In this paper we explore some key antionomies which have emerged in re
lation to children and childhood in late modernity: tensions between a
utonomy and protection and between perceptions of children as 'at risk
' and as potentially threatening. A particular focus here is on the se
xualisation of risk, the degree of public concern expressed whenever t
he sexual 'innocence' of children is thought to be endangered. We argu
e that the concept of risk anxiety provides a useful means of analysin
g contemporary fears about children and childhood and may thus be unde
rstood as contributing to the ongoing social construction of childhood
. Here risk anxiety must be located within the context of gendered and
generational power relations, in which children's lives are bounded b
y adult surveillance. Furthermore, risk anxiety may have material cons
equences for children's daily lives and for everyday adult-child negot
iations around safety and danger, protection and autonomy.