Liam Berriman

UK social media ban for under 16s consultation begins Discussions over what measures to implement to protect children's wellbeing will last for three months.

Consultation from #DSIT on children's #onlinesafety will be launched today, including proposals on #socialmedia bans, measures to address addictive design and #screentime and action on #chatbots

BBC News - Consultation on social media ban for under-16s to begin
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Smearing Sussex (and Me): Responding to Nigel Biggar’s Latest Attack in The Spectator The University of Sussex, Feb 2026, taken by the author. Alan Lester The Spectator has published an article by Nigel Biggar smearing the University of Sussex as repressing students who ‘don&#…

The Spectator published this attack on me & colleagues just as the High Court is considering Sussex’s request for review of the Office for Students fine. It accuses us of ‘repressing’ our students. The magazine ignored my request for to reply. Please disseminate.

alanlester.co.uk/blog/smearin...

Congratulations, looks really interesting!

So pleased to see this book published. The podcasts were fantastic, I've regularly used them in my teaching! Congratulations

Great to be (virtually) at @pamthur.bsky.social's book launch for Teenage Time: Coming of Age Disruptively in Literature, Culture and Film 1945-2024. It's one of the most important literary and theoretical studies of adolescence for a long time, and Pam's work has been a huge influence on my own.

Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:

Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.

Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

Which system will you pick it up for? I've been very torn between the different options.

Lecturer in Youth Justice/Probation Studies - Merseyside job with LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY | 9971177 About LJMU At Liverpool John Moores University, our students thrive because of the people who teach, guide, and inspire them, we truly make a differe

Academic job: Lecturer in Youth Justice at Liverpool John Moores University (UK).

Applications are due by 31 December.

jobs.theguardian.com/job/9971177/...

Call for articles: "Childism, decoloniality and interculturality as transformative lenses."

For a special issue of the journal Globalisation, Societies and Education, co-edited by our member Tanu Biswas.

Abstracts are due by 2 January, 2026.

think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...

We hear a lot about AI in education in the US on here, so can I just tell you about how it's working out in the schools sector in England? It's interesting! It's about data consultants, private education outfits and think tanks. Slow thread...

One of those odd coincidences that this happened to be in a book i'd recently read!

Here's a snippet, there's practically a whole chapter on her career as an 'assistant' at Harvard. Think you'll find it very interesting.

Hi Ros, do you know this book? cup.columbia.edu/book/algorit...
Helen Parson's role in development of communication studies is mentioned in a fair bit of detail.

This autumn will see the publication of the first UK child poverty strategy in many years. It is a time-limited and vital opportunity to make real and lasting difference to the lives of the 4.5 million children currently living in poverty. In this new report, co-produced with IPPR, we set out a realistic and targeted agenda for change. Now is the time to take sustainable and effective action on child poverty, working with the everyday experiences of families who know what would make a difference to them and their lives.

Been lots of debate about what might turn the dial on child poverty. But we hear far less from families in poverty. Our new briefing sets out a blueprint for a successful child poverty strategy, grounded in experiences of hardship

changingrealities.org/writings/get...

Pls read + share this 🧵

Friday! In person or online. Registration details here

Stories of Decolonisation: Experiences from Children and Young People Public engagement event exploring how children and young people decolonise daily life—told through sociological fiction grounded in research

If you're in Edinburgh on 10th June, I will be taking part in this fantastic event on 'Stories of Decolonisation: Experiences from Children and Young People' which is being organised by Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü. There are still a few places left: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-of...

Book launch poster for book launch with Jenny Crane, new book Gifted Children in Britain and the World, Sarah Kenny, new book Growing up and going out, and Hannah Charnock, new book Teenage intimacies - all in discussion with Laura Tisdall. Date is 12 June, 12-1, via teams https://tinyurl.com/mryazrew

Triple book launch for myself, @drsarahlkenny.bsky.social, and @hannahcharnock.bsky.social! Thanks to @lauratisdall.bsky.social for chairing.

Please do join if you're interested in social and cultural approaches to young people's lives and leisure spaces.

12 June, 12-1, tinyurl.com/mryazrew

Every year students on our BA Childhood & Youth @sussexfss.bsky.social use #lego to explore key concepts in the #Reggio approach to early years theory & practice. I love the representation of #Malaguzzi meeting local women washing bricks - connection with community at the heart of the approach.

Learn more about South Australia's new university for the future.

***Job Alert*** 18-month full-time post-doc. Looking for an experienced qualitative researcher to join our team investigating youth radicalisation online. careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/51... @tasayouth.bsky.social @sociologyaustralia.bsky.social

Congratulations! Enjoy celebrating the end of (this) journey!

Surely there are ways we can talk about support for children's early development that don't rely on imagining the child as some kind of programmable machine who simply needs to be loaded up to 100%? Fin/

I remember a magazine I read as a child had a weekly section called 'the human machine' which was about the brain and body. Even then I knew that the machine part was nonsensical. And yet this campaign seems to be inviting the a metaphor of the child's brain as computer to model good parenting. 3/

It seems to infer a child (or possibly just 'their brain') is like a computer that needs 'loading' with information. This is a very unidirectional metaphor for a child's learning and development. It would be like me saying that my role as a lecturer was to 'load up' my students with information! 2/

An NHS campaign poster representing a parent reading to their child with the phrase 'load them up...' along with a loading bar that you would normally see on a computer.

Has anyone else come across this NHS campaign? They're on bus stops and trains at the moment. On one level, what they represent is fairly innocuous as they are just mainly about encouraging parents to read or play with their child. But the idea of 'loading' a young child 'up' really bugs me... 1/

Call for papers: A symposium on the mobility of children with their parents.

Abstracts due by 28 February.

The symposium, co-organized by our member Samantha Wilkinson, will take place in Manchester (UK) in June.

The Children’s Information project A unique collaboration between local authorities and universities aims to transform how information from and about children is used to shape social policy and services

CIRCY colleagues Elaine Sharland, Lisa Holmes, Liam Berriman, Perpetua Kirby, Caitlin Shaughnessy and Ruth Goodman are all involved in this highly innovative @nuffieldfoundation.org funded study on Children's Information in local authorities: nuffieldfoundation.shorthandstories.com/the-children...

The event will explore the importance of understanding the social worlds of childhood as material practices (from music lessons to den building) embedded within networks of community and governance.

We hope to see you there for our final event of the Autumn term!

Next week we are hosting an exciting event on 'Schools, playgrounds, communities: The cultural infrastructures of childhood', with Prof Ben Highmore and Prof Hester Barron in conversation.

Date: Wednesday 4 December
Time: 2-4pm
Location: Fulton 103

Please email circyadmin@sussex.ac.uk to RSVP

Very helpful list from @ncb.org.uk on UK children's sector orgs and individuals to follow.