A 'Fairy Liquid' advert in a Bob the Builder Mag

Mothers’ Union are working on their commericalisation of childhood campaign (see below for more information) and will soon be producing a resource to help families understand and navigate the commercialisation of childhood. But they want the practical experiences of the impact advertising has on the children in your family, and how you handle them, so that they’re not just spouting theory, but offering practical, lived out ideas that work and will help stop others feeling overwhelmed by the impact of the commercial world!

So what are your

• top tips for dealing (in a practical way) with the influence of marketing and advertising on the children in your family; and/or
• Scenarios when you or the children in your family are particularly influenced by marketing or advertising?

Mothers’ Union are looking for ideas to be submitted by the end of July. If you use the ‘comment’ facility on this blog, all ideas will be passed to our Social Policy Unit at Mothers’ Union.

If you want some ideas about what other people have said before submitting your own, read the comments on the blog of one of our Mothers’ Union members here. But please remember, we want your ideas most of all.

Background:

Helen Goodman, MP, authored a Charter about commercialisation of childhood 3 years ago, but the campaign is ongoing. The points raised in this charter are familiar to all Mothers’ Union supporters who have used the Media Awareness material in the past, and the issues are as urgent as ever. For example, the need to provide support to parents, carers and teachers and accessible resources to help them understand the impact of commercialisation on children and suggest ways they can offset it, for example ways of helping children understand the media (Item 1.5 in the Charter).

To view a summary of the recommendations and a call to sign up to them read http://www.compassonline.org.uk/campaigns/campaign.asp?n=683

One of Mothers’ Union activities is in the area of social policy, specifically as it relates to family life. The European Commission has asked a consortium of non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and universities to come up with recommendations for future research on family policy to be funded by them. As part of this exercise the World Movement of Mothers is conducting an online survey of European mothers to ask for their views and experiences. The results of this will be very helpful for future policy work within Mothers’ Union and other organisations campaigning for families. The questionnaire takes about 20 minutes to complete and can be found here.

The latest Social Policy update from Mothers’ Union is downloadable here: Faith_Policy_Watch_April2010 with news of the 54th UN Commission on the Status of Women, information regarding the UK elections, and a recent report on the sexualisation of children.

“Politics is the art of living together in community and that is precisely what the Bible is about” says the Mothers’ Union guide to the General Election: “New Vision – New Future”

The 17-page document outlines the policies of the political parties that relate to the Mothers’ Union aims and objectives on marriage and relationships, family life, work/life balance, commercialisation of childhood, gender equality and international development. It also

• urges us to support the Sanctuary Pledge Campaign which calls for the eradication of child detention in the UK – Mothers’ Union is an official partner of this campaign but it needs our individual support as well;
• information on how to make sure we are registered as a voter;
• information about how to get involved in hustings and organise discussion groups;
• biblical references about areas of concern that will help us pray and study as we decide how to caste our vote;
• prayers and a General Election Litany.

Effective prayer should be informed prayer.
Effective voting should be informed voting.
The choice is ours but the example is Christ’s.

Mothers’ Union – like any charity – has seen income levels drop alarmingly as investments take a tumble. Yet working at the grassroots, actually serving communities where we live – in 78 countries of the world – means that we see at first hand when people need help. We know that if you could see what our members see – in some of the most already impoverished communities of the world – you would not be able to walk by on the other side.

There are many development projects being resourced. Recent posts and our information pages detail some of them, including the Family Life Programme in Uganda, and the Literacy and Development Programme.

Other projects run by Mothers’ Union worldwide are featured in the latest Overseas Development Report including healing the wounds of conflict in Kenya, peace building in Sudan, and a goat project among repatriated women in Burundi.

Sudan, DR Congo and Kenya all feature in the latest Relief Fund Update which shows how Mothers’ Union members can be resourced incredibly fast to provide relief for emergency situations that arise due to natural disasters like draught, or the impact of conflict in their communities.

In the UK and the UN Mothers’ Union is also active keeping an eye on how governments engage with family and marriage issues. Since this is conference season, the latest Policy Watch document details a paper on women’s issues published by the Liberal Democrats and a report on the impact of family breakdown, as well as looking forward to the theme of next years UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Mothers’ Union members that meet together regularly are encouraged to make use of these downloads to inspire discussion, action and fund-raising in their local communities. You are also invited to respond with your ideas for action directly to the local Trustee board using the ‘comments’ facility on this posting.

The first is the latest update about Social Policy issues as the Mothers’ Union connects with current reports and issues affecting family life, including parental leave.

Rachel Aston, Head of Social Policy at Mothers’ Union, and speaker at this weeks Mary Sumner Day event at Old Alresford Place, is asking for feedback on the ‘Every Family Matters’ report commissioned by Iain Duncan Smith.

Information on both these issues can be found by clicking on this link: Policy_Watch_August_2009

Rachel Aston will be speaking on the ‘Commercialisation of Childhood’ at Old Alresford Place near Winchester this Sunday 9th August. Follow the link to this previous post for full details and a location map: Mary Sumner Day 2009

There is also news of how Mothers’ Union provided Relief Fund grants in Sudan, DR Congo and Uganda in the wake of violence by the Ugandan based Lords Resistance Army, which has since eased. The Relief Fund grants support the emergency needs of those caught up in natural and man-made disasters, including the current draught conditions in Kenya. More information can be found in this link: Relief_UpdateApril _July_09

The Social Policy Toolkit gives clear explanations as to why and how Mothers’ Union members want to make a difference through forms of government in the UK, Europe and the UN.

Other information in this months ‘Policy Watch’ includes news of what is needed for government to achieve the aims of its Child Poverty Bill, and what Mothers’ Union members think about how pregnant workers can be supported.

There is also information about how you can respond to government requests for people’s views on family related issues, via our social policy briefing papers.

Through the newsletter ‘Policy Watch’ staff track social policy issues and keep members informed of activities at Mary Sumner House.  This months newsletter is now available for you to download here: policy_watch_june_2009

If you find ‘Policy Watch’ useful and you are not a Mothers’ Union member, do please contact us, as we obviously have shared concerns, and Mothers’ Union membership may help help you in your life and ministry.