Local T.D., Minister Frances Fitzgerald TD, has launched new Retail
Ireland Childrenswear Guidelines which she states will help “protect childhood
space.”
“Irish childhood has changed dramatically in recent
years; and it continues to change. As a society, we have a responsibility to
make sure that those changes are positive for our children. Some things are not
the same for adults and children. Never have been, never will be. This includes
clothes with suggestive slogans, overtly sexual cuts and styles and unreal or
unbalanced portrayals of an 'ideal' body-image,” said Frances Fitzgerald.
“That is why earlier this year, as Minister for
Children and Youth Affairs, I invited the Irish fashion retail sector to develop
a set of guidelines on the retailing of childrenswear to help children, and
their parents, preserve the special space that is childhood, in its age
appropriateness, its normality and its innocence. In conjunction with Retail
Ireland, I officially launched these Guidelines last week and am now calling on
local shops in Clondalkin and Lucan to sign up to this campaign,” continued
Fitzgerald.
“Since taking office, I have begun implementing a
whole raft of measures to enhance Ireland’s culture of child protection. An
important part of that is enabling children to enjoy this wonderful period in
their lives without being pressurised to grow up too soon, or to want to look
grown up,” said Fitzgerald.
“In our
world of mass media and consumerism, we are all pressurised by a variety of
stereotypes, gurus and role models about what we eat, how we dress and look, how
we take our entertainment. Even what we should think! And these pressures are
all the greater for our children because they have yet to learn so much, gather
life experiences, and mature emotionally. That is why adult society must help
and protect them on this vital early stage of their life’s journey. And that is
where the retail sector, and clothing retailers especially, have a very
important part to play. Household names including Pennys, Debenhams, Marks &
Spencer, Next and Tesco have shown huge leadership by pledging to abide by these
new guidelines and I am calling on stores in Clondalkin and Lucan and Liffey
Valley to sign up to this voluntary code,” continued Fitzgerald.
The guidelines published last week by
Retail Ireland cover all clothing, footwear and accessories designed and
marketed for children under the age of twelve years, but do not cover teenage
fashion or babywear. The guidelines also provide guidance on best practice in
matters like styling, age-appropriateness, size, labelling and marketing as well
as advice for parents on first bras for young girls. The code is targeted
primarily at the buyers in an effort to ensure inappropriate styles, cuts,
under-wiring and heels are no longer sold for an under 12s market. The code
states that slogans and imagery, including the use of licensed images and
brandmarks, must be age appropriate and not “sexually suggestive, demeaning,
derogative or containing political slogans or images that could be interpreted
as such.”
“The practicality, that I think many parents
will welcome and endorse, also extends to the issue of footwear. I commend
Retail Ireland and its member companies for signing up to this code. I would
also like to see all retailers throughout the country, whether members of Retail
Ireland or not, adopting these guidelines. I also believe the code will play an
important and constructive role in informing future decision-making by
retailers. The provision of a reporting mechanism for parents to raise concerns
with retailers on an ongoing basis using a dedicated website ( retail@ibec.ie) is
particularly welcome,” concluded Fitzgerald.