Sofia Tereshchenko, Anastasiia Feskova, and Anastasiia Demchenko awarded 2023 International Children’s Peace prize
Three Ukrainian teenagers who developed apps for children who have fled war have been awarded this year’s International Children’s Peace prize at a ceremony in London.
Sofia Tereshchenko, 18, Anastasiia Feskova, 17, and Anastasiia Demchenko, 17, were awarded the prize for developing a pair of apps for refugee children.
Continue reading...WanaBana, Schnucks and Weis fruit puree recalled as reported symptoms include headache, vomiting and diarrhea
US health officials are warning doctors to be on the lookout for possible cases of lead poisoning in children after at least 22 toddlers in 14 states were sickened by lead linked to tainted pouches of cinnamon apple puree and applesauce.
Children ages one to three were affected, and at least one child showed a blood lead level eight times higher than the level that raises concern, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
Continue reading...Whistleblower claims hospital director colluded with ‘online intermediaries’ to sell birth certificates for about £10,750
Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities.
The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750).
Continue reading...Association of Clinical Psychologists must pay £20,000 after intervening in family justice case where it mounted ‘critique of expert’
A professional body ordered to pay costs of £20,000 by the president of the family division after intervening in an appeal regarding the qualifications of a court-appointed expert has said the ruling was “unfair” and could have a “chilling effect”.
The Association of Clinical Psychologists UK (ACP-UK) said it had acted in good faith on a matter of “public protection”, after being criticised for conducting itself in a “wholly exceptional manner” during an appeal before the most senior family judge in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Lotta Edholm aims to limit the profit-making ability of friskolor in her plans for education reform
Sweden has declared a “system failure” in the country’s free schools, pledging the biggest shake-up in 30 years and calling into question a model in which profit-making companies run state education.
Sweden’s friskolor – privately run schools funded by public money – have attracted international acclaim, including from Britain, with the former education secretary Michael Gove using them as a model for hundreds of new British free schools opened under David Cameron’s government.
Continue reading...Since 2020 more than 7,500 children in UK have waited more than a year for initial asylum decision – and 57 for more than five years
Thousands of lone child asylum seekers have been left in limbo by the Home Office without a decision on their protection claims, with dozens waiting more than five years, official data has revealed.
Home Office data shows that over the past three years more than 7,500 children who travelled alone to the UK waited more than a year for an initial decision on whether or not to accept their asylum claim.
Continue reading...Exclusive: recruitment and retention crisis means only 17% of nurseries say they could offer extra entitlement
A mass exodus of childminders and nursery staff risks scuppering the government’s flagship new funding for parents of young children in England, according to a new coalition of early years providers and campaigners.
More than half of all nursery workers surveyed by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) said they were considering or planning on leaving the sector in the next 12 months.
Continue reading...Polluted water supplies and salty groundwater are making people ill, with UN warning of threat of child deaths from dehydration
Palestinians who fled to southern Gaza, after warnings from Israel to leave their homes, are standing in line for hours to get contaminated water they believe is making them ill.
Long queues of people waiting to fill jerry cans are now ubiquitous across the territory as water becomes increasingly scarce, a result of restrictions on water and power imposed by Israel.
Continue reading...Judge accuses local authority of a ‘lackadaisical’ attitude to the 16-year-old’s care after regulated providers refused to give him a place
A teenage boy who has been accused of multiple rapes was housed in Airbnbs by a local authority after regulated accommodation providers said it would be too risky for them to house him.
Airbnbs and other temporary accommodation have been deployed because no secure placement can be found anywhere in England that is prepared to accommodate the child, who self-harms, makes weapons, assaults staff members, damages property and has been taken to hospital after expressing suicidal thoughts. He has been arrested on numerous occasions.
Continue reading...CDC data shows rate rose 3% last year but experts say they are not sure why statistic that has been falling should have risen sharply
The US infant mortality rate rose 3% last year – the largest increase in two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
White and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases. The CDC’s report, published Wednesday, also noted larger increases for two of the leading causes of infant deaths – maternal complications and bacterial meningitis.
Continue reading...County Councils Network says local bodies facing insolvency after increase in children being taken into care and ‘out of control’ costs
“Out of control” increases in child protection spending since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic have put one in 10 of England’s biggest councils at risk of effective bankruptcy in the next few months, a survey has revealed.
Many county councils and unitary authorities are “running out of road” to avoid insolvency as they grapple with high inflation, increases in children being taken into care, and massive bills for children’s homes, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.
Continue reading...Juvenile prisoners were routinely punished by fellow inmates at the ‘Alcatraz of the south’, according to a new lawsuit
On his 16th birthday, Charles “Chuck” Daniel was put behind bars.
Then, six months later, in the summer of 1996, he would find himself transferred to Louisiana’s Angola prison – referred to by some as the “Alcatraz of the south” – to serve out a 149-year sentence for attempted murder and armed robbery that in effect amounted to life imprisonment.
Continue reading...Fee income for 20 largest operators – many private equity-owned – soars as councils struggle to meet costs
The biggest private providers of children’s homes in England made profits of more than £300m last year, as concern mounts over the conditions some children are being placed in and the spiralling costs for councils.
Fee income for the 20 largest operators of independent children’s homes totalled £1.63bn last year, a 6.5% increase on the previous year. And 19% of that – £310m – was recorded as profit, according to an independent analysis. Half of the top 20 providers have some private equity or sovereign wealth fund ownership.
Continue reading...Camfed calls for six-year plan to get 6 million girls into school, warning that drop-out rate is limiting children’s chances
Governments and donors need to redouble efforts to encourage girls back to school across Africa after the cost of living crisis pushed many to spurn education for low-paid work or early marriage, a charity has warned.
Camfed, which operates in five African countries, said its partnership model proved this could be achieved and called for a six-year plan to get 6 million girls into school.
Continue reading...Exclusive: With children as young as 10 ‘regularly’ before the courts, NSW must consider raising the age of criminal responsibility, says broad group of child advocates
More than a dozen organisations have formed a coalition to push the New South Wales government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14, arguing the status quo is harming young people and entrenching social issues.
The group includes key agencies including First Nations organisations, legal and human rights groups, peak bodies and unions, each with different perspectives on why the change is overdue and how it can be done.
Continue reading...Normalisation of violence in sport, like ‘tough love’ coaching, has discouraged children from speaking up, experts say
When Matthew* experienced violence from his soccer coach and teammates, he didn’t tell his parents out of fear it would mean giving up the sport he loved.
“I didn’t want them to withdraw me from sport altogether, because sport has always been everything in my life, it truly has.”
Continue reading...Watchdog to investigate why 13-year-old with water pistol was knocked off bike by armed police in Hackney
The family of the black boy rammed off his pedal cycle by police who mistook his water pistol for a real gun have won their fight to have an independent investigation into the incident launched.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Friday reversed a decision it had made twice to let the Metropolitan police investigate the actions of its own officers.
Continue reading...Jury found Siraj ibn Wahhaj and three others guilty of a range of charges including kidnapping resulting in death
Jurors on Tuesday delivered split verdicts in a case that stemmed from the search for a three-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia and was found dead hundreds of miles away at a squalid compound in northern New Mexico.
Four members of the family were on trial. Three were found guilty on federal kidnapping charges. Two were convicted on related terrorism charges. The boy’s father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, was one of the two people found guilty of terrorism-related charges.
Continue reading...Head of Honywood school says building of temporary structure is a near miracle after crisis it faced
“Three and a half weeks ago, there was nothing here,” said James Saunders, the headteacher of Honywood school, looking with pride – and disbelief – at the scene unfolding in front of him. “It was a field!”
Before us is a brand new school, built in the space of six weeks – a temporary home for the 800 pupils at Honywood in Coggeshall, Essex, one of the schools most severely affected by the recent concrete crisis that threw the start of the new term across England into chaos.
Continue reading...Ignoring tricky questions could drive young people on to the internet, where disinformation proliferates
As difficult as it might be, carers should not avoid discussing the Hamas-Israel conflict with children, experts have said. Doing so, they warn, could drive young people on to the internet where disturbing disinformation and images are easily found.
“Don’t avoid difficult questions,” said Emma Citron, a consultant clinical psychologist with extensive experience of working with children. “If those questions are in the heads of our young people, it’s our job to give them a balanced and reassuring – but also an honest – account.”
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