ABSTRACT
Compared with other European states, Britain could hardly be regarded as a child-orientated society. There has undoubtedly been a rejection of the often harsh child rearing methods favoured in the UK a century ago, but children are still not welcomed or adequately catered for in public places such as pubs and restaurants. More serious perhaps is the fact that British nursery provision is the poorest in Europe, with only half of pre-schoolage children able to obtain a place. Yet, at the same time, the family is revered and the popular media are dominated by debates about the falling standard of British parenting. We can begin to consider this paradox by focusing on two particularly contentious issues: firstly, the increase in single-parent households and, secondly, children’s exposure to violence both within the family and as depicted in forms of popular entertainment.
