Children’s commissioner for England calls for ‘robust’ measures in UK’s online safety bill to protect young people
England’s children’s commissioner has called for the “most robust” online protections for under-18s after publishing research examining links between sexual abuse cases and pornography.
In the second of a series of reports exploring the impact on children, Rachel de Souza said she wanted to “turn the tide on pornography’s harms to children”.
Continue reading...Access to PCV jabs in South Sudan, Somalia, Guinea and Chad ‘could save 40,000 children a year’
Delays in rolling out a vaccine against childhood pneumonia in four of the world’s poorest countries have been blamed for thousands of unnecessary deaths.
South Sudan, Somalia, Guinea and Chad are four of the last African nations without the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), one of the most powerful tools against pneumonia in children.
Continue reading...Nation’s guidelines say no donor should father more than 25 children in 12 families
Dutch judges have ordered a man suspected of fathering more than 550 children through sperm donations to stop donating, in the latest fertility scandal to shock the Netherlands.
The man, identified in Dutch media only as Jonathan M, 41, was taken to court by a foundation protecting the rights of donor children and by the mother of one of the children allegedly fathered from his sperm.
Continue reading...Firm partnered with US charity and medical experts to create part of ‘most diverse and inclusive doll line’
Barbie is launching its first doll with Down’s syndrome in an effort to help more children find a toy that represents them.
Mattel bosses said they wanted to bring out the doll to “enable all children to see themselves in Barbie”. They partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) in the US to bring the product to market.
Continue reading...What Kids Are Reading report found communities on sites such as TikTok helped stimulate interest in reading
The number of books read by children increased by almost a quarter last year, according to a report, as BookTok and other social media trends stimulated interest in reading for young people.
The 2023 What Kids Are Reading report, which surveyed children in the UK and Ireland, found that pupils read 27,265,657 books in the 2021-2022 academic year, 24% more than the 2020-2021 academic year.
Continue reading...Dirty air causes premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe every year, says European Environment Agency
Europe is failing its children when it comes to air pollution, exposing nearly all children across the continent to air that falls below healthy standards and delaying the clean-up of the sources of pollution, research has found.
Breathing dirty air causes the premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe each year, and many thousands more are afflicted with physical and mental health problems that could have lifelong impacts, according to the latest assessment of air pollution by the European Environment Agency.
Continue reading...Evidence to MPs claims parents more cautious about sending children to school with minor ailments
Increased anxiety and lack of mental health support are driving a steep increase in children missing school since the Covid pandemic, with some children “struggling to leave home”, according to councils in England.
Local authorities are also highlighting budget pressures that have forced cuts in school support staff, with some schools trying to “manage” students out of classrooms or disguising their attendance records, while others are “off-rolling” students to artificially boost school exam results.
Continue reading...Global alliance including NCA and FBI says Meta’s decision to encrypt direct messages could harm children
An alliance of the world’s most powerful law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Interpol and Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) have condemned Meta’s plans to encrypt direct messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram, saying that doing so will weaken the ability to keep child users safe.
The Virtual Global Taskforce, made up of 15 agencies, is chaired by the NCA and also includes Europol and the Australian federal police among its membership. The VGT has spoken out, it says, owing to the “impending design choices” by Meta, which it says could cause serious harm.
Continue reading...Exclusive: child mental health crisis deepens with one-third of all referrals denied help
A quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health.
Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found.
In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the mental health charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk. YoungMinds is at youngminds.org.uk.
Continue reading...HSIB report identifies several barriers to child safeguarding in hospital emergency departments
Staff in hospital emergency departments in England are struggling to spot when infants are being physically abused by their parents, raising the risk of further harm, an investigation has found.
Clinicians often do not know what to do if they are concerned that a child’s injuries are not accidental because there is no guidance, according to a report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) that identifies several barriers to child safeguarding in emergency departments.
Continue reading...Poor investigative practices and unacceptable delays leave children vulnerable, official report finds
Police can take up to 18 months to make an arrest after becoming aware that a child is at risk of online sexual abuse, an official report has concluded.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that forces’ investigative practices are “often poor [and] unacceptable delays are commonplace”, leaving children vulnerable and allowing offenders to escape justice.
Continue reading...Exclusive: group says military is compromising children’s right to education with its campaign against militants
Egyptian forces have taken over 37 schools and transformed them into military bases while dozens more have been destroyed during a 10-year war with militants in Sinai, a rights group has found in an initial assessment.
In a months-long investigation shared with the Guardian before its official release, the UK-based Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) accused the Egyptian armed forces of compromising the right to education of children during its campaign against militants in north Sinai.
Continue reading...Slashing funding to the programme from a promised £7m to just £1m sends a ‘stark message to the world’, says Save the Children
The UK government has cut almost £6m in funding to a programme in Afghanistan supporting vulnerable women and girls.
Save the Children said it has been told by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that it will receive just over £1m of a promised £7m to support more than 100,000 people to access essential basic services such as healthcare and education.
Continue reading...Only 15% of local councils collect data on proportion of parents who are able to access sufficient childcare
The government’s claims that there are enough childcare places in England are “meaningless” as councils collect little to no information on whether provision meets local demand, experts have said.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area under section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006.
Continue reading...Exhibition evoking childhood experiences brings together installations by nine artists
Nine leading contemporary artists have come together to create an interactive exhibition in Barcelona for kids – and anyone in touch with their inner child.
“Before the pandemic we had the idea of mounting an exhibition of contemporary art for people of all ages, something that children could relate to but also so that older people could relive the experience of being a child and participate as if they were children,” said Martina Millà, who jointly curated the show at the Fundació Joan Miró with Patrick Ronse, the artistic director of the Be-Part contemporary art platform in Belgium.
Continue reading...The action is aimed at expanding last year’s bipartisan Safer Communities act, which strengthened background checks
Last year the Georgia-based gun manufacturer Daniel Defense tweeted an image of a young child with a rifle – about the same size as the child himself – in his lap. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” the caption read.
The post came just eight days before an 18-year-old shot and killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas – using a weapon made by Daniel Defense.
Continue reading...Benefit will depend on how much parents can afford to contribute, with wealthier families getting ‘an extra leg up’, critics say
The New South Wales government’s cornerstone election policy, which aims to help the next generation pay for housing and education, has been criticised by social advocates who claim the scheme will further entrench inequality.
The Kids Future Fund would see all children 10 and under handed an account with $400 in it, with the government to match parents’ future contributions of up to $400 every year until the age of 18.
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Continue reading...Senior Tories condemn ‘sickening’ plans which would allow unaccompanied minors to be held, in U-turn on past legislation
Rishi Sunak’s plan to reduce small boat crossings will effectively reverse a ban on child detention implemented under David Cameron and open the door to an expansion of the practice, the Observer understands.
With a potential Tory rebellion already brewing over the proposals, it has emerged that the Illegal Migration bill will allow the detention of families with children and even allows the deportation of unaccompanied children if it is deemed to be safe in their country of origin.
Continue reading...Two other studies also show there are insufficient places in half of the country’s councils
The scale of the childcare crisis in England has been exposed by new data showing some parents face spending as much as 80% of their take-home pay on childcare while others struggle to find a provider because of supply gaps in large parts of the country.
A study by the thinktank Nesta, seen by the Guardian, shows how hard it is for families in different parts of England to afford to pay for someone to look after their children while they work. Meanwhile, two other studies – one by the children’s charity Coram and one by the Labour party – show there are insufficient places in half of the country’s local authorities, with demand now more than double the country’s supply.
Continue reading...Families in rural towns still faced with empty shelves, purchase limitations and fewer options of infant formula
Marie Abate’s son turned six months old last Wednesday, but the joyous milestone also marked a more anxious one: half a year of worrying about how to feed him.
Abate wasn’t just concerned about trying to establish breastfeeding or setting a feeding schedule. She has a more fundamental concern: will she be able to find enough formula to make sure he doesn’t go hungry?
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