Debate over the role that young people should play in politics reflects different conceptions of childhood and adult concerns about loss of authority and political hegemony. Coverage of youth protests against the Second Iraq War by the British national press echoes adult discourse on the nature of childhood and exposes the limits set by adults on political activity by young people. Analysis of news-text and images reveals adult concerns about the political competence of youth, their susceptibility to adult manipulation and the requirement for social control. Adult approval of youth's right to protest was often conditional on the cause espoused.