Silly Season = Time for a Moral Panic!

It's summer! The "Silly Season" for news and current affairs. So guess what, we get a moral panic about the sexualisation of sub 12 y.o. children (though it seems to mostly to apply to young girls)!
The strange thing is:

• I'm 53.
• When I was 5 - 10 years old I wore shorts (as did all my male classmates) and the girls tended to be in very short mini-skirts/dresses.
• No moral panic about sexualisation of children as we were assumed to be too innocent for this to happen.
• 'Cider With Rosie' stuff went on, boys from about 8 onwards tried to get a glimpse up the girls skirts, etc.

We have a moral panic now as:

• Pedophiles sell papers. (Stories about them increase circulation, not 'all news vendors are pedophiles').
• Moral panics help newspapers, self-appointed experts, self-appointed moral leaders (lots from mums net, nothing from the C of E), get themselves publicity.
• With this publicity comes power and money.

And they get to fill up the pages of the papers, or fill time on the phone-in!