Children These Days, * Nicola Madge, * Bristol, The Policy Press, 2006, ISBN 1861347839, 17.99

Abstract

My impression on first reading this book was that it was of limited application, as it dealt mainly with the views of white English children. On re-reading the book, I found it to be a modest contribution to the child rights movement. If children’s views are to influence policies and services, then their views need to be collected and explored in a scientific manner. The title of the book is a tongue-in-cheek double take on the stereotypic response of adults to children’s behaviour or attitudes that they find offensive. The underlying twin objectives of the book are to challenge the stereotypic view of children and to give a snapshot of the views of a sample of children living in contemporary England. Data were collected from 2,000 pupils from eleven primary and secondary schools and 500 adults in England via the use of self-completed questionnaires. The book comprises ten chapters. The first is rather philosophical and deals mainly with the social construction of childhood—a debate that mirrors that of the radical youth movement of the 1980s. The second deals with the research methodology. The next seven chapters follow a similar structure, comprising a general discussion of the literature and data adduced to support the points made, and each deals with the themes emanating from the research: the experience of contemporary childhood in the UK; the thin line between control and protection; the status of children; the perceived relationship between children and adults; and children’s priorities for action and change. The last chapter—‘Findings and messages’—draws together the major findings and teases out the implications for policy and practice in children’s services.