"Bakan offers passionate argument and copious research in this compelling call for parents to stand up for their children" ( Booklist). Now in paperback, from the author of the internationally bestselling The Corporation, this vital call to arms has been praised by leading experts on children's lives as "an essential read for anyone who works for or cares about children" (Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queenbees and Wannabees) and "engaging, carefully researched, and important" (Mary Pipher, author of The Shelter of Each Other and Seeking Peace).Based on extensive interviews with industry insiders, expert critics, and kids themselves, as well as in-depth research into the latest findings in neuroscience and the study of the effects of media and prescription drugs on children, Joel Bakan pulls back the veil on the insidious methods used to lure younger and younger children into smoking, drinking, gambling, and online sex, and to addict them to video games and social networking. He reveals that early addictions actually shape children's brains in ways that put them at high risk for addiction to drugs and alcohol, and he discloses the astonishing extent to which children are being prescribed dangerous antipsychotic drugs. He also reveals that child labor laws are being routinely violated. A book that every parent should read, Childhood Under Siege is also a powerful manifesto for urgent change.

Joel Bakan is a professor of law at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His book The Corporation was published in twenty languages, was an international bestseller, and inspired the critically acclaimed hit documentary of the same name.