Powers to protect children and tackle illegal schools
The Local Government Association is calling on the government to give councils the power to enter homes and other premises to see children and check the suitability of education being delivered; and to compel parents to register home educated children.
Source: Local Government Association Date: 16 September 2016
Birmingham children’s services
Community Care reports on proposals to hand ownership of Birmingham’s children’s services to social workers as part of an employee owned mutual, run as a ‘worker’s co-operative’. The other model being proposed to elected representatives would see the council own the trust.
Source: Community Care Date: September 16 2016
Early intervention support
An article in Guardian Social Care makes the case for enacting in law protection for early intervention projects and additional children’s services to support parents in breaking the cycle of having successive babies taken into care.
Source: Guardian Date: 21 September
Family debt and child mental health
The Children’s Society has published a report warning that multiple family debts are linked to a higher risk of mental health problems in children.
Source: Children’s Society Date: 22 September 2016
Unaccompanied refugee children
The Guardian reports that French children’s services are struggling to cope with a sharp rise in the number of unaccompanied refugee children who have abandoned plans to travel to the UK and now want to remain in France.
Source: Guardian Date: 22 September 2016
Perinatal mental health
The Maternal Mental Health Alliance has launched a mapping tool which sets out standards relating to all the services that support women with perinatal mental illness and their families. It is designed to enable local partners to rate their current service offer against the standards.
Source: Maternal Mental Health Alliance Date: 23 September 2016
The impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children
The NSPCC and the Children’s Commissioner asked Middlesex University to look into how many children have been exposed to pornography and the impact for them of viewing such content.
The research consisted of an online survey of 1001 children and young people aged 11-16 across the UK, an online discussion forum and online focus groups.
Authors: Elena Martellozzo, Andy Monaghan, Joanna R Adler, Julia Davidson, Rodolfo Leyva and Miranda AH Horvath
Published: 2016
Source: NSPCC
Download the report – click here
Most boys think online pornography is realistic, finds study
Research reveals that 94% of children who have seen online pornography were exposed to it by age 14 and many saw images by accident in pop-up ads.
The majority of boys who view online pornography believe it provides a realistic depiction of sex, according to the most extensive survey of British secondary school pupils undertaken.
Source: The Guardian
Children as young as FIVE accused of sex attacks in schools – The number of sex crimes reported at UK schools has nearly trebled in four years with children as young as five accused of offences.
The crimes reported rose from 719 in 2011-12 to nearly 2,000 in 2014-15, an average of 10 offences every school day, with rape, child prostitution and sexual grooming all recorded.
In England, boys and girls as young as five were accused of carrying out sexual offences, while the youngest alleged victims were also five-years-old.
This included a five-year-old girl who was accused of sexual assault on a boy under 13, and a five year-old boy who was accused of sexual activity involving a girl under 13.
In Wales, the youngest alleged victim of a sexual offence was just four, although no details of the allegation or the child’s gender were given.
Source: Daily Mirror
A council has put a temporary hold on fining parents who take their children out of school for up to 10 days. The The Stoke Sentinel reports that Staffordshire County Council issued new guidance to schools and families on term-time holidays following a recent court ruling in the Isle of Wight case, where a father successfully challenged a fine for unauthorised absence on the basis of his child’s previously good attendance record. The temporary hold will be in place until the Supreme Court, which the Isle of Wight case has been referred to, rules on it.
