Teachers
Flee Leaving 80 Children to Die in School Fire
Teachers
fled leaving more than 80 children to die when fire engulfed a
school in southern India today.
The
blaze started in a kitchen and jumped across the thatch roofs
of a school building as the teachers ran away, local officials
said.
Dozens
of small, blackened bodies with skeletal limbs – piled two
or three deep – covered the entire floor inside a large
room of the three storey, private Lord Krishna Middle School in
Kumbakonam, in Tamil Nadu state.
It
was packed with 800 pupils – most of them aged six to 13
– when the fire erupted, said J Radhakrishnan, the district
administrator. He said no teachers were killed, only children.
“As
far as we can make out, the fire started in the kitchen of the
school on the ground floor,” he said. “The sparks
flying up would have set fire to the thatched roof on the first
floor.”
Police
arrested the school principal, Pulavar Palanichamy, and intended
to charge him with negligence leading to death. More...
RC
Church reveals 'abuse' figures
An average of one priest every week was accused last year of sexual
abuse against a child, the Roman Catholic Church in England and
Wales has said.
Out of 52 priests accused of sexual abuse, none has been prosecuted,
one has been dismissed and one resigned.
The
Catholic Office for the Protection of Children (COPCA) report
said 5,000 criminal record checks were made.
It
said the Church had begun its journey to make itself as safe as
possible for children. More....
Pupils
'ignore obesity warnings'
Children
are bypassing the school canteen salad bar and scoffing chips
instead, Government research shows.
Reports
from the Department for Education and Skills, education watchdog
Ofsted and the Food Standards Agency showed youngsters are ignoring
warnings about obesity and the need to eat healthy food.
Instead,
most teenagers would rather eat high fat food than salads for
lunch, their data showed. More...
Fear
on nursery care forces rethink
Madeleine
Bunting
Thursday July 8, 2004
The Guardian
The
government is reconsidering its strategy on childcare in the face
of mounting evidence that day nurseries for children under two
can lead to increased incidence of antisocial behaviour and aggression.
Ministers
also fear a public backlash against putting pressure on mothers
to get back to work, and are shifting tack to put an extension
of paid maternity leave ahead of pledges to boost childcare provision.
Margaret
Hodge, the minister for children, is widely expected today to
announce extending paid maternity leave from six months to one
year. More....
“DON'T
PANIC!” SAYS NCMA
NCMA
joined other childcare organisations today in regretting the sensationalist
messages which hit the news about babies, toddlers and childcare.
Gill
Haynes, Chief Executive, said: “Many
parents must be feeling concerned today, hearing the message about
childcare damaging their babies. But our message is ‘don't
panic!’. This debate about what’s good for babies
and toddlers is long overdue – but it gives us a chance
to explain to parents the much better range of options they have
today as a result of five years of government investment and research.
It gives us at NCMA the opportunity to bring parents up to date
with what modern registered childminding is really like. As a
result of this government’s actions, childminding is now
regulated – like nurseries – by Ofsted. There is now
mandatory training for all childminders, and NCMA quality assurance
schemes like NCMA Children Come First childminding networks are
now a key part of the childcare landscape.”
Penelope
Leach, NCMA's President, says: “Today's
modern childminders are a great option for parents who need childcare,
especially when their children are very young. I hope that childminders
will be built into core services of all future Children’s
Centres – offering parents a real choice – including
flexibility, quality, and care for the baby’s older brother
too!”
Smacking
ban campaign continues
Parents could be prosecuted if they cause 'actual bodily harm'
Campaigners opposed to smacking children have vowed to fight on
after peers rejected an outright ban.
On Monday the Lords voted for a compromise measure that only bans
parents from hitting their children if it causes lasting harm.
The
government opposes a ban and had told Labour peers not to back
one.
But
senior Labour MP David Hinchliffe said 100 backbenchers and a
"significant" number of ministers wanted smacking outlawed
altogether. More...
Schoolchildren
to be RFID-chipped
The
rights and wrongs of RFID-chipping human beings have been debated
since the tracking tags reached the technological mainstream.
Now, school authorities in the Japanese city of Osaka have decided
the benefits outweigh the disadvantages and will now be chipping
children in one primary school.
The tags will be read by readers installed in school gates and
other key locations to track the children’s movements.
The chips will be put onto children’s schoolbags, name tags
or clothing in one Wakayama prefecture school.
Denmark's
Legoland introduced a similar scheme last month to stop young
children going astray.
RFID is more commonly found in supermarket and other retailers'
supply chains, however, companies are now seeking more innovative
ways to derive value from the tracking technology. US airline
Delta recently announced it would be using RFID to track travellers'
luggage.
Escape
from a terrible place
Gethin Chamberlain
THERE is a small boy, no more than six years old, clutching a
rolled-up rug whose length is three times the height of his body.
His arms are wrapped around the rug, the end of which sways backwards
and forwards as he tries to push it upwards towards the roof of
the bus parked in the sand on the edge of the town of Tine.
The
boy tries again, but he is too small and weak to lift the heavy
rug. Two of his friends join him, pushing from the sides, and
the end rises perhaps six inches. But they cannot hold it, and
slowly it begins to topple, until it crashes to the ground as
the boys jump clear and a cloud of dust rises into the air. The
first boy loops both hands through the piece of string tied around
the centre of the rug, and starts to haul it towards the back
of the bus. more..
Border
smugglers recruiting teenagers
LAREDO -- Criminal gangs are increasingly recruiting adolescents
and children as young as 14 to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants
into the United States from northeast Mexico, law enforcement
authorities say.
Prosecutors
in Laredo say recent cases include one involving a 14-year-old
girl apprehended with cocaine as she crossed one of the four bridges
linking the city with Mexico.
In
another case, a 15-year-old boy was caught driving undocumented
migrants across the border.
"We
are seeing an increase in juveniles as young as 14 smuggling people
and narcotics over the Rio Grande. These kids see the ability
to earn money, and they think that it's an easy option,"
said Alan Robbins, assistant border patrol agent in charge of
the Laredo North Station.
Prison
gangs in the United States with ties to criminal networks in Mexico's
Tamaulipas state are often behind the rise in juvenile crime.
In Tamaulipas, criminal activity is linked to drug smuggling groups
affiliated with the so-called Gulf Cartel.
No
figures for the number of juveniles detained at the border were
immediately available. But police and jailers say the growing
trend to use youngsters is leading to a boom in youth crime in
both Texas and Tamaulipas.
Police
in Laredo say they have recorded a 30 percent leap in juvenile
crime each year for the last two years.
Drug
trafficking offenses carry lengthy sentences for adults in both
the United States and Mexico, but prosecutors say gangs are exploiting
the fact that minors are generally given short sentences.
Houston
Chronicle
22
child death convictions reviewed by Crown Office
THE
cases of 22 child killers in Scotland, including the killing of
Edinburgh baby Caleb Ness, have been investigated by the Crown
Office in an unprecedented review of prosecutions.
It
comes after a wide-ranging inquiry into child deaths in England
where defendants, usually mothers, were convicted on the back
of controversial evidence. There is increasing concern among lawyers
that the courts have relied on discredited medical theory which
has seen a number of innocent parents jailed for murder.
more
New
Director for Leeds
Leeds
Social Services, the second largest metropolitan department in
England and Wales is getting a new Director of Social Services.
Rosemary
Archer replaces Keith Murray who retired in April after 24 years
with the department.
Rosemary
began work in social services in 1974 in a day centre for people
with learning difficulties. She gained a social work diploma,
but also resumed study in 1978 to get a degree and MBA with the
OU over the following ten years.
She
moved to Hampshire Social Services in 1982 where she was involved
in developing community care services for adults and older people.
In 1993, she became assistant director responsible for all social
services in that area. Rosemary came to North Yorkshire in 1996
to be Director of Social Services.
Rosemary
Archer takes up her new job as Director of Leeds Social Services
on July 1st 2004.
Youth
crime team rated best in UK
A team dedicated to reducing youth crime is celebrating being
named as the best in the country. West Berkshire Youth Offending
Team (YOT) has been ranked top of the nationwide performance tables
for the first four months of 2004.
The team is staffed by around 40 workers and volunteers.
The YOT deal with around 200 young criminals each year with the
aim of preventing them re-offending. Their success rate is 82%.
The team works closely with young people, drawing on information
and expertise from police, probation, health, social services
and education.
Many are given a “final warning” by police —
after which the YOT works to see they stay out of trouble.
Davy Pearson, YOT team manager at West Berkshire Council, said:
“It is very satisfying for the work of the team to be recognised”.
“The success of the team relates to a firm belief in the
ability to change behaviour”.
“We have shown that this is possible and that working in
this way can achieve the long term benefits needed to make a real
difference.” more
'Grand
theft auto' strikes Kiddieland
Thieves drive off with miniature
vehicles from kids' ride
CARTHAGE, Mo. - Christmas
is long past, but area children who go to Carthage Kiddieland
will find that some Grinch was there first.
The
children's car ride has three empty spaces after someone stole
some of the little vehicles from a storage shed at Kiddieland
in Carthage Municipal Park. more
Youth
offender institution guards 'laid bets on fights in cells'
An investigation has begun into claims that prison officers at
a young offenders' institution put black and white youths in the
same cell and then placed bets on when they would start fighting.
Guards at Feltham Young Offender Institution — already being
investigated over the racist murder of an inmate by his cell companion
— are also said to have placed “unsuitable”
inmates together, such as someone with a history as a victim of
sexual abuse and another on remand for sex charges, according
to reports in The Sun newspaper.
A “Feltham insider” told the newspaper that a handful
of officers had allegedly been involved in the game, which was
called “Gladiators” or “Colosseum”. more
Study
reveals children in care problems
Almost half of all children in care in Scotland have a mental
disorder, according to official figures. The Office for National
Statistics (ONS) found 45% of those aged five to 17 years looked
after by Scottish councils had a mental illness.
Of those with a problem 38% had significant conduct disorders,
16% had emotional disorders, anxiety and depression and 10% were
hyperactive.
The Scottish Executive survey was the first to look at the issue
in Scotland.
The study compared the health of children in residential care,
foster care, those living with their birth parents and those living
independently under local authority supervision. more
