The Public Child: Media Power, Strategic Silencing, and Children's Rights in Australia

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Camilla Nelson Denise Buiten

The Public Child

Media Power, Strategic Silencing, and Children's Rights in Australia

Camilla Nelson, Denise Buiten, Jodi Death

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English

Palgrave Macmillan
11 October 2025

Cultural studies; Age groups: adolescents; Sociology: family & relationships; Child welfare; Central government policies

Series: Studies in Childhood and Youth

This edited book examines the cultural construction of the “public child” and its impact on children’s rights in Australia. The “public child” refers to a real child or groups of children whose lives have attracted media attention— either because concerns have been raised about their safety or because they have been identified as threats to others. Positioned at the intersection of media, politics, and policymaking, this collection explores how, in an increasingly mediatized political landscape, discursive constructions of the “public child” shape state responses, exerting a logic of control and silencing.

Amid international debates on child social media bans and increasingly punitive justice systems, this timely work will appeal to scholars of family and youth sociology, criminology, media and gender studies, and education, as well as journalists and legal practitioners specializing in children’s rights.

The book includes five sections: Media and Regulatory Theatre, Domestic Family and Sexual Violence, Justice Systems, Sex and Gender, and Speaking Out and Listening In. The final section focuses on how children exercise agency and express their perspectives, and how adults can serve as allies to them.

Edited by: Camilla Nelson, Denise Buiten, Jodi Death
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9783031972669
ISBN 10: 303197266X
Series: Studies in Childhood and Youth
Pages: 299
Publication Date: 11 October 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. The Public Child.- Part I Media and Regulatory Theatre.- 2. Child Social Media Ban.- 3. The Aboriginal Child and The Neo Colonial State.- Part II Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.- 4. Believing Children.- 5. Children As Victims In Their Own Right.- 6. Child Sexual Abuse.- 7. Filicide.- Part III Justice Systems.- 8. Blaming Children.- 9. Child Incarceration.- Part IV Sex and Gender.- 10. Sex Education.- 11. Boys.- 12. Transkids.- Part V Speaking Out and Listening In.- 13. Whistleblowing: Adults As Allies In The Justice System.- 14. Anti-Racism: Making Space In The Classroom.- 15. Children Take Action: Climate Change.

Camilla Nelson is Associate Professor in Media at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. Denise Buiten is Senior Lecturer in Social Justice at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. Jodi Death is Associate Professor in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology, Australia.