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The following are
summaries of recent news items culled from the media
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The stereotypical teenager - rebellious, insensitive and removed from family life - is a myth, according to a survey published today. Most, 59 per cent of the 2,500 teenagers questioned in England and Wales, said that unlike Kevin, the truculent and hostile youngster created by the comedian Harry Enfield, they enjoyed a good relationship with their parents and two thirds said they felt loved. Three quarters of the 11 to 16-year-olds said they could rely on parents for guidance, while two thirds said a happy childhood was dependent on their family being clear about right and wrong behaviour. Parents had to get on well together and try to listen and understand their children if they wanted them to lead a happy and stress-free adolescence, according to 70 per cent of respondents. But only a third of parents thought their own relationship was important to the happiness of their children. The Mori poll was conducted for the National Family and Parenting Institute to mark the launch of a leaflet to help parents deal with their teenage children. Mary MacLeod, NFPI chief executive, said the survey put paid to the rebellious and insensitive image of teenagers. She added: "These findings show how easy it is to stereotype teenagers. But teenagers are vulnerable and relationships do get strained. "Young people are especially sensitive to parental conflict. The results suggest that many parents underestimate how important their own relationship is to their children's happiness." Valerie Riches, director of Family and Youth Concern, said the findings indicated how exaggerated the negative view was of teenagers. "There is a period in adolescence when teenagers are tempted to break from the family," she said. "But one cannot underestimate
the strong bond between parent and child." |
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I'll expel violent
pupils for good, insists Blunkett The move is likely to blow apart targets set by Ministers for reducing the number of exclusions by a third by 2002. Education Secretary David Blunkett told headteachers that he was considering new regulations requiring independent appeals panels to exclude permanently children who had been violent, or had threatened serious violence. At the moment, the panels often insist the pupils are sent back to the same school. Mr Blunkett's move was seen as a significant concession to schools concerned that the Government's emphasis on being "inclusive" for disruptive pupils was placing staff and other children at risk. Mr Blunkett received warm applause when he told delegates at the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers, in St Helier, Jersey: "I am considering changing the regulations and guidance for independent appeals panels so that where there has been violence or the threat of severe violence, it is inappropriate for these youngsters to be thrust back into the same school from which they have been expelled." Appeals panels that continue to reinstate violent youngsters could be challenged by schools through the High Court. Earlier this week, the NAHT revealed how knife-wielding youngsters were reinstated in two London schools by appeals panels. In one case, panel members said the pupils deserved a "second chance" because it was a first offence. The union said it would issue advice to its members to defy the panels and refuse to take the children back, or to challenge the decisions legally. David Hart, the NAHT's general secretary, said that advice still stood despite Mr Blunkett's concessions. Mr Hart said he welcomed the Government's new position but he would have preferred the Minister to have withdrawn the targets he has set for reducing expulsions. "It is crucial that the violent child who is expelled continues to receive an appropriate education, in a pupil referral unit or special unit," he said. John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said: "We would want to see that any recommendations to appeals panels should recognise the interests of the other 29 children in the class as much as the interests of the excluded pupil." Also, as the row over the admission of state pupils to elite institutions raged on, Mr Blunkett said comprehensives had to do more to ensure their pupils had an equal chance with their privately-educated peers. This might involve giving interview practice to increase state pupils' self-esteem and get them used to the questions they are likely to be asked by universities, or working alongside independent schools. He said: "In some schools the raising of aspirations and expectations is as important as examination results. It is about ensuring that the children believe in themselves." One of the criticisms made of North-east state pupil Laura Spence, whose failure to get into Magdalen College, Oxford, sparked the controversy, was that she lacked self-confidence. June 2nd 2000 |
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TURKISH BOY, 15, 'ATTACKED BY RACISTS' Friday, June 02, 2000 22:32 A 15-year-old Turkish boy was slashed with a knife and pushed into a canal in what is being treated as a racist attack by police. Scotland Yard appealed for witnesses to the attack, which happened at 1pm on Thursday in Islington, north London, to come forward. The Turkish boy and his friend were approached by two white youths as they walked along the canal path on Wharf Road. The victim was pushed into the water by his attackers and was slashed on the top of his head with a knife as he tried to climb back on to the bank. He was later taken to Homerton Hospital for treatment. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We are treating the incident as a racial assault and would like to speak to anyone who was in the Wharf Road area who may have seen what happened." The first attacker was described as 16-17 years old, 5ft 11in tall, of medium build and with short brown hair. The second attacker was described as 16-18 years, 5ft 6in tall and skinny with short shaved blond hair. |
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Paedophiles exploit gap
in law Police officers from child protection units across England and Wales warn that the gap in the law means potentially dangerous offenders can slip through the net designed to safeguard the public. A call for the Government to act urgently to close the loophole will be made tomorrow at the Police Federation conference in Brighton. Under the Sex Offenders Act all those convicted or cautioned have to sign the sex offenders' register and have a duty to tell police where they are living. The precaution means that police have a record of known offenders which can be vital when children go missing. Serious offenders jailed for more than 30 months must register for life, while adults convicted of minor offences like kerb-crawling are put on for five years. But police have learned that in cases where the courts give relatively minor sex offenders a conditional or absolute discharge, they have no legal obligation to stay in contact with their local police. There are 10,000 sex offenders
registered in England and Wales but sources indicate that around
300 who should be on the list have disappeared.A Home Office
spokeswoman said the register was being evaluated to see if it
was working properly. "The issue of conditional discharges
is one we are looking at," she added. |
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TEACHER WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED OVER SAILING LESSON DEATH A teacher who led a boat trip on which a nine-year-old drowned
will not face criminal prosecution, it was announced today. Press Association Wednesday, May 10, 2000 |
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PARLIAMENT IN YOUTH JUSTICE PLEA Child welfare groups have urged
the Scottish Parliament to overhaul the country's youth justice
system by keeping young offenders out of prison. |
The DfEE has been holding preliminary discussions, with a view to the circulation of documents for consultation about national standards for the inspection of day services for young children. Up to now, it has been for each local authority to determine its own standards, but the DfEE has decided that OFSTED will run the whole system throughout England. The Department's intention is to establish core standards which apply to all areas of service, and then to draw up detailed specification based on the core standards but adapted to each type of provision. It is anticipated that the consultation documents will be made available in a couple of months time.
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COUPLE JAILED FOR NEGLECTING
CHILDREN A couple from Brighton have been jailed for child cruelty in one of the worst cases of neglect police say they have ever come across. The pair were cleared of murdering three children last year. Lewes Crown Court heard the family had lived in squalor, and the children were filthy and underfed. The mother was jailed for two and a half years and her partner for two years. Neither can be named for legal reasons. |
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After many months of waiting - presumably delayed by the establishment of the Scottish Parliament - it has been decided that of the two competing consortia, the one including the University of Strathclyde and the Residential Child Care Centre should run the training system for residential childcare workers in Scotland. This is good news, as the Centre has done much to put Scottish residential child care on a sound footing. In particular, Meg Lindsay has given the type of enthusiastic lead which the service needs to maintain its sense of momentum and morale. Appointments are now being made so that the consortium can get off the ground in two months' time. |
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