Focusing mainly on the United Kingdom, this article reviews a decade of national and international policy and legal changes in relation to disabled children and their families. It discusses attempts to transform the ways that disabled children are perceived and the rights accorded to them. The UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons,…

In recent years, the "sexualisation of childhood" has moved into the centre ground of public policy and debate internationally, despite the conceptual confusions and inadequate evidence surrounding the processes denoted by the term. This paper focuses primarily on the most recent of several UK government-commissioned reviews and reports,…

This article debates options for service provision to young rural runaways in the UK. Using data drawn from two national surveys and follow-on qualitative studies, the authors trace urban myths of rurality and their effects on runaway provision. The authors review models of rural refuge, systemic advocacy and mobile services for rural runaways.…

Since the Millennium, the use of physical punishment in the home has been a widely debated topic across the UK. Reliance on public opinion has been an important feature of this debate with a variety of UK surveys showing that many find physical punishment acceptable and do not support a complete ban on smacking. Drawing on the results from a…

This article seeks to explore how the myth of the "rural idyll" can be detrimental to those who currently experience some of the greatest social exclusion in rural areas--children and young people. The research explores the views and experiences of the young residents of a small town in the south-west of England (n = 157, ages 12-18…

Reports on surveys in Britain on educational provision for pregnant students and student mothers. Discusses educational access and equity, and points out policy questions that need addressing. Responds to characterization of these women as a "drain" on the national purse and advocates provision of education and child care to increase…

Draws on previous review of literature on adolescent abuse. Argues for response in Britain that includes reconsideration of definitions of abuse; reappraisal of attitudes toward adolescents in general, and those disclosing abuse in particular; development of inter-agency working and styles of working which involve adolescents meaningfully in…

Draws on a study of the ways in which moral and practical dilemmas of punishment are debated and deliberated upon in discussions among children. Focuses on one aspect of the children's talk, namely the mobilization of themes and images that seem to have their origin in the more or less remote past. (Author/KB)

Describes the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Children 5-16 Research Programme, a 5-year project which examined contemporary childhood in the United Kingdom, including aspects of social lives, living conditions, experiences, and perspectives. Notes specific research aims: to develop new knowledge about children as social actors, to…