Daily roundup: health conditions, parental drinking, and online safety
Neil Puffett
Monday, October 21, 2013
Young people with medical conditions to get school support; nearly half of children have witnessed their parents being drunk; and survey finds evidence of risky online behaviour among children, all in the news today.
An amendment to the Children and Families Bill will see a requirement placed on schools to make arrangements to support children who have medical conditions. The aim of the amendment, proposed by Education Secretary Michael Gove, is to help improve educational outcomes for children with long-term health problems. The Department for Education will work with schools, health organisations and parents to draft statutory guidance, which will be subject to a consultation early next year.
Around 46 per cent of children aged between 10- and 14-years-old have seen their parents drunk, according to research published by Drinkaware today. The survey, carried out by ICM, also revealed that 29 per cent of children have seen their parents drunk on more than one occasion. Drinkaware is launching a campaign to raise awareness of potential issues around children and alcohol. The charity also wants parents to consider their role as positive role models to their children.
Primary school aged children are indulging in risky behaviour online, a survey has found. The BBC reports that a survey by the ISC2 IT security education group found that many nine- to 11-year-olds share personal information and play games rated for much older children. Meanwhile, 18 per cent of the 1,162 children questioned said they had arranged offline meetings with friends made via the internet.
Numbers of calls to the NSPCC’s helpline from people worried about the welfare of a child have increased by 15 per cent. The charity said there were 50,989 contacts from people worried about children between April 2012 and March 2013. Of these, around one in five (9,090) related to physical abuse, and one in six (7,347) were about children at risk of sexual abuse. The NSPCC said reports involving 18,345 children had to be referred to social services or police for further investigation.
Education minister Elizabeth Truss has rejected Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's calls for tighter controls on free schools in England, the BBC reports. Clegg said the schools should employ only qualified teachers and adhere to the national curriculum. But Truss said the "whole point" of the schools "is they have these freedoms... that's what's helping them outperform maintained schools".
