New retailer code to protect children

David Cameron is to back a plan to stop retailers selling inappropriate clothes for pre-teens and shield children from sexualised imagery across all media, including selling ‘lads magazines' in brown covers and making the watchdog Ofcom more answerable to the views of parents. Retailers would be required to sign up to a new code preventing the sale of items for pre-teens with suggestive slogans, which the prime minister has repeatedly criticised. The proposals come in a long-awaited report on the commercialisation of childhood. It was commissioned by Cameron and is due to be published tomorrow with strong support from Downing Street. Recommendations in the review, entitled Let children be children, include: The Advertising Standards Authority to discourage placement of billboards with sexualised imagery near schools and nurseries or other areas where children are likely to view it, a clampdown on sexualised and violent images shown before TV's 9pm watershed and curbs and cinema-style age rating for music videos, a single website to be created, to act as "an interface between parents and the variety of regulators across the media, communications and retail industries", making it easier for parents to block age-restricted material on the internet, and ‘lads magazines' to be moved to top shelves in shops or sold in covers. The report, prepared by Reg Bailey, the chief executive of the Christian charity Mothers' Union, finds "sexualised and gender stereotyped clothing, products and services for children are the biggest concerns for parents and many non-commercial organisations". In response to his recommendations on clothing, it is expected the British Retail Consortium, after consultation with Mumsnet, a web-based parents' forum, will announce a new code next week. It is expected to advise retailers against suggestive or gender-specific slogans on clothes, black or enhanced bras, and will propose modest swimwear for pre-teens. From / Gulf News