Three-year-olds ‘should be told how to stand up for their rights’

Three-year-olds ‘should be told how to stand up for their rights’
Children as young as three will be expected to stand up for their rights in a blueprint setting out 500 milestones for them to achieve. Next week, children’s minister Beverley Hughes will announce that she will press ahead with implementing the early years foundation stage.
The national blueprint for pre-school provision aims to ensure ‘consistent’ quality across all types of provider.
Formal daycare providers will have to comply and face Ofsted checks.
Source:- Daily Mail, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 52

ADHD: a myth?
The psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder has admitted that many may not really be ill. Dr Robert Spitzer said that up to 30 per cent of youngsters classified as suffering from disruptive and hyperactive conditions could have been misdiagnosed.
Source:- Daily Mail, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 28

Father who killed children while wife was away jailed for 35 years
A father who suffocated his two children and placed their bodies in a bath was jailed for life yesterday and told he would serve a minimum of 35 years before being considered for parole. Perry Samuel, 35, who suffers from bipolar disorder, killed Caitlin, five and Aiden, three, at the family home in Bodelwyddan, north Wales, in November last year.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 13

‘Drink-sodden soaps set bad example’
Television soaps broadcast before the watershed are “awash” with scenes featuring alcohol, a survey by the Food Commission has found.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 4

Children can be damaged by nursery stress
Sending children to nursery at a young age may cause long-term emotional problems, according to Michael Lamb, professor of psychology at Cambridge University.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 4

Folic acid to be added to bread to prevent babies being born with disabilities
The Food Standards Agency is poised to approve the addition of folic acid to bread in an attempt to stop hundreds of babies being born with serious disabilities each year.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 4

Tax system failing families, claims Cameron
In a speech to the Scottish Conservative conference in Perth, Mr Cameron said the Chancellor’s policies had “penalised marriage”. Many couples with children were better off if they split up.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 10

Beckhams’ £600K to charities
David and Victoria Beckham have given £600,000 to kids’ charities in four years, latest accounts show.
Source:- The Sun, Saturday 10 March 2007, page 16

Fast-track system for asylum-seekers leads to race attacks, police tell Reid
A scheme intended to speed up the asylum system is putting extra pressure on police, colleges and housing providers, the Home Office has been told.
Police say that a decision to process asylum-seekers with the weakest claims at a single immigration office has fuelled racial tension and encouraged crime.
John Reid, the home secretary, will tomorrow announce the new asylum model, an initiative to accelerate the processing of cases. Pilot schemes for the “fast-track” process began last year.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, 11 March 2007, page 4

Care provider 2nd best company in UK to work for
Care provider Sandwell Community Caring Trust is the second best company to work for in the UK, according to The Sunday Times.
Source:- Sunday Times, 11 March 2007, 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007 supplement

Alcohol-related illness in teens up 145 per cent in wake of 24-hour drinking
The number of teenagers receiving medical treatment after drinking binges has risen by nearly 15 per cent in the year the new 24-hour licensing laws were introduced.
Source:- Mail on Sunday, 11 March 2007, page 11

‘My sister was killed while the police did nothing’
Pioneering lawsuits brought under the Human Rights Act will subject police policy and practice against stalking and domestic violence to unprecedented scrutiny – and force the police to pay substantial damages if their policies are revealed to have failed.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 11 March 2007, page 10

Down’s syndrome actor given top billing
Mark Haddon, author of the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime, has written a drama thought to be the first British film or television production where the lead actor has Down’s syndrome. Tommy Jessop will play the role of Ben in Coming Down the Mountain, which the BBC began filming last week. It tells the story of the tensions caused in a family when they move home to be nearer the 17-year-old’s special school.
Source:- Sunday Times, 11 March 2007, page 5

Single parents soothed into jobs with massages on the taxpayer
The government is paying for unemployed single parents to have massages, beauty treatments and shopping sprees to “boost their confidence” and encourage them to attend job centre appointments.
The treats are part of a programme named Big Brother after the television show. The scheme is being offered in the northeast, Greater Manchester and Hereford and Worcester. It is open to single parents over 18 who have been unemployed or on disability benefit for six months; 1,000 women and some men are believed to have taken it up.
Source:- Sunday Times, 11 March 2007, page 7

Obese will be majority in 25 years
A majority of Britons will be obese within 25 years because so many people are leading such unhealthy lives, warns a new report commissioned by the government.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 11 March 2007, page 16

Ministers back family meals
An anti-obesity drive is launched this week.
Families’ failure to eat together has been identified by the Medical Research Council as a key factor stopping them from eating good, nutritious food. The finding is part of research to be unveiled at the start of a new healthy-living strategy targeted at parents of young children.
Source:- Independent on Sunday, 11 March 2007, page 35

Poker schools: worried head teachers call in Gamblers Anonymous
Gambling experts are being drafted in to public schools to stop pupils becoming hooked on betting.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, 11 March 2007, page 5

Angry response follows bid to ban photos in the park
Moves to ban the photographing of children in public places have provoked an angry backlash from campaigners.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, 11 March 2007, page 9

Mencap report on ‘shocking’ deaths sparks inquiry
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced an independent inquiry into allegations that six patients with learning difficulties died in NHS hospitals due to institutional discrimination.
The cases were revealed in a report by charity Mencap, and included a 43-year-old man who went without food for 26 days after suffering a stroke, and a 26-year-old denied treatment for cancer because she would be uncooperative.
The Healthcare Commission is already investigating the cases and said there would be an immediate review to identify any “common themes”, though the government’s inquiry would be separate to this.
Source:- The Independent, Monday 12 March 2007, page 8

Thousands face pay cut under new equality law
Hundreds of thousands of men working in the the public sector are facing salary cuts of up to £15,000 a year as equal pay agreements take effect.
Source:- The Times, Monday 12 March 2007, page 1

Fat pupils on fish oils make a mental leap
Fatty acids can help children in exams and improve their behaviour in class and at home, a study suggests.
Source:- The Times, Monday 12 March 2007, page 24

Of mice and infuriating teenagers
Scientists believe they have discovered the trigger that turns children into troublesome teenagers.
Source:- The Times, Monday 12 March 2007, page 25

Archbishop of Birmingham fights gay adoption law
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, has called on his flock to join a campaign against new gay rights laws.
Source:- The Times, Monday 12 March 2007, page 27

Travellers go to court over eviction to make way for Olympic village
Two groups of travellers are challenging plans to move them from their sites in east London to make way for the Olympic village for the 2012 games.
They will cite article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which guarantees respect for family life, in challenging the London Development Agency’s plans to move them to new sites.
Source:- The Guardian, Monday 12 March 2007, page 13

Scottish news

Children left ‘dangerously vulnerable’ in times of crisis due to lack of support
Children coping with the breakup up of traditional family life in Scotland are being left “dangerously vulnerable” because they have no support at times of crisis, according to a new study.
The authors of the Cool With Change report interviewed 361 young people between 10 and 14 years old about their experiences of family change.
The three-year study paints a worrying portrayal of young asylum seekers, whooften suffer racist abuse and feel isolated from other young people in their communities. The children also spoke about the trauma of losing a father or mother.
Source:- The Sunday Herald, 11 March 2007

Army cuts psychiatrists as mental health problems soar
The army has fewer than half of the psychiatrists it needs to cope with psychiatric casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Figures obtained by The Herald also show that the Ministry of Defence has reduced the manning requirement for psychiatrists from 25 in 2001 at the start of the “war on terror” to 15 last year as veterans reporting signs of anxiety and depression rose to more than 21,000.
Even with a reduced level, only six full-time psychiatrists were operational in 2006 and only 43 of the 53 mental health nurses needed had been recruited by the start of this year, according to the Army’s own manning records.
Source:- The Herald, Monday 12 March 2007

Welsh news

Valleys still suffer from ’80s unemployment’
The work and pensions secretary said he believes South Wales’ former mining valleys are still suffering from mass unemployment yesterday.
John Hutton said that the problem was a consequence of pit closures and the decline of heavy industry.
He was in Swansea and Cardiff to launch a report about the implications of the government’s new welfare to work plans for Wales.
Source:- Western Mail, Saturday 10 March 2007

Parents asked to tackle absenteeism by primary school pupils
The assembly education minister has called on councils, schools and parents to work together more to tackle absenteeism among pupils.
Jane Davidson said that she was concerned due to absenteeism in primary schools increasing during 2006.
Source:- South Wales Echo, Saturday 10 March 2007