Posts filed under 'News'
Funny stories from around the world
Some funny and interesting headlines from around the world:
- Reverse runner strides to victory: ‘Backward runners’ from across the world gather in Manchester for the first UK championships
- Kissing couple’s end of pier show: A Somerset couple have been travelling the country in an attempt to kiss at the end of every seaside pier in Britain before they marry in October.
- Kylie’s secret performance in pub: The Australian superstar Kylie Minogue has performed at a secret gig at the Ring O’Bells pub in Compton Martin, in North Somerset.
- China traffic jam lasts nine days: A massive traffic jam in China stretching for 100km near Beijing finally clears after nine days, local media say.
- ‘Loose change’ buys van in China: A man pays for a van in China with 100,000 yuan ($14,700; £9,500) in pocket change he gathered over years, state television reports.
- Longest pizza attempt in Poland: Residents of the Polish city of Krakow have attempted to break the world record for the longest pizza in the world.
Add comment August 30, 2010
Funny stories from around the world
Some funny and interesting headlines from around the world:
- Bear takes car for short joy ride: A terrified bear goes for an unintended ride after climbing into an empty car in the US state of Colorado.
- Band release world’s longest single: The Hoosiers are aiming for ‘the longest pop song ever to be released in the UK’ with a 43 minute single
- £1.2m car clamped outside Harrods: A luxury car worth £1.2m is clamped outside Harrods in central London after being illegally parked.
- Robber dissuaded by ‘Jesus’ talk: A 20-year-old Christian mobile phone shop manager in Florida stops a would-be armed robber by preaching to him.
- Tunnel workers forget passengers: Eurotunnel investigates after passengers are taken from Folkestone to France and back again without being able to get off the train.
- US flight steward in shock exit: A judge bails a US flight attendant who allegedly used the emergency exit slide after arguing with a passenger.
- Trio climbs Kilimanjaro on one good leg: Three US amputee veterans climb Mt Kilimanjaro, enduring tumbles and sores to reach the peak with only one good leg among them.
- Pea plant grows inside man’s lung: A Massachusetts man is told a pea plant has sprouted in his chest, after being rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung.
- Swede faces $1m speeding penalty: A Swedish man who was caught by Swiss police driving at 290km/h is facing a world-record speeding fine of SFr1.08m ($1m; £656,000).
- Hungary priest gets on skateboard: A Hungarian Catholic priest who preaches the Lord’s word from a skateboard has become a YouTube sensation.
Add comment August 19, 2010
Youth Ministry Links
Some links from the world of youth work and youth ministry:
- Music industry looks beyond music sales: One in five pounds collected by record labels last year, wasn’t actually related to music sales.
- Teen sex has no effect on school performance: Research presented at the American Sociological Association conference suggests that if students have sex within a committed relationship, there is no resulting effect on grades. However, if students simply “hook up” and have casual sex, their grades do tend to be lower.
- ‘Only children’ are not socially disadvantaged, research suggests: Children who grow up without brothers or sisters are just as adept in social situations as their peers, according to a new study.
- Wear wristwatch? Use e-mail? Not for Class of ’14: These are among the 75 items on this year’s Beloit College Mindset List, the compilation, is assembled each year by two officials at this private school of about 1,400 students in Beloit, Wis. The list is meant to remind teachers that cultural references familiar to them might draw blank stares from college freshmen born mostly in 1992.
- A fifth of girls pregnant by 18, survey reveals: Almost one in five girls say they have been pregnant at least once by the age of 18, according to a Government survey.
- Fall in drug use among schoolchildren: Biggest decline in smoking, where number of 11- to 15-year-olds who had smoked has fallen to 29%, from 54% in 1982. Fewer schoolchildren are smoking, drinking or taking drugs, according to an NHS report which contradicts the widespread belief that such behaviour is increasingly popular with young people.
- iPods and MP3 players ‘linked to teenage deafness’: The number of teenagers experiencing hearing problems has gone up by nearly a third in the last 20 years, it is claimed. Between 2005 and 2006, one in five adolescents suffered some form of hearing loss, the study found.
Add comment August 19, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
Ministers launch investigation into special needs: Ministers have launched a formal inquiry into children with special needs amid concerns that the numbers being diagnosed have shot up in recent years.
A fifth of girls pregnant by 18, survey reveals: Almost one in five girls say they have been pregnant at least once by the age of 18, according to a Government survey.
Fall in drug use among schoolchildren: Biggest decline in smoking, where number of 11- to 15-year-olds who had smoked has fallen to 29%, from 54% in 1982. Fewer schoolchildren are smoking, drinking or taking drugs, according to an NHS report which contradicts the widespread belief that such behaviour is increasingly popular with young people.
One in five pupils receive wrong Sats grade: As many as one in five pupils are given the wrong grade in some Sats papers due to inconsistent marking, according to a study by the exams watchdog.
Sharp fall in pupils expelled from school: Dramatic drop in school exclusions prompts claims that problems students are being passed from school to school
Summer-born children ‘lag behind at school’: Summer-born children are more likely to fail their exams, be victimised by bullies and have special needs, according to a study.
Sats row as four-in-10 children ‘fail’ tests: Around four-in-10 children are expected to start secondary school in September without a proper grasp of the basics.
Who will advise young people if Connexions goes?: There is still no sign of what will replace Connexions when it has been decimated by cuts
Youth unemployment rising in most regions: TUC argues young people were hit hard by the recession and their outlook could darken as public sector job losses mount
Pupils do better at school if teachers are not fixated on test results: Institute of Education study finds exam performance improves if students concentrate on learning rather than grades
Universities chief declares death of “gap year” and proposes “bridging year” instead: The era of the traditional gap year is over and students should abandon plans to see the world before going to university, the head of the admissions body has warned.
3,500 straight A students ‘to miss university’: As many as 3,500 students with straight A grades at A-level face missing out on university, a Government minister has warned.
BT receives 24,000 applications for 220 apprenticeships: Telecoms group BT has received more than 100 applications for each of its apprenticeship places this year
Local authorities and schools losing track of children, claims Ofsted: Survey of 15 LEAs by education watchdog reveals none of them are confident they know about all children living in their area
A-level pass rate rises to 97.6%: A-level pass rates today rose to another record high of 97.6% while an unprecedented 27% of entries achieved an A, in results which will sharpen the intense battle for places at university this year.
A-level results: Gender gap narrowing: Boys are catching up with girls as the gulf between the sexes reaches its narrowest point in almost a decade.
Add comment August 19, 2010
Funny stories from around the world
Some funny and interesting headlines from around the world:
- UK scrambles to keep ‘dozen eggs’: UK officials say they will defend food producers’ right to label groceries by number, amid fears that the EU may consign “a dozen” eggs to history.
- Marilyn Monroe X-rays auctioned: A set of three X-rays of Marilyn Monroe’s chest taken during a 1954 hospital visit sells for $45,000 (£29,900) in Las Vegas.
- Wonder Woman gets trendy makeover: After a radical makeover, super hero Wonder Woman dons a trendy new outfit in issue 600 of the iconic monthly comic book series
- Brazil’s Christ statue re-opened: Brazil’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue above Rio de Janeiro is put back on show after a $4 million renovation.
- Scientists work on car for blind: US scientists aim present a prototype car for blind drivers in 2011, using sensors to indicate turns in the road via vibrating gloves.
- Buffett gives charities $1.93bn: The billionaire investor Warren Buffett donates shares worth $1.93bn to five charitable foundations.
- World Cup replica made of cocaine: Laboratory tests confirm that a replica World Cup trophy found by police at a Colombian airport is made out of cocaine.
- US airline ‘loses Israeli guns’: Four guns belonging to security guards accompanying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington disappear in transit.
- WI lands £1m record deal to ‘jam’: The Women’s Institute is mounting an assault on the music charts after signing a £1m record deal.
- Cleaner returns $50,000 lost cash: A Pakistani hotel attendant gains recognition after handing in more than $50,000 (£33,000) in cash left behind by a guest, reports Syed Shoaib Hasan.
- Drunk Australian rides crocodile: A drunk man in Australia survives being bitten by a huge salt water crocodile after he climbed into its enclosure and tried to ride it.
- German motorway hosts huge party: Cities in the German Ruhr area throw a huge party on the region’s busiest motorway after closing it to normal traffic
- Sidney clinches snail world title: Sidney the snail hits a top speed of 0.003mph to take the world championship defeating all-comers in Norfolk.
- Model of supersonic car unveiled: The British team hoping to drive a car faster than 1,000mph unveils a full-scale model of the vehicle at the Farnborough air show.
- Second henge found at Stonehenge: Archaeologists discover a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find at the site in 50 years.
Add comment July 23, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- University clearing places ‘to be cut’: Thousands of students face being left without degree courses as universities are forced to slash the number of places available through the traditional clearing system.
- Government to introduce ‘school Olympics’: The coalition Government is pledging to create an annual school Olympic-style games as part of a drive to bring competitive sport back to the playground.
- Parents warned over exam binge drinking: Parents have been accused of fuelling binge drinking among their children by purchasing alcohol for end-of-exam celebrations.
- Ucas to review university admission points system: The university admissions system is to be overhauled amid fears that the practice of scoring applicants’ qualifications has become outdated, and is being wrongly used by employers to recruit graduates.
- England’s exams chief resigns over Gove’s plans: The head of England’s exams regulator has resigned. Kathleen Tattersall, chairwoman of Ofqual, said she was stepping down “with immediate effect”.
- Building Schools for the Future plans to be scrapped: Michael Gove, the education secretary, postpones plans to rebuild more than 700 schools across Conservative constituencies.
- AS-levels dropped to revive ‘deep thought’: Education secretary Michael Gove wants to limit the modularisation of A-levels and scrap AS-levels
- Tory MP spurns ‘Oxbridge types’: The new Tory MP for Harlow plans to hire an apprentice instead of getting a free ‘posh’ researcher
- Warning as quarter of schools boycott Sats: The Coalition risked a fresh clash with teachers by vowing to press ahead with Sats tests next year.
- Teachers to get new powers over troublemakers: Teachers will be handed tough powers to search pupils for alcohol, drugs and mobile phones in a Government crackdown on bad behaviour.
- Gap-year students choose jobs over jollies: School leavers are getting serious, says Christopher Middleton.
Add comment July 8, 2010
Funny stories from around the world
Some funny and interesting headlines from around the world:
- Brown gives goods to charity shop: A charity shop in Fife is overwhelmed by interest after Gordon Brown donates some family possessions.
- Police guard bank left unlocked: Officers are called in to guard a HSBC bank in Hampshire after its door was left unlocked with no staff inside.
- World Cup trophy ‘not solid gold’: A chemistry professor says that if the World Cup trophy were really solid gold it would be too heavy for footballers to lift.
- Legal threat to water fight plan: People planning to participate in a water fight in Battersea Park are being warned to stay away or face prosecution.
- Customer leaves cabbie £250K tip: A Cornish taxi driver is £250,000 better off thanks to the will of a grateful customer.
- TV star Dec misses England goal: TV star Declan Donnelly is one of thousands of football fans in London to miss England’s all-important World Cup goal after a power cut.
- ‘I’m with stupid’ Tornado prank: A prank by an RAF Tornado crew spotted flying with a sign saying “I’m with stupid” is laughed off by the MoD.
- Amputee cat given ‘bionic feet’: A cat that had its back feet severed by a combine harvester has been fitted with prosthetic feet in a pioneering operation.
Add comment June 26, 2010
Marriage proposal in sewer is a success
It’s not the most romantic spot for a marriage proposal but it’s one that worked for Steven Sparks – the 41-year-old got down on one knee in front of girlfriend Carolyn Payne during a trip to Victorian sewers.
And the 29-year-old said ‘yes’ in front of her clapping fellow tour-goers despite the unusual surroundings. ‘Anyone can get engaged at the Eiffel Tower or over a candlelit dinner but this was unique,’ said Mr Sparks. ‘The only downside was I was paranoid that I would drop the diamond ring down the drain.’
Ms Payne said: ‘The tour guide asked, “Has anyone got any questions?”. ‘Steven said, “Yes, I’ve got a question for Carolyn”. That’s when the penny dropped. ‘People don’t associate sewers with romance but it was very meaningful for me.’
The couple, from Brighton, said the wedding would be above ground despite the scene of their proposal in the town.
Via: Metro
Add comment June 26, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Are breakfast clubs under threat?: Breakfast clubs are a lifeline for children who come to school hungry. But will the new government continue to support them?
- Home computers ‘harm children’s test results’: Parents who buy computers for their children may be damaging their exam results, according to new research.
- Brightest pupils ‘need more support in school’: Bright children could be missing out in the classroom as education policies focus on “overcoming social disadvantage”, according to a leading head teacher.
- More students ‘opting for vocational courses’: Record numbers of teenagers are opting for practical courses such as construction and tourism to secure jobs in the recession, according to research.
- Warning over school ‘drinking culture’: Researchers have warned of a “drinking culture” in schools with large numbers of white, middle-class children.
- Chair of Ofsted resigns: The chair of the education and children’s social services inspectorate Ofsted Zenna Atkins has resigned, fuelling speculation that ministers plan significant changes at the organisation.
- Michael Gove lists the schools that could become academies: The names of 1,700 schools that have asked the government about becoming academies was published by the department for education today.
Add comment June 25, 2010
Funny stories from around the world
Some funny and useful stories from around the world:
- Boys ‘prefer cars from early on’: Research suggests that girls naturally prefer dolls and boys cars from as young as nine months old.
- Washington’s $300,000 book fine: A New York library discovers two unreturned books checked out by George Washington that have accrued some $300,000 in fines for being 220 years late.
- Super-rich ‘become richer again’: The UK’s super-rich saw a resurgence in their fortunes during the past 12 months, the Sunday Times Rich List suggests.
- Chocolate ‘linked to depression’: People who eat chocolate regularly are more depressive, experts discover.
- Hole-in-one triumph for woman, 90: A 90-year-old woman says she is “amazed” and “stunned” to have hit a hole-in-one on her local course near Bradford.
- Banksy gives band £200k painting ‘in apology for stealing their name’: Banksy, the graffiti artist, gave a £200,000 painting to a band after he accidentally “stole” their name as the title to his new film, Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Add comment May 15, 2010
Education and schools work update
Some headlines from the world of education and schoolswork:
Headteachers could have pay docked if they boycott tests: Primary school governors told they can punish principals who refuse to fulfil ‘professional and moral duty’.
Watching TV ‘makes toddlers less intelligent’: Parents, beware CBeebies: watching television makes toddlers fatter and stupider at primary school, according to new research.
Exam time: Hold your tongue, breathe – or leave: Parents should give teens space during exams, advises Marianne Kavanagh.
Left-handed children ‘struggling at school’: Thousands of left-handed schoolchildren are struggling in the classroom because of a failure to meet their needs, according to experts.
Sats boycott ‘to hit up to half of schools’: Sats tests for thousands of schoolchildren will be thrown into chaos next week as head teachers across England stage a mass boycott of exams.
General Election 2010: More freedom for schools, no matter who wins: Schools will be given more power to control their affairs under one of the biggest overhauls of state education in a generation.
Add comment May 6, 2010
Baby boy survives abortion
A disturbing headline from The Telegraph yesterday: Baby boy survives for nearly two days after abortion:
A baby boy abandoned by doctors to die after a botched abortion was found alive nearly a day later. The 22-week infant died one day later in intensive care at a hospital in the mother’s home town of Rossano in southern Italy.
The mother, pregnant for the first time, had opted for an abortion after prenatal scans suggested that her baby was disabled. However, the infant survived the procedure, carried out on Saturday in the Rossano Calabro hospital, and was left by doctors to die.
He was discovered alive the following day – some 20 hours after the operation – by Father Antonio Martello, the hospital chaplain, who had gone to pray beside his body. He found that the baby, wrapped in a sheet with his umbilical cord still attached, was moving and breathing. The priest raised the alarm and doctors immediately arranged for the infant to be taken to a specialist neo-natal unit at the neighbouring Cosenza hospital, where he died on Monday morning.
Italian police are investigating the case for “homicide” because infanticide is illegal in Italy. The law means that doctors have had an obligation to try to preserve the life of the child once he had survived the abortion. The Italian government is also considering an inquiry into the conduct of the hospital staff.
Add comment April 29, 2010
Foreign Office apologises for Pope ‘condom’ memo
I can’t believe the story in the Sunday Telegraph tomorrow: Ministers apologise for condom insult to Pope. The Government has apologised to the Vatican over official documents that mocked his forthcoming visit to Britain by suggesting he should bless a gay marriage and even launch Papal-branded condoms. The ideas in the paper didn’t seem to seriously plan an itinerary, but instead just went to extremes.
The proposals, which were then circulated among key officials in Downing Street and Whitehall, also include the Pope opening an abortion ward; spending the night in a council flat in Bradford; doing forward rolls with children to promote healthy living; and even performing a duet with the Queen.
In reference to the hugely sensitive issue of child abuse engulfing the Catholic Church, the Government document suggests that the Pope should take a “harder line on child abuse – announce sacking of dodgy bishops” and “launch helpline for abused children”.
The document was sent out by a junior Foreign Office civil servant with a covering note admitting that some of the plans were “far-fetched”.
Recipients of the memo were furious at its content and an investigation was launched. One senior official was found responsible and has been transferred to other duties.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, was “appalled” to hear of the proposals, according to a source close to him, and blamed “a colossal failure of judgement” by officials involved.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK Government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful. The text was not cleared or shown to Ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn from circulation. The individual responsible has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and has accepted this view. The Foreign Office very much regrets this incident and is deeply sorry for the offence which it has caused.”
Add comment April 24, 2010
Education and schools work update
A round up of headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Labour has failed to reduce ‘Neets’, say MPs: The number of school-leavers without a job or education place has failed to drop under Labour, despite a raft of high-profile reforms, according to MPs.
- Video game and cartoons used to shock school children about violence: Primary school children are being shown images from the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto in a project designed to prevent them from becoming violent.
- Inspectors give wrong ratings to schools: Three schools judged to be “inadequate” by Ofsted were later told that they were actually “outstanding”, in a move which has raised concerns over the quality of inspections.
- Selective schools not more socially exclusive, says study: Top comprehensive schools are more socially exclusive than selective grammar schools, according to a major study.
- Disadvantaged pupils learn faster in weekend schools: Children from disadvantaged homes learn faster if they have attended supplementary Saturday or Sunday morning schools, according to a government study.
- Home tutors reject ‘intrusive’ child safety database: Hundreds of thousands of teachers are refusing to register for the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s vetting scheme.
- Headteachers vote to boycott Sats tests: Two biggest teaching unions – NUT and NAHT – to take action against tests due to be sat by 600,000 children in May.
Add comment April 16, 2010
Education and schools work update
More headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Pupils humiliating teachers in interviews: Union considers industrial action to stop pupils’ questions that include: ‘if you could be on Britain’s Got Talent, what would your talent be?’
- Headteachers to vote on Sats boycott: Ministers are heading for a collision with headteachers over a threatened boycott of national tests for 10- and 11-year-olds.
- MPs warn over ‘shocking decline’ of school trips: Traditional school trips are in “shocking” decline because of fears over health and safety, lack of funding and bureaucratic rules tying teachers to the classroom, according to MPs.
- Schools should open at weekends, say Tories: Schools should operate 10-hour days and open at weekends to give children extra tuition in the three-Rs, music and sport, according to the Conservatives.
- Working class boys let down by ‘lack of male role models’: Traditional working class values are being eroded as children increasingly look up to highly-paid footballers, pop stars and celebrities, according to teachers.
- Smacking to be outlawed in all schools: The government promises to close a legal loophole that means it is still legal for private tutors and teachers in Sunday schools and madrasas to smack pupils [I still can't believe this loophole hadn't been closed down years ago - I know we'd never allow that to happen in our Sunday school]
- Primary teachers ‘most at risk of assault’: Primary school teachers are more than twice as likely to be assaulted by pupils than their colleagues in secondary schools.
- Hundreds of heads and church leaders oppose sex lessons for seven-year-olds: Compulsory sex education in primary schools will erode moral standards and encourage sexual experimentation, a group of hundreds of head teachers, school governors and faith leaders say.
- Parents struggle to help with homework: Five out of six parents find helping with homework too difficult.
Add comment April 6, 2010
Youth Ministry Links
Some links from the world of youth ministry and youth work:
- Facebook threatens to sue Daily Mail: Social networking site fears reputation permanently damaged by false claim that it let older men pressure teenage girls for sex.
- Teenage boys take risks ‘for the thrill’: a study suggests teenagers take more risks than adults simply because they enjoy the thrill.
- Survey on women in youth ministry – your views needed!: if you’re a woman in youth ministry then do go and fill it in.
- “When and Where” Relational Youth Ministry Business Cards: business cards to use with young people and leaders alike.
- Teens are Like Mobile Phone Batteries: great guest post on Morethandodgeball by Jarrod Newton
- How to Botch an Altar Call: crucial post by Allen Atzbi.
- Stronger Together?: critical post by Kyle Morris – something I’m reflecting on a lot at the moment – how do we practically become more united across a town, not just saying some nice airy fairy things about each other.
- Do you need a digital sabbath?: a challenging and helpful post from Andrew Burden
- The Spirituality of Physical Health: Matthew McNutt writes a post I needed to hear, my weight is increasing and my exercise is gradually decreasing – need to swap that back over.
- Top 9 Mistakes Made By Youth Pastors: a honest review by Jeremey Zach
- Parents find faith via their children – A Sunday school launched at a church near Petersfield has been life-changing – for parents as well as children. (Via: Jon Jolly)
Add comment April 6, 2010
Funny stories from around the world
Some funny and interesting headlines from around the world:
- Child ‘directed NY airport jets’: US officials are investigating how a child was apparently allowed to direct planes at New York’s JFK airport in February.
- Kilted skiers set ‘world record’: A ski centre sets the record for the largest number of kilted skiers and snowboarders on a slope at the same time.
- Weddings plan for former prison: Plans are submitted for a former prison, which has also been a munitions factory, to host weddings.
- Crime gang’s 4×4 now police car: A £40,000 car which had belonged to Glasgow criminals is now being used by the police in the fight against serious crime.
- Nuclear bunker sold for £20,600: A decommissioned nuclear bunker in a field in Derbyshire has sold for £20,600 in an online eBay auction.
- Hugging pair break world record: A pair of embracing students from Greater Manchester break the world record for the longest hug.
- Mafia suspect trapped by Facebook: Italian police use social networking site Facebook to track and trap one of the country’s most-wanted mafia fugitives.
- ‘Scout woggles banned’ in Harrods: A scout group say they were turned away from the Harrods store after refusing to removes their neckerchiefs and woggles.
- Car in £300,000 insurance claim: Repairs to a supercar damaged when a test drive went wrong near Aberdeen are set to cost an insurance firm £300,000.
Add comment April 2, 2010
Apology for Oscar Romero’s murder
Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, was assassinated on March 24 1980. He is someone who has inspired me. has challenged me in the way that he tirelessly and fearlessly campaigned for the poor, for those whose rights were quashed in the civil war. In 1980, as he finished giving his homily during Mass, Romero was assassinated.
Today, El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes has issued an official apology for the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero by a right-wing death squad 30 years ago. “I am seeking pardon in the name of the state,” Mr Funes said as he unveiled a mural honouring Oscar Romero at El Salvador’s international airport.
This seems a good step in acknowledging truth. In 1993 a United Nations-sponsored truth commission concluded the archbishop’s assassination was carried out by a death squad under the orders of Roberto D’Aubuisson, a former army officer who died in 1992. He founded the Nationalist Republican Alliance, or Arena Party, which governed El Salvador from 1989 until 2009.
No-one has ever been convicted in connection with Archbishop Romero’s murder.
Add comment March 25, 2010
Youth Ministry Links
Some headlines useful in the world of youth work and ministry:
- Alcohol industry is ‘targeting young people’: The alcohol industry is sidestepping advertising rules by targeting young people, implying that drinking will bring friends and fun, and making light of drunkenness, according to an analysis for the British Medical Journal.
- Young are the most at risk for online fraud: Young people are most at risk from online fraud, according to two surveys.
- American teen girls feel pressure to be thin: Almost nine in 10 American teenage girls say they feel pressured by the fashion and media industries to be skinny and that an unrealistic, unattainable image of beauty has been created.
- Teenage girls eat less healthy food than any other group, survey reveals: Teenage girls eat more unhealthily than any other group in the population, UK government research has revealed. Despite multimillion-pound government initiatives to encourage us all to eat more healthily, obesity levels in the UK are broadly unchanged from a decade ago.
- Fame the career choice for half of 16-year-olds : More than half of teenagers do not want a career – they just want to be famous, and more than a fifth plan to reach their goal by appearing on a reality TV show, the poll of 1,000 UK 16-year-olds shows.
- Study sheds light on ‘teenage night owl syndrome’: Teenagers are going to sleep later and may be underperforming in class because they’re not getting enough bright light in the morning, researchers say. Better school lighting may help.
- Media is fuelling eating disorders, say psychiatrists: The Royal College of Psychiatrists is calling on the media to stop promoting unhealthy body images and “glamorising” eating disorders.
- Lads’ magazines should be restricted to curb sexualisation of children: Home Office study says lads’ magazines such as Zoo and Nuts should be made top shelf and have age restrictions on sale.
Add comment March 1, 2010
The National Bullying Helpline
What a crazy week for bullying charities. Christine Pratt the Chief Exec of the National Bullying Helpline decided to wade into the issue of bullying at No 10 Downing Street breaking all kinds of confidentiality. Her ill thought through remarks could have identified those people at No 10 Downing Street who had contacted her charity. This then led to the patrons of the charity resigning and the charity itself suspending business.
This all leaves me with a number of concerns
- A clear breach of confidentiality has happened which could have identified those people at No 10 Downing Street who had contacted her charity.
- The blaming of other bullying charities for being in competition with the National Bullying Helpline. Firstly this seems irrelevant – who cares if there are other charities helping to deal with bullying, and secondly, many of them are dealing with different types of bullying, for example, Bullying UK, deal with school bullying.
- Her claims will no doubt have put other people off from disclosing their problems with being bullied.
- Christine Pratt is now being represented by Max Clifford, I hope that this story doesn’t rumble on, and more importantly that other information and data from the Helpline is published – we don’t need any more breaches of confidentiality – enough damage has been done.
Add comment February 27, 2010
