Displaying items by tag: Children

Officials said a lack of exposure to common infections during young children’s ‘formative’ years, owing to pandemic measures, may be fuelling a global outbreak of hepatitis, the deadly liver disease. A total of 114 cases of ‘acute hepatitis of unknown origin’ have been reported in Britain since the first spate of cases was detected in Scotland less than four weeks ago. Health officials said they had detected as many cases in the past three months as they would normally expect to see in a year; the vast majority of cases involved children aged five and under. Experts have previously raised concerns about the long-term impact of lockdown on children's education and physical and mental health. However, this is the most serious potential health complication to have emerged so far. Liver experts said these cases may be the ‘tip of the iceberg’, as some symptoms could be missed.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said he does not believe the state should be ‘nannying’ parents about the way they bring up their children. He has rejected the call to ban smacking children in England, saying, ‘Parents are entitled to discipline their children. My very strong view is we must trust parents on this. They should be entitled to discipline their children. There is a very big difference between a “light smack on the arm” and child abuse.’ Dame Rachel De Souza, the children's commissioner, has signalled her support for changing the law to give children the same protection from assault as adults. Wales has made illegal any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping or shaking illegal. In England and Northern Ireland, smacking a child is unlawful, but is allowed as long as it constitutes ‘reasonable punishment’.

For six years, Kristie was a pastoral assistant at a secondary school. When her school notified staff of a 'No Outsiders' programme to be introduced Kristie went to a meeting to find out more. No Outsiders introduces young children to ideas about family and gender that are very different from Biblical teaching. She was concerned and did further research and shared a couple of posts on Facebook. But one of Kristie's Facebook ‘friends’ sent her Facebook posts to the school’s headteacher complaining that ‘a member of your staff, working directly with children has posted homophobic and prejudiced views against the lgbt community on Facebook.’ Kristie was sacked for gross misconduct. Her appeal was denied. She appealed but the decision was upheld. Kristie took her case to an Employment Tribunal but they ruled against her. In a few weeks’ time an Employment Appeal Tribunal will conduct their hearing. 

On 8 February, the day dedicated to safer internet, the department for culture, media and sport and MP Chris Philp published the Online Safety Bill, which will force pornography websites to prevent underage access including by using age verification technologies. They believe that children will be better protected from online pornography under the new measures in the Government’s pioneering new internet safety laws. Pray that all sites that publish pornography will successfully put robust checks in place to ensure their users are over 18 and that no one slips through the safety net. If sites fail to act, Ofcom will be able to fine them up to 10% of their annual worldwide turnover or can even block them from being accessible in the UK. Bosses of these websites could also be held criminally liable if they fail to cooperate with Ofcom.

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) says, ‘Schoolchildren are brainwashed by Palestinian leaders and “scholars” teaching hate against Jews on a daily basis. They are assured that anyone who dies while carrying out an attack against Jews is a “martyr” whose place in heaven is guaranteed.’ IMPACT-se discovered that Palestinian leaders failed to fulfill their promise to Western donors to change the textbooks. The newly published schoolbooks, more radical than previous ones, have systematic insertions of violence, martyrdom and jihad across all grades and subjects. Extreme nationalism and Islamist ideologies are widespread through the curriculum, including science and maths textbooks. The possibility of peace with Israel is rejected. One Arabic book has a story describing Molotov cocktails igniting an Israeli bus to burn Jewish passengers alive. This is described as a ‘barbecue party.’

Millions of children around the world face violence, discrimination, or bereavement because they or their parents are Christians. This has a huge impact on their faith and self-esteem. Pray for all who invest in these children through Christian education, trauma care and schooling, to ensure a better future for them and the long-term survival of the church. Pray for single parents in Africa, especially mothers whose husbands have been killed for their faith. Ask God to provide for their practical needs and pray that they will lean on the Lord to help them raise godly children. Christian children in North Africa can find it extremely hard to embrace the faith of their parents as they grow up in an Islamic society. Pray for more Bible education classes to be provided for parents so that they are equipped to bring up their children ‘in the training and instruction of the Lord’ (Ephesians 6:4).

There have been anti-Covid vaccine protests outside 420 schools up and down the UK. The Association of School and College Leaders said it is not a fringe concern even though most protests stem from just two groups on the messaging app Telegram. One organiser has allegedly visited every secondary school in Hartlepool, and another group is coordinating multiple daily school visits from Kent to Cheshire. Protesters left Gateshead students distressed after showing them pictures of what appeared to be dead children. They target teachers with sham legal documents, and hand children leaflets with QR codes leading to extremist and conspiracy content. Some protesters think it is wrong to vaccinate children, or say the whole pandemic is a hoax. Sir Keir Starmer said it was sickening that protesters were spreading ‘dangerous misinformation’ to children, and wants exclusion zones set up around school gates.

Oxford Diocese has launched a contemplative toolkit in response to the growing mental health crisis among young people. It is a time of daily reflection founded on ancient pathways and practices of meditation and prayer that have resourced, benefited, and healed Christians for generations. The increase in the use of digital technology and social media is placing young people in danger of becoming less connected with their families and communities and leads to increased mental health issues as self-worth is measured against online profile popularity. A quarter of a million children struggle with their mental health as a result of the pandemic. When the whole of education seems to be about targets, results and pressure, this toolkit gives students the chance just to be, rather than do. It complements the Prayer Spaces in Schools programme, enabling prayer and reflection into school life for the year. It also enables pupils to run the sessions themselves and share reflections with their peers.

There are no official data on absence due to school anxiety. Many affected pupils are labelled truants, but support groups are being flooded with calls. An education lawyer says the pandemic has made an unprecedented crisis even worse. Children with school anxiety may experience physical symptoms such as stomach pain, nausea and headaches before school or have immobilising anxiety, panic attacks or something that seems like a tantrum. They may even threaten to harm themselves if parents make them go to school, yet their parents can be threatened with fines and court action. Fran Morgan helps families with this problem and said it is not about refusal, a child that won't do something: It is about a child that physically can't. Parent groups are warning of a ‘tsunami’ of crippling school-anxiety cases leading to debilitating absence from education. The education department said it was investing £17m in school mental health.

The average cost of uniform for a primary school child is £315, £337 for a secondary pupil, according to the Children's Society. Sadly, a law to make schools place affordability at the centre of their uniform policy will not be in place in time for the start of this school year, meaning that parents will not benefit from the changes until September 2022. The rules will limit the number of logos on uniforms, allowing parents to buy more items from supermarkets and shops other than a school's main supplier. Meanwhile clothes banks like Cradley Heath Community Link are offering school uniforms and PE kits which have been donated. They are providing uniforms for nine schools in the area at no cost, and are inundated with requests. One visitor, Darren Wright, said that if he had to buy it he’s looking at £300 for one child, impossible for people on Universal Credit. See