Mr Howard did step in.

What audience is this article aimed at?

Historians would probably argue that "child exploitation" as we currently see it, did not have measurable 'impact on mental health'....

To me..the MOST important issue is:

"Is it inherrently EVIL.. and IMMORAL.. to sexualize children and use them for the sexual gratification of adults..

OR..

is it purely culturally and historically relative" ?

As far as I am concerned..it is IMMORAL and EVIL.. to sexually exploit and use children.. whether it is in the guise of
-marriage or
-advertizing or
-religion.

UNLESS we can come up with a definitive answer to this crucial question.. those of us who wish to defend children from the predatorial and exploitative use by adults will simply end up wringing our hands.. and bemoaning the unchallengable fact of increased child abuse.

WE NEED A REASON to say it is 'bad'..........

If we try to argue that it is 'bad'... psychologists and anthropologists and historians will tell us it is culturally relative, because in most places, and in the past.. children (mainly female) were passed around from family to family.. Old men taking child wives.. etc..and it is difficult to point to identifiable 'ill effects'...yet I absolutely guarantee that most of us would say "Its as plain as the nose on our faces" that there is something terribly WRONG with little children having their youth stolen by old people and 'chanelled' into marriages and sexual abuse when they are so young that they are simply 'programmed' into believing it is 'ok'.

In my view.. common sense plus an appreciation of the dignity of each human being based on the pattern of Scripture (Old and New Testaments, with the New being the final and complete word) will provide an adequate basis for declaring the sexualization, sexual abuse, sexual commodification of children as EVIL, and IMMORAL and that such conclusions are IMMUNE to some new 'research' which may seek to show otherwise.

Two major things have changed in the last generation. Firstly with better nutrition and medicine children are maturing physically 1-2 years earlier (while mentally they are the same).

Secondly, the media access they have ensures that they are a lot more aware of the world outside. Whilst the media should show restraint, they are driven to supply what their customers the "tweens" are looking for.

As the parents of two tweens, we were not happy with sex informaton coming from peers and the media, so with the school and books etc we tried to make sure that our kids had enough of the "right" information, to form the right attitude with regard to sex.

While we think we have done the right thing the proof will only come later. I would be most grateful for other parents experiences in this regard.

ok, thats all good stuff. I know other cultures have a major problem with this but as far as Australiaerned