A Good Childhood: Searching for Values in a Competitive Age - Softcover

Every day the newspapers lament the problems facing our children - broken homes, pressures to eat and drink, the stress of exams. The same issues are discussed in every pub and at every dinner party. But is life really more difficult for children than it was, and if so why? And how can we make it better?

This book, which is a result of a two year investigation by the Children's Society and draws upon the work of the UK's leading experts in many fields, explores the main stresses and influences to which every child is exposed - family, friends, youth culture, values, and schooling, and will make recommendations as to how we can improve the upbringing of our children. It tackles issues which affect every child, whatever their background, and questions and provides solutions to the belief that life has become so extraordinarily difficult for children in general.

The experts make 30 specific recommendations, written not from the point of view of academics, but for the general reader - above all for parents and teachers. We expect publication to be a major event and the centre of widespread media attention.

Is childhood all it should be? Or has it been spoilt by broken homes, junk food, alcohol and exam stress?

These issues are discussed, with increasing concern, by parents of children of all ages, by teachers, by the media and by everyone who is worried about the future of our society. But is life really more difficult for children than it was, and if so why? And how can we make it better?

This clear-headed and compassionate book is the result of the biggest inquiry into the condition of childhood ever conducted in the UK, drawing upon the work of leading experts as well as the words of children themselves. It explores the main influences to which every child is exposed - family, friends, youth culture, values, and schooling - as well as looking at questions such as: Are league tables of schools doing more harm than good? Should advertising to children be banned? What effect does income inequality have on childhood?
A Good Childhood provides the facts on the state of childhood today and provides striking and imaginative proposals for how it could be made better for all children, whatever their background, giving them the values they need to be happy and to flourish. All discussions about childhood from now on should start from this crucial report.