Floods, militia raids and hunger mean a third of children are not in school at all, while the rest have too few teachers, aid groups warn
Nearly every school-age child in Sudan is missing out on education, either completely or facing serious disruption, aid organisations have warned.
Schools in some states reopened this week after delays due to severe flooding but millions of children are still unable to go, leaving the country facing a “generational catastrophe”.
Continue reading...About 60 wives, sons and daughters of slain or jailed IS combatants to be rescued from Roj camp, but some women face arrest upon return to Australia
The youngest, most unwell and most vulnerable of the Australian children currently held in squalid Syrian detention camps will be the first ones repatriated to Australia. But some of their mothers could face arrest – and potential charges – upon return to the country.
The Australian government is currently implementing plans to repatriate about 60 Australian women and children – wives, sons and daughters of slain or jailed Islamic State combatants – who have been held for more than three years in the dangerous detention camps in north-east Syria.
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Continue reading...Ian Russell’s campaigning after his daughter’s death has made case for online safety bill unavoidable, says peer
The online safety bill’s progress through parliament has been paused, but it is hard to see that delay lasting much longer after the conclusion of the Molly Russell inquest.
The regulatory landscape for the online world is undergoing significant change in the UK and Molly Russell’s family have contributed to that shift after becoming prominent campaigners for improved internet safety.
Continue reading...Coroner finds harmful online content likely to have contributed to Molly’s death ‘in a more than minimal way’
Molly Russell’s father has accused the world’s biggest social media firms of “monetising misery” after an inquest ruled that harmful online content contributed to the 14-year-old’s death.
Ian Russell accused Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of guiding his daughter on a “demented trail of life-sucking content”, after the landmark ruling raised the regulatory pressure on social media companies.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
Continue reading...Health officials urge parents to ensure children have routine jabs amid fears of measles outbreak
Thousands of children face an increased risk of catching deadly diseases in England, and significant outbreaks are likely, child health experts have warned, as “alarming” figures show vaccination levels have plunged across virtually all jabs.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is urging parents and guardians to ensure their children have received the routine jabs against potentially serious diseases, such as polio and measles, after official data revealed a drop in vaccination rates.
Continue reading...Headteachers say more children are using vapes, forcing them to take action to tackle the problem
The government’s school behaviour adviser has called on headteachers to crack down on vaping among pupils, calling it “a huge health hazard” and an “enormous distraction”, amid reports that more children are using the devices, including some of primary age.
Tom Bennett said vaping was now as big an issue in schools as cigarettes once were, with children becoming “addicted to the practice and the chemicals involved”.
Continue reading...Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson to announce plan to fund breakfast clubs in every primary school
Labour will rebuild a new childcare system to ease the pressure on parents from the “end of parental leave right through to the end of primary school”, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said, starting with a pledge on free breakfast clubs.
Phillipson will announce on Wednesday that fully funded breakfast clubs for every primary school in England would be funded by the revenues raised by restoring the top rate of income tax to 45p, if Labour were elected.
Continue reading...US pro-wrestler fulfilled 650 wishes through non-profit that helps children who are gravely sick or dying
After vanquishing seemingly countless foes in the ring as well as on the screen, the US pro-wrestler and actor John Cena has notched one more mark on his body count.
He has set the new record for the most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the non-profit that helps fulfil the wishes of children who are gravely sick or dying, according to a recent press release from Guinness World Records.
Continue reading...Experts warn that girls’ education will be worst hit, as many families are forced to move away from schools
More than 3.5 million children are at risk of dropping out of school due to the drought in the Horn of Africa, the United Nations has said, amid warnings the crisis could lead to “a lost generation” that misses out on education.
According to new figures shared with the Guardian, Unicef now estimates that 3.6 million children in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are in danger of leaving school as a result of the cumulative pressure on households caused by the unrelenting drought.
Continue reading...The Pharmaceutical Journal found users being offered prescription drugs as diet pills
TikTok has removed postings promoting migraine and epilepsy drugs to under-18s as weight loss aids after criticism that hosting them was a danger to young people’s health.
The social media platform, which is popular among teenagers, acted after an investigation by the Pharmaceutical Journal found that users were being offered prescription drugs as diet pills.
6% of 10- to 15-year-olds say they are unhappy with life as a whole, up from 4% a decade ago.
Many more (12%) say they are not happy at school, a 3% rise on 10 years ago, with older children more likely to hold that view.
85% of parents and carers are concerned about how the cost of living crisis will affect their families in the next year.
Continue reading...Health experts encourage doctors to talk about nutrition and socio-economic circumstances
Children’s doctors plan to help poor families cope with the cost of living crisis and its feared impact on health, amid concern that cold homes this winter will lead to serious ill health.
In an unusual move, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is issuing the UK’s paediatricians with detailed advice on how they can help households in poverty.
Continue reading...The 12-year-old’s life support was withdrawn after his parents failed to overturn a high court ruling
The life of Archie Battersbee, who was at the centre of a legal battle between his parents and the Royal London hospital, has been celebrated at a funeral service featuring videos of him singing and performing gymnastics.
The 12-year-old’s life support was withdrawn on 6 August after his parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, failed to overturn a high court ruling that doctors could lawfully do so.
Continue reading...E-cigarette company, whose products are blamed for a surge in youth vaping, also faces new marketing restrictions
The electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly $440m to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.
William Tong, the Connecticut attorney general, announced the deal on Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to investigate Juul’s early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative.
Continue reading...Penalty follows investigation into Instagram setting that allowed teenagers to set up accounts that displayed contact details
Instagram owner Meta has been fined €405m (£349m) by the Irish data watchdog for letting teenagers set up accounts that publicly displayed their phone numbers and email addresses.
The Data Protection Commission confirmed the penalty after a two-year investigation into potential breaches of the European Union’s general data protection regulation (GDPR).
Continue reading...For every 100 Covid-related death in Australia, around 13 young people lost one or both of their parents, ANU study finds
Nearly 2,000 Australian children have lost a parent to Covid-19 during the pandemic, according to new data.
A global study by the Australian National University (ANU), based on 2021 data, has estimated that for every 100 Covid-related death in Australia, around 13 young people lost one or both of their parents.
Continue reading...Bill approved Monday will require companies to install guardrails for those under age 18 and use higher privacy settings
California lawmakers passed first-of-its-kind legislation on Monday designed to improve the online safety and privacy protections for children.
The bill, the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, will require firms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to install guardrails for users under the age of 18, including defaulting to higher privacy settings for minors and refraining from collecting location data for those users.
Continue reading...The boys, thought to be brothers, were on holiday at the Eiserbachsee in Simmerath, near Aachen
German police say they are investigating the death of two British boys who drowned in a lake in western Germany on Thursday evening.
The boys, aged seven and nine, were pulled from the Eiserbachsee near Aachen after their parents reported them missing. Doctors fought overnight to save their lives but they were pronounced dead in hospital in the early hours of Friday morning.
Continue reading...Poorer families set to be hit most, expert says, while single mothers routinely neglect their own medical needs to afford children’s care
As more GP clinics abandon or significantly reduce bulk billing, parents and carers say it is becoming harder to find a clinic that routinely bulk bills children.
In response to Guardian Australia’s series on the bulk billing crisis, more than 300 people shared their stories of how health care costs are adding pressure to family budgets on top of the rising costs of living.
Continue reading...The chances of breakdowns are mitigated with food, but increased with the addition of siblings
Long traffic jams, bickering siblings, extreme boredom – most parents will know the signs to look out for when trying to prevent a full-blown backseat temper tantrum on a family holiday.
Now a statistician has calculated the exact formula for predicting the chances, and timing, of children throwing a tantrum in the back of a car during a long journey.
Continue reading...Survey reveals common practice is seen as ‘strange’ by parents handed child’s soiled nappies to take home
Waiting lists for Japanese nurseries are finally falling, but many parents have found that securing one of the coveted places comes at a price – taking home their child’s soiled nappies.
A survey has shone a light on the common but rarely discussed practice, with about 40% of towns and cities in Japan saying they demand the guardians of their infant clientele take their used nappies with them.
Continue reading...