Daily roundup 16 February: Mental health, charity trustee, and exam stress

Young people are struggling to cope with the effects of domestic violence, family breakdowns, bereavement and bullying, the Duchess of Cambridge has said. In a Place2Be video, Kate Middleton has warned of the impact a lack of support can have on children and young people’s mental health such as anxiety and depression. The appeal marks the start of the UK’s first ever Children’s Mental Health Week.


Outgoing Children's Commissioner for England Maggie Atkinson has become the new chair of trustees at London cultural education charity A New Direction. The charity, which receives Arts Council funding, aims to connect children and young people with the best of the arts and culture. Atkinson's five-year tenure as children's commissioner ends on 28 February. 


Children from the age of five should receive weekly “happiness” lessons to combat exam stress. The study by former health minister, Lord Darzi, proposed that life skills should be given equal attention to reading and writing. According to The Daily Mail, exam-related calls to Childline have tripled in just one year.


Child pornography searches have fallen by 67 per cent since online blocks have been put in place, according to a US study. Traffic levels for keywords commonly used in searching for child sexual exploitation material between January 2011 and August last year were published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect. The results follow Prime Minister David Cameron’s call for internet search providers to do more to protect children, the Daily Mail reports.


Larger families could see a limit to child benefits if the Conservatives win the next general election, The Express reports. The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has proposed restricting the payment for two children to reduce Britain’s welfare bill.


The inquiry into child sex abuse could investigate alleged crimes committed during the Second World War, Sky News reports. Justice Lowell Goddard, the judge chairing the official inquiry, has indicated that the investigation into suspected abuse by establishment figures may go even further than back than 1945.


And finally, adulthood does not start until the mid-20s for most people because certain areas of the brain take longer to develop, a neuroscientist has said. The Times reports Beatriz Luna, professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburugh believes the striatum, a part of the brain stimulated by experiences as a young person, does not calm down until people take on adult responsibilities such as long term relationships and mortgages.