Daily roundup 22 January: Technology, childcare costs, and DfE accounts

Parents are using access to computers as a way of controlling their children's behaviour, according to a study of modern childhood. The Childwise survey shows a rise in the number of tablet computers used by children, with young people spending more time online than watching television. But it suggests that parents use time on tablet computers as a way of rewarding or punishing their children, reports the BBC.


The increasing cost of childcare is the main fator behind a rise in the cost of bringing up a child. The annual “cost of a child” index, compiled by the insurer LV=, found that the total outlay from birth to the age of 21 has risen by 63 per cent in the past decade to £229,251. In the past year, childcare became 2.2 per cent costlier. Nurseries, babysitters and after-school care now cost an average of £67,586 per child, a 71 per cent increase since 2003, reports the Times.


The National Audit Office has issued an "adverse opinion" on the accounts of the Department for Education, saying they are "not true and fair". According to the BBC, the public spending watchdog says the level of error in the department's financial statements is "pervasive". It says that problems have arisen because the DfE has had to combine the accounts of more than 2,500 organisations - including academy trusts collectively running 3,905 individual academies - its own statements and that of its executive agencies.


The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) has published a collection of essays exploring how children and young people can actively participate in the development of government policy and legislation, and how childrne's professionals can involve them in their work. The essays showcase innovative examples of participation, where even those children and young people that are the most challenging to engage with have been given a voice. Contributors include Hugh McLaughlin professor of social work, Manchester Metropolitan University, Cathy Street research director at NCB, and Malene Karlsson, independent family day care researcher, doctor of philosophy and author.


Sight loss charity RNIB Scotland has produced a short booklet outlining its services for children and young people who are blind or partially sighted. The charity works from early years right through school to the transition to further or higher education and employment, engaging with education workers as well as families.


Statistics published by the Howard League for Penal Reform show that 14 young people aged between 18 and 24 took their own lives in custody during 2014. Frances Crook, chief executive of the organisation, said people are dying as a direct result of the cuts to the number of prison staff.