RESOURCES: Review - Sex information beyond the headlines

Well, the study seized upon in those stories is one of the pieces of research that underpins Young people, sex and the media.

The headlines, one from The Independent and the other from the BBC news web site, are themselves an indication of how polarised, how much of a battleground, is any discussion of children's access to sexual information.

For some, it is a sign of healthy openness; for others it is precocious and unnatural, and they evoke an age in which 12 year olds were more interested in the adventures of the Famous Five than Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake.

And in this context the book is a welcome injection of evidence, not to mention the views of those most closely affected: children and young people themselves. The research, funded by the Broadcasting Standards Commission and other media regulators, involved surveys of some 800 young people aged nine to 17, and in-depth interviews with 120 of them, as well as 70 parents. Some of the children were also asked to keep a diary or scrap-book about images of sex, love and relationships that they had encountered in the media - not just TV but also other media ranging from computer games to teenage girls' magazines and "lad mags" such as Maxim and FHM.