 2009
We need to see concerns about the premature sexualisation of children through inappropriate clothing and other products against this backdrop. Professor David Buckingham, in a book to be published in 2011, considers the issue of whether, as well as society being increasingly sexualised, this lowering of the age at which children reach physical and sexual maturity provides a biological driver towards them seeing their
Sexualised products
Parents responding to our Call for Evidence told us that they felt that retailers could do more to offer age—appropriate ranges of clothes. They said that they preferred children's clothes to be clearly age—appropriate and not simply scaled—down versions of adult fashion. Figure 6 shows findings from the omnibus survey about views on clothes for children.
Figure 6: Views on clothing styles for children
* 55 per cent of parents surveyed thought that adult style clothes for children in shops encourage children to act older than they are.
* 45 per cent of parents surveyed thought that adult—style clothes for children put pressure on children to conform to a particular body shape and size.
* 48 per cent of the children surveyed agreed with the statement 'It's difficult to find clothes in the shops that I like and that my parents would allow me to wear'.
Source:TNS Omnibus Survey, 2011
"In many high street shops clothes for young girls are merely mini versions of adult clothes. Almost everything is pink and glittery or has inappropriate slogans such as 'WAG in the making', 'Gorgeous', 'Princess' etc.
"I find it strange when children's clothes are so 'grown—up' and in many shops I could buy items for my daughter that I could wear myself!"
Parents, Call for Evidence response
We would prefer to see a more measured approach. Common sense tells us that under 16s are bound to need swimwear and bras at some stage during their childhood.As the Department for Education's Children and Youth Board sensibly commented in their response to our Call for Evidence:
Department for Education's Children and Youth Board
CASE STUDY: THE DESIGN AND RETAIL OF FIRST AND TRAINER BRAS
Children develop at different ages and rates. In the UK, girls can now expect to reach puberty around their tenth birthday, and there are some who will need a first bra before then.
Shops selling first and trainer bras may locate these either in the childrenswear section or in the lingerie section, depending on factors such as shop size and layout and customer preference. First and trainer bras can be labelled in two ways — either according to age or using the chest and cup sizing used for adult bras.
The design of first and trainer bras is usually quite plain, for example bras are often white or in plain cotton fabrics, perhaps lightly decorated. First and trainer bras may well have lightly moulded foam cups. Newspaper coverage has sometimes described this as 'padding' but it is not designed to enhance the wearer's bust: customer feedback shows that young wearers feel more comfortable with a bra that offers support and modesty.
Source: Clothing retailers who contributed to our Call for Evidence
CASE STUDY: GEORGE DESIGN — PARROT T-SHIRT
"George at Asda created an original design for a girls t—shirt with a parrot theme.This initially featured a drawing of a parrot and the wording of the familiar phrase 'who's a pretty girl?' However, in the internal George process of reviewing designs it was decided that the wording could perhaps be misconstrued by some people. To ensure that the product was completely appropriate, the product was redesigned. The final product for customers features the drawing of a parrot but not the wording.This is example of how George uses its internal design and feedback process, from colleagues and customer focus groups, to refine products so that they are just right for the wearer."
Source: George at Asda
CASE STUDY: STYLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
"Following feedback from our customers that the girl models used in our promotional photography looked too grown up and sophisticated, we reviewed and made changes to our internal guidelines for the styling and photography of our childrenswear. These changes included reducing the age of the girl models from 12 years old to 10 years old; moving away from posed studio shots to more fun, lifestyle shots in a natural environment and changing what could be perceived as grown up 'sultry' expressions to happy smiling children."
Source: High street retailer contributing to the Review
Shop window and in-store displays
Some parents have raised concerns about sexualised imagery in window displays, such as displays of lingerie and explicitly sexualised clothing, the use of mannequins posed in sexually suggestive ways, or sexualised photography or images used as the backdrop to a window display. Parents have also been concerned about the display of children's goods alongside adult goods. Most often this concerns girls’ underwear or swimwear (Buckingham,Willett, Bragg and Russell, 2010). Here there is an implied sexualisation ​by association: if the garment is 'sexy' for an adult then the similar garments nearby must be being marketed as sexy for children.
"The problem is that when you are 'out and about' with kids, things aren't neatly compartmentalised — so clothes shops, music shops, games shops etc sell things aimed at say 9–12 year olds alongside adult products."
Parents, Call for Evidence response
Gender stereotyping
CASE STUDY: PRODUCT PACKAGING
"In 2006, we used to sell our 'Bath Bomb' product in blue packaging, thinking that would give it a unisex appeal, and so increase our market potential. We were selling at a rate of 15,000 sets per annum.The product is legally defined as a 'chemical experimentation set' but, unfortunately, 'science' still appeals to boys more than girls. Once we changed to predominantly pink packaging and marketed it as a craft activity, we were shocked to see consistent sales of 80,000 to 120,000 sets per annum ever since! Experience has taught us that the success or otherwise of a toy depends largely on the pack design communicating quickly to the consumer whether a toy is best suited to boys or to girls."
Source: Bob Paton, Interplay UK, Toy Manufacturer
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