Poolbowl must be some kind of combination of pool and 10 pin bowling. This video shows us that Jason Belmonte and Florian “Venom” Kohler have a lot of time on their hands, and have used it to perfect some glorious tricks. So what if they have terabytes of outtakes, this compilation video is awesome!
Youth work and social care news from around the world
Links from around the world of youth work and social care:
Number of admissions to hospital of girls under 18 after self-harming has nearly doubled: The Guardian reports that figures provided in response to a written question in the House of Lords, answered by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health Lord O’Shaughnessy, show that the number of admissions to hospital of girls under the age of 18 in England after self-harming has nearly doubled compared with 20 years ago. NHS Digital figures show that: there were 13,463 admissions of girls under the age of 18 in 2016/17 against 7,327 in 1997/98; the figure for admissions of boys who self-harmed rose from 2,236 in 1997/98 to 2,332 in 2016/17.
Adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse: The University of Suffolk and the charity Survivors in Transition have published research looking at the impact of delayed disclosure and access to services and support for those who experienced sexual abuse in their childhood. Findings from in-depth interviews with 28 adult survivors of child sexual abuse show that: the average time span from the start of abuse to disclosure was over 27.5 years; survivors reported that delayed disclosure resulted in complex issues related to the experience of abuse, which had a detrimental impact on their mental health; and poor experiences of disclosure had acted as barriers to future support services.
Perinatal mental health services are patchy: The Guardian reports that an unpublished report, commissioned by Health Education England, has found that in many areas of England specialist perinatal mental health services are patchy or non-existent.
Answering parents commonly asked online safety questions: Childnet has written a blog answering some of the questions parents and carers most frequently ask about online safety. Topic covered include: teenagers spending too much time online; under 13s joining social networking sites; and playing games that have an older age rating.
Viewing child abuse images: The Telegraph reports that the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland, has said that sex offenders who download or share images of child abuse should be dealt with by the court as harshly as those who abuse children themselves. The article also reports that the government is planning to bring child pornography offences under the “unduly lenient sentence” scheme, which enables sentences to be reviewed by the Court of Appeal.
The #DeleAlliChallenge
The next internet craze is upon us: People are trying, and mostly failing, to copy a pose Tottenham Hotspur player Dele Alli did after he scored a goal against Newcastle this week. Whether it was planned or not, this was the first sighting of this now iconic hand gesture.
What Alli does with his hands looks simple enough — but it turns out making an “ok” sign with your thumb and forefinger, turning it upside-down, and then letting it rest around your eye is actually harder than it seems. Good luck trying to replicate it.
Children and young people’s mental health: focus group research
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in England has published findings from focus group research carried out to understand the views of children and young people, parents and carers, and professionals on the proposals in ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper’.
The student insight report, carried out by Young Minds, looks at the views of 55 young people aged 11-18 across England. Findings show that they were broadly in favour of the core three proposals but felt that there needed to be an additional focus within the new approach around causes of ill mental health amongst young people.
Youth Access looked at the views of 11-15 year olds and 16-25 year olds. Findings include: participants were generally positive about the proposals; they had concerns that the needs of many groups of young people would not be met in its current form including those not willing or able to access support in a school setting; many felt that the green paper did not go far enough in acknowledging some of the root causes of young people’s mental health issues.
The National Children’s Bureau reported on the views of over 80 professionals and parents. Findings include: the green paper proposals were broadly welcomed but that further consideration should be given to ensuring children in the early years develop well emotionally and are prepared for the transition into school; and better continuity of care for young people with mental health conditions transitioning to adult services.
Working together to safeguard children: statutory guidance myth busting
The Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme has published guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) to clarify to relevant parts of the English statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018. They discovered that some parts of the guidance acted as a barrier to good practice and outcomes for children and families and can be made clearer, e.g. making it clear that family assessments of risk of harm faced by children are permissible as long as the unique needs of individual children are considered.
Topics covered include: individual child assessments; return home interviews; social workers for foster carers and children with long term foster placements; social workers for children in staying put; frequency of visits for social workers; and fostering and adoption panels.
The responses have been agreed by the Department for Education and their lawyers in consultation with Ofsted.
Youth work and social care news from around the world
Links from around the world of youth work and social care:
- Young carers limited summer holidays: Action for Children and Carers Trust have released findings from a survey of 270 young carers under the age of 18 looking at how they spend their summer holidays. Findings show that: 47% of young carers spend more than four hours a day during the summer caring for a relative; 68% said they feel more stressed or worried during the holidays; and 57% worry about talking about what they did in the summer break when they go back to school.
- “Holiday hunger” increasing: The National Education Union (NEU) has released findings from a survey of 657 secondary school teachers looking at “holiday hunger”, where families are unable to afford enough food during the school summer break. Findings show that 59% of members polled said that children and young people in their school experienced holiday hunger.
- Relationships and sex education and PSHE briefing papers: The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on relationships and sex education and a briefing on personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) in schools in England. The first briefing provides an overview of the legislation and guidance currently in place regarding sex and relationship education (SRE) in schools and related reviews and proposals in Parliament to introduce relationship and sex education (RSE), whilst the second sets out the rules relating to the provision of (PSHE), and introduces the debates about the quality of provision and the subject’s statutory status.
- Online abuse and the experience of disabled people: The House of Commons Petitions Committee has published draft recommendations and launched an inquiry into online abuse and the experience of disabled people. Recommendations include: making incitement of disability hatred a specific crime; and requiring social media companies to produce easy to read privacy notices. The inquiry follows a petition organised by Katie Price, mother of a 16 year old son with disabilities who was subject to online abuse, which was signed by more than 200,000 people.
- UK children with ADHD wait up to two years for diagnosis: The Guardian reports that analysis of a freedom of information request by the All-party parliamentary group on ADHD shows that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are waiting up to two years for a diagnosis in England.
- Digital literacy: The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee has published an interim report following its disinformation and fake news enquiry. The report includes a section looking at digital literacy in relation to children and young people. Its recommendations include: introducing digital literacy as part of the physical, social, health and economic curriculum funded by an educational levy to be raised by social media companies.
Government to review council youth work statutory guidance
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), and Office for Civil Society have set out plans to undertake a review of statutory guidance that requires local authorities in England to provide youth services as part of the Civil Society Strategy.
The strategy, Building a future that works for everyone, published today, states that a review of the guidance for councils to provide “appropriate local youth services” is needed as a result of significant changes to the way services for young people are delivered since it was last scrutinised in 2012. The document states that the review will provide “greater clarity of the government’s expectations, including the value added by good youth work”. The strategy also commits to developing the evidence base for what good youth work looks like, and the beneficial impact this can have on young people’s life outcomes.
The 2012 review, undertaken as part of the coalition government’s Positive for Youth policy, backed retention of this duty, but since then council spending on youth services has been reduced by more than £400m and hundreds of youth centres have been closed as a result of cuts in central government funding.
The new strategy states: “The government recognises the transformational impact that youth services and trained youth workers can have, especially for young people facing multiple barriers and disadvantage.”
The review of statutory guidance has been welcomed by the National Youth Agency (NYA). NYA chief executive, Leigh Middleton, said:
“We are pleased to see youth work officially championed by the government and recognising the transformational impact of youth services.
“Young people deserve access to effective and widely available youth services. We know local councils want to invest more in youth service but have been forced to de-prioritise youth services in the face of budget cuts in recent years – we believe this government review will recognise this and hand down the stronger appropriate guidance to address it.”
Read the Civil Society Strategy: building a future that works for everyone for more information.
Space photos show UK transforming from green to brown after heat waves
The usual verdant grasses surrounding Buckingham Palace and much of the British Open’s 176-year-old Carnoustie golf course have yellowed since May.
A lack of rain combined with near-record heat through the first half of the summer created this situation, and satellites images from the United Kingdom’s Met Office illustrate the expansive reach of the isles’ browning grasses.
Like the UK, much of the world — even Arctic regions — have been hit with extreme heatwaves or hot spells in the last couple weeks or longer.
Heatwaves, say climate scientists, would certainly happen regardless of whether or not human-caused climate change is a factor. But the planet has been warming at an accelerated pace for 40 years now, making heat extremes more likely.
So far this summer, the UK is on track to challenge 1995 as the driest UK summer in recorded history, Alex Deacon, a Met Office meteorologist, explained online. The same can be said for the UK’s heat since early June.
“It’s been quite remarkable if we take 2018 so far. We could be pushing records” he said.
Though it can be challenging to attribute any particular weather event, like a heatwave, to climate change, with improving measurements scientists have begun to a connect extreme weather events to the changing climate.
Disability inclusion: Why it’s about more than a ramp
Kay Morgan-Gurr who is a fantastic children’s evangelist, has written a brilliant article following on from the Archbishop of Canterbury hosting a cutting edge disability conference at Lambeth Palace on July 13th called ‘A Place to Belong‘:
The heart for change was alive and well, but for change to happen this heart also needs to be alive and well in those who were not at the conference. We need change where the rubber hits the road, and I’m worried that the outcomes of this will only reach the already convinced and not the people who really need to hear it. …
It’s often the case that many churches – though not all – think inclusion begins and ends with a ramp. Most will provide for those of us with wheels, but even then some do it badly. In their minds, they’ve already ticked the discrimination box.
Disability is diverse, in both the range of disabilities and the type of support needed. There may be practical inclusion adjustments in a church, but the attitude is poor. This is why many in the disability community use the term ‘belonging’. It’s much more than inclusion. To quote John Swinton, who was at the conference, ‘Belonging is being missed when you’re not there.’ Or in my own words, it’s being missed for who you are, not a sigh of relief because the disabled person hasn’t turned up.
Council for Internet Safety in the UK
The government has announced plans to establish a new UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS), which will extend the scope of the current UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). It will be a new collaborative forum through which government, the tech community and the third sector work together to ensure the UK is the safest place in the world to be online.
Priority areas of focus for the council will include:
- online harm experienced by children such as cyberbullying and sexual exploitation;
- radicalisation and extremism;
- violence against women and girls;
- hate crime and hate speech;
- and forms of discrimination against groups protected under the Equality Act.
The Government has opened the application process to appoint members of the UKCIS Executive Board (the closing date is 03 September 2018).
The Two-Minute Surf Wave
Pro surfer Koa Smith caught a wave off Namibia’s Skeleton Bay that took him for a nearly a mile! He surfed a single wave for a distance of 1.5 kilometers for two minutes that took him through eight barrels. It was captured on video, both from a drone and from Smith’s own GoPro POV. Both videos are mesmerizing.
My whole day surfing I try to InVision that one dream wave that I want to experience. I picture it clearly. What it will look like. How it will feel. The emotions pouring out of me when the wave is complete. Then this happen 🙂
How to safely use ‘Questions’ on Instagram
Recently Instagram introduced ‘Questions’ – the latest feature onto the photo sharing app. Users are now able to invite their followers to ask them questions, which they can then publicly answer. The UK Safer Internet Centre has published a blog describing things to be aware of.
What are questions on Instagram?
Questions can be added once you have taken a photo or video that you want to share on your story. This is done by selecting the poll sticker from the stickers tab 
.
You can then position the questions sticker onto your story and invite your followers to ask you a question.
Your followers ask you a question by typing into the answer box in your sticker, and then sending this to you to answer.
To see the questions you have been asked, swipe up to open the viewers list for that part of your story.
Are the questions anonymous?
There has been some confusion recently about whether the question you ask on Instagram stories are anonymous.
Instagram questions are not anonymous, the person who you sent the question to will know that it is you who asked them. However, if the person you’re sending a question to decides to share your question publicly, your username will be removed.
Remember that anonymous or not there is a real person behind the Instagram account that you are asking questions to. It’s important to act respectfully and kindly on this service and any other question platform you use.
Who can see my answers?
You can choose how you answer the questions you have been asked. When you click to reply to a question you are taken to a camera screen, where you can take a picture that will be the background to your answer. Once you have typed your reply to the question, you can choose whether to answer privately or publicly.
- Privately: you can choose to send your answer directly to the person who asked you in a private message.
- Publicly: you can chose to post your answer onto your story so that all of your followers can see it. It’s worth noting if you have a public account anyone who views your story will be able to see your answer.
You can also choose not to answer any questions you have been asked. You can delete any questions in the question viewer. If anyone asks you a question that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable you can always go and speak to an adult you trust, and report or block the user.
Things to remember
Whilst these questions can be used positively to find out more about your friends, there is potential for this feature to be misused. There have been reports of people using the feature to ask upsetting or insulting questions, especially if they think they are under an anonymous guise.
Remember that whoever you are asking questions of is a real person. Before you send a negative or mean comment, think about the effect that receiving this will have on a person.
Our advice
- Think about how your question will make someone feel.
- Remember that they will be able to see what you post. If your question will hurt someone’s feelings it’s better not to post it.
- Report inappropriate questions.
- If you see a story or question that you think breaks Instagram’s terms of service you can report it to Instagram.
- Speak to someone you trust.
- Speak to a parent, carer or teacher if you are upset or concerned about any question you have been asked. You can also contact Childline by calling 0800 1111.