Search results

This article explores representations of childhood and forced migration within a selection of European screen content for and about children. Based on the findings of a research project that examined the intersections of children's media, diversity, and forced migration in Europe (Euro-Arab Children's Media), funded by the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council, the article highlights different ways in which ideas of borders and belonging are constructed and deconstructed in a selection of films and television programs that feature children with an immigration background. Drawing on ideas around the "politics of pity" (Boltanski; Chouliaraki), the analysis explores conditions under which narratives of otherness arise when it comes to representing forcibly displaced children within European-produced children's screen media. It also examines screen media that destabilize borders of "us" and "the other" by emphasizing the agency of children from migration backgrounds and revealing both the similarities and the differences between European children with immigration backgrounds and White European-born children. It is argued here that these representations destabilize narratives of borders and otherness, suggesting that children with a family history of immigration "belong" to European societies in the same ways as White European-born children.

What is online risk? How can we best protect children from it? Who should be responsible for this protection? Is all protection good? Can Internet users trust the industry? These and other fundamental questions are discussed in this book. Beginning with the premise that the political and democratic processes in a society are affected by the way in which that society defines and perceives risks, Children in the Online World offers insights into the contemporary regulation of online risk for children (including teens), examining the questions of whether such regulation is legitimate and whether it does in fact result in the sacrifice of certain fundamental human rights. The book draws on representative studies with European children concerning their actual online risk experiences as well as an extensive review of regulatory rationales in the European Union, to contend that the institutions of the western European welfare states charged with protecting children have changed fundamentally, at the cost of the level of security that they provide. In consequence, children at once have more rights with regard to their personal decision making as digital consumers, yet fewer democratic rights to participation and protection as 'digital citizens'. A theoretically informed, yet empirically grounded study of the relationship between core democratic values and the duty to protect young people in the media-sphere, Children in the Online World will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences with interests in new technologies, risk and the sociology of childhood and youth

Child trafficking is a significant social problem across the European Union (EU). A discourse has emerged of state services failing trafficked children, who are portrayed as especially vulnerable. Less attention is paid to the socio-political conditions within the EU that result in exclusion. Such exclusion adds to the situational vulnerability that many children on the move experience and it may lead to exploitation. This paper is based on a review of 20 multi-national European Commission funded projects about child trafficking. The projects addressed the child trafficking priorities outlined in the EU Anti-Trafficking Strategy [(2012). Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016, COM (2012) 286, final. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52012DC0286&from=EN]. Projects were reviewed via in-depth reading. Protective services for children in origin, transit and host countries contribute to the conditions that sustain child trafficking. Systems do not have the capacity to manage the consequences of globalisation. Consequently, exclusionary criteria are applied on the basis of gender, form of exploitation and ethnicity. In this review, being an EU citizen did not result in any guarantees of protection. Better protection requires commitment and investment in preventative programmes.

In a world dominated by poverty, a central characteristic has been the plight of orphans and abandoned children. Over the centuries, State, Church and individuals have all attempted to tackle the issue, but can we trace any change over the course of time when it comes to the welfare system intended for these disadvantaged children and acts of philanthropy? What kind of social policies did States follow and what were the main differences between countries and regions? Drawing on historical evidence across several centuries and a range of European countries, the contributors to this volume provide a transnational overview.

We compare three EU countries that have recently experienced substantial but very different reforms of their systems to support families with children: Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom. The structure of these systems is different: Austria gives emphasis to universal benefits, Spain to tax concessions and the United Kingdom to means-tested benefits. As a first step the paper compares the distributional implications of these three approaches. The recent reforms have reinforced these existing structures while increasing the amount of public resources directed towards children. The second step is to address the question whether the chosen strategies are the best for each country. What would have happened if instead of reinforcing the existing types of policies these countries had completely transformed the architecture of their systems in either of the other two directions? We use EUROMOD, the European tax-benefit microsimulation model that is designed for making cross-country comparisons and answering "what if" questions such as these to explore the effects of budget-neutral alternatives on the position of children in the income distribution as a whole, the proportions gaining and losing and the effects on child poverty. The three factors that can be distinguished – the level of spending, its structure, and the way it impacts in a particular national context – are all important to varying degrees.

Food parenting practices (FPPs) have an important role in shaping children's dietary behaviors. This study aimed to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations over a twoyear follow-up between FPP and dietary intake and compliance with current recommendations in 6- to 11-year-old European children. A total of 2967 parent-child dyads from the Feel4Diabetes study, a randomized controlled trial of a school and community-based intervention, (50.4% girls and 93.5% mothers) were included. FPPs assessed were: (1) home food availability; (2) parental role modeling of fruit intake; (3) permissiveness; (4) using food as a reward. Children's dietary intake was assessed through a parent-reported food frequency questionnaire. In regression analyses, the strongest cross-sectional associations were observed between home availability of 100% fruit juice and corresponding intake (β = 0.492 in girls and β = 0.506 in boys, p < 0.001), and between parental role modeling of fruit intake and children's fruit intake (β = 0.431 in girls and β = 0.448 in boys, p < 0.001). In multilevel logistic regression models, results indicated that improvements in positive FPPs over time were mainly associated with higher odds of compliance with healthy food recommendations, whereas a decrease in negative FPP over time was associated with higher odds of complying with energy-dense/nutrient-poor food recommendations. Improving FPPs could be an effective way to improve children's dietary intake. ; European Union's Horizon 2020 ; Aragón's Regional Government (Diputación General de Aragón, DGA)

While children in general are usually seen as a societal priority, many children are disadvantaged by marginalization, with adverse effects on health and development. Following feasibility studies, the European Commission has now adopted a formal Child Guarantee of service access. This paper links the Feasibility Studies to other reports on the need to address marginalized and institutionalized children. The problems in identifying and quantifying such children are outlined, as are the challenges of planning for these groups of children and the difficulty of finding universal definitions and data. This European Union initiative is timely, given that around a quarter of European children are marginalized, while the effects of Covid-19 will add to this marginalization.