Category Archives: Children

US states sue TikTok, claiming its addictive features harm youth mental health

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States and District of Columbia allege platform’s ‘dopamine-inducing’ algorithm can lead to anxiety and depression

More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have filed lawsuits against TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the popular short-form video app is harming youth mental health by designing its platform to be addictive to kids.

The lawsuits stem from a national investigation into TikTok, which was launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from many states, including California, Kentucky and New Jersey. All of the complaints were filed in state courts.

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School starters born during pandemic lack communication skills, Ofsted says

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English primary schools having to help infants catch up on speech and language to cope with lessons

Primary schools are having to teach infants how to communicate, as they struggle to make friends or cope with lessons because of speech and language difficulties, according to a report by Ofsted.

The research by Ofsted inspectors, based on visits to schools in England rated as good or outstanding, found that the Covid pandemic “is still having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills”.

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‘Fear of missing out’ keeping girls and young women online despite sexism

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Almost half of girls aged 11 to 21 in Girlguiding survey say sexism and misogyny makes them feel less safe

Girls and young women are seeing more unwanted sexual images and suffering more cyberstalking online, but still don’t want to take a break from social media because of a fear of missing out, a survey for Girlguiding has found.

“Fomo” is keeping more than half of 11- to 21-year-olds on apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp despite nearly one in five saying they have been being stalked online and more than a third saying they are seeing sexual images they didn’t wish to see, the survey of more than 2,000 girls and young women found.

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UK toddlers get nearly half their calories from ultra-processed food, study finds

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Review also finds by the time children are seven, 59% of calories come from UPFs

Toddlers in the UK obtain almost half of their calories from ultra-processed foods, rising to 59% by the age of seven, according to the largest study of its kind.

The first comprehensive review of dietary intake at such an early age comes amid rapidly rising global consumption of UPF such as cereals, protein bars, fizzy drinks, ready meals and fast food. The findings were published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

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Children in youth offender institutions in England denied access to education, report finds

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Joint review by chief of Ofsted and prisons chief inspector discovers children kept in cells to avoid conflict

Children in youth offender institutions (YOIs) are being denied access to education, with too many being kept in their cells as staff struggle to keep warring youngsters apart, a damning new report has found.

It documents a worrying decline in the quality and quantity of education provided to 15 to 18-year-olds in YOIs over the last decade despite a sharp drop in the number of children being held in custody.

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Major fears over Labour’s nursery plan for 9-month-olds in schools

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Early years experts warn of lack of staff, playgrounds and toilets

Primary schools may not have enough space, specialist facilities or staff to deliver the 100,000 new nursery places in England that the government has promised, early childhood experts have warned.

Labour is under intense pressure to create enough places to fulfil its promise of 30 hours of free childcare a week for eligible parents of children from the age of nine months to three years from next September – a commitment inherited from the previous government.

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‘Chucky goes north’: Rochdale reacts to arrival of ‘creepy’ giant baby

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Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, provokes mixed response

They say it is rude to comment on a baby’s appearance but that has not stopped the residents of Rochdale, who awoke on Wednesday to a “freaky” new arrival.

Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, went on display in the town centre to a somewhat bewildered response.

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Albanese government to launch storybook to teach children from culturally diverse backgrounds about consent

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My Superhero Voice, which will be available online, is careful not to single out a particular religion or culture

The Australian government will launch a storybook aimed at teaching children from multicultural backgrounds about body safety and consent on Wednesday, but experts say “there is still more to do”.

The book, titled My Superhero Voice, is part of the government’s One Talk at a Time campaign, aimed at preventing child sexual abuse. It was developed by the National Office for Child Safety and consulting agency Cultural Perspectives.

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‘Octomom’ Natalie Suleman, mother of 14, welcomes her first grandchild

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Suleman, who made headlines for giving birth to the first surviving octuplets, announces granddaughter’s birth

Natalie (formerly Nadya) Suleman – the so-called “Octomom” – has added yet another young addition to her already impressively large family. The mom of 14 announced Sunday on her Instagram that she is now a grandmother to a baby girl.

Suleman, 49, accompanied the announcement with a photo of an infant’s tiny foot behind a pink baby blanket.

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‘He felt absolutely lost’: the crisis behind the rising number of UK children being homeschooled

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Anxiety is the most common reason why parents choose to take pupils out of school

Steve Bladon has been a headteacher for a decade. Yet when he found himself temporarily home educating his 11-year-old daughter, who had such severe anxiety that she couldn’t leave the house, he admits he felt “absolutely lost”.

“Initially we had no idea what to do,” he said. “All we knew was that she needed time and space, so we weren’t compounding her anxiety.”

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Labor urged to commit to universal childcare after report finds many children miss out on critical learning

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Productivity Commission report also says controversial activity test should be scrapped through overhaul of subsidies

Early education advocates have urged the Labor government to commit to universal childcare in the lead-up to the election, after a major report warned too many children were missing out on critical learning due to high costs and access issues.

The Productivity Commission has recommended that the federal government increase funding and simplify subsidies for early childhood education and care. It also said the controversial “activity test” should be scrapped, and called on state governments to provide out-of-hours care for older children in public schools.

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Nurseries in England say new rules have reduced care to ‘crowd control’

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The first study into Tory shake-up of childcare shows staff are overwhelmed

The first major study into the Conservatives’ controversial shake-up of childcare has revealed that nursery staff are often doing more “crowd control” than education, because of the increased number of children they are looking after.

Since September last year, nurseries in England have been allowed to increase child-to-staff ratios, so one adult now looks after five two-year-olds rather than four. The change was intended to help deliver the party’s pledge of 15 hours’ free childcare a week from this month for working parents of children aged from nine months to three years.

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Parents ‘don’t use’ parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, says Nick Clegg

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Meta’s global affairs chief points to ‘behavioural issue’ around child safety tools on the social media platforms

Parents do not use parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s Nick Clegg, with adults failing to embrace the 50 child safety tools the company has introduced in recent years.

Meta’s global affairs chief said there was a “behavioural issue” around using the tools, after admitting they were being ignored by parents. Regulatory pressure is building on tech companies to protect children from harmful content, with the Australian government announcing plans this week to ban younger teenagers from accessing social media.

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Religious groups ‘spending billions to counter gender-equality education’

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Report reveals how US Christians, Catholic schools and Islamists fight sex education, LGBTQ+ and equal rights

Extreme religious groups and political parties are targeting schools around the world as part of a coordinated and well-funded attack on gender equality, according to a new report.

Well-known conservative organisations aim to restrict girls’ access to education, change what is on the curriculum, and influence educational laws and policies, according to Whose Hands on our Education, a report by the Overseas Development Institute.

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South Korea reveals new evidence of ‘violent and systemic’ forced adoption abroad

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Hospitals and adoption agencies appear to have colluded to force single mothers to give up children, commission finds

South Korea has found new evidence that mothers were forced to give up their children for adoption in countries including Australia, Denmark and the United States.

At least 200,000 South Korean children had been adopted abroad since the 1950s, but allegations have emerged that hospitals, maternity wards and adoption agencies systematically colluded to force parents – primarily single mothers – to give up their children.

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Project 2025 plan calls for shifting funding for childcare to in-home care

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Trump recently gave garbled answer to question on childcare, while Vance said extended family should help out

With the Republican presidential ticket led by Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance recently drawing scrutiny over their answers to questions about how they would address the high cost of childcare in the US, the far-right Project 2025 manifesto offers some suggestions to them.

The plan calls for shifting funding for childcare to in-home family care because it claims children who go to childcare are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and neglect.

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Great Ormond Street apologises after children suffered ‘severe harm’ under surgeon

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NHS hospital reviews care of 700 patients after inquiry found orthopaedic doctor caused lifelong damage to some, one of whom underwent an ‘avoidable limb amputation’

A leading NHS children’s hospital is reviewing the care 721 patients received after an investigation found that children treated by one of its surgeons came to “severe harm” during limb reconstruction operations.

Great Ormond Street hospital (Gosh) in London has offered its “sincere apologies” to children who have suffered what the Sunday Times reported was in some cases lifelong damage.

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DRC receives first donation of 100,000 mpox vaccines to contain outbreak

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Jab not yet approved for children, who make up most cases, while officials warn millions more doses will be required

The first donation of mpox vaccines arrived in Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday, but officials say millions more doses will be needed.

The announcement came amid warnings that the geographical spread of the virus, formerly known as monkeypox, was increasing, and swift action was needed across the continent to contain the outbreak.

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China says it is ending foreign adoptions, prompting concern from US

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US diplomats seeking clarity for hundreds of families in the process of international adoption

The Chinese government is ending its international adoption programme, and the US is seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications.

At a daily briefing on Thursday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Beijing was no longer allowing intercountry adoptions of children from China, with the only exception for blood relatives to adopt a child or a stepchild.

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Retired New Orleans priest accused of child rape found competent – but trial could be delayed

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Lawrence Hecker, 92 and diagnosed with dementia, will be evaluated again to see if he is capable of defending himself

A court-ordered psychiatrist evaluated self-acknowledged child molester and retired priest Lawrence Hecker for a third time on Thursday, declaring him “fragilely competent” to stand trial on rape and kidnapping charges.

New Orleans criminal court judge Benedict Willard stopped short of declaring Hecker competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense but kept a 24 September trial date in place.

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