Are children more at risk today than they used to be in the old days? As kids, were our grandparents really more carefree?

In this, the second of a three-part series on safety, we consider whether fear of crime is leading us to overprotect our kids and depriving them of fun, freedom and opportunities to develop. We interview members of the University of the Third Age in Alice Springs, who shared stories of their own childhoods and compared them to the way their grandchildren live and play today. The discussions resulted in a book, which was published this year and called: “Girls and Boys Came out to Play: Memories of Childhood.” A delightful read, it’s in the bookshops in time for Christmas.

Broadcast: Tuesday 30 October 2012 at 5.30pm on 8CCC Community Radio 102.1FM

Repeated: Friday 2nd November at 9am and Sunday 4th November at 5.00pm

Producer:  Megg Kelham

References used to compile this program include:

Australian Institute of Criminology: Australian Crime Facts and Figures, 2010

Bath, Howard, NT Children’s Commissioner, speaking at a Chronic Disease Prevention Conference in Darwin, September 2012, as in Social Justice e-newsletter, circulated September 2012

Bongiorno, Frank: The Sex Lives of Australians: A History, 2012, Black Inc. Books

Chappell, Duncan and Sandra (Eds) Egger: “Australian Violence: Contemporary Perspectives II.” Australian Institute of Criminology, 1995

Graycar, Adam: “Crime in Twentieth-Century  Australia”, (updated 2007) http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/4524A092E30E4486CA2569DE00256331#.

Wild, Rex QC: “Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle” (Little Children Are Sacred) Report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse