Last Updated on July 19, 2019 by Karl Thompson
If you’re struggling to find useful resources to update the childhood topic within the sociology of the family then you should check out ‘Bringing Up Britain‘, a weekly radio 4 show/ podcast hosted by Mariella Frostrup. 
Each episode lasts 40 minutes and consists of debate among ‘experts’ on an aspect of contemporary parenting and childhood. You can see from the screenshot above just how relevant some of these topics are to the sociology of the family as well as to A-level sociology more generally.
The programme tends to analyse issues through more of a psychological perspective rather than a sociological one, but it’s a useful resource nonetheless which does consider social issues such as labelling, the role of the media, and changing norms and values, and how all of these (among other things) affect modern parenting and childhood.
Recent topics include:
- why do children lie (and is it a problem, not necessarily apparently!) – relevant to the family and crime and deviance
- Generation anxious – relative to toxic childhood and just generally useful for helping kids deal with mental health issues.
- Parenting in the Smart Phone age – also relevant to the media module.
