1 in 4 young people unable to cope with the impacts of the pandemic 

  • Young people are in danger of giving up on their futures and on themselves, with a quarter saying they feel unable to cope with life, one of the UK’s leading charities has said
  • The Prince’s Trust’s long-running annual survey of young people’s happiness and confidence returned the worst findings in its 12-year history
  • “The pandemic has taken a devastating toll on young people’s mental health and wellbeing,” said Jonathan Townsend, the rust’s UK Chief Executive
  • Half of the young people interviewed by YouGov for the trust’s 2020 Youth Index, carried out in partnership with Tesco, said current political and economic events had affected their mental health
  • More than half said they always or often felt anxious, rising to 64% among those not in work, education or training (Neet)
  • For the full story, select here

Social media platform Parler returns with Russian help

  • Parler, the social network popular with Donald Trump supporters and members of the far-right, has partially returned online with the help of a Russian-owned technology company
  • The network vanished from the internet after it was dropped by Amazon’s hosting arm and other partners over a lack of moderation, after its users called for violence and posted videos glorifying the attack on the US Capitol on the 6th January
  • On Monday, Parler’s website was reachable again, though only with a message from its Chief Executive, John Matze, saying he was working to restore functionality
  • The internet protocol (IP) address it used is owned by DDos-Guard, which is controlled by two Russian men and provides services including protection from distributed denial of service attacks, infrastructure expert Ronald Guilmette told Reuters
  • For the full story, select here

Parents’ stress and depression ‘rise during lockdowns’

  • Levels of stress, depression and anxiety among parents and carers have increased with the pressures of the lockdowns, suggests research from the University of Oxford
  • Issues include difficulty relaxing, feeling hopeless and being irritable.
  • Many parents, especially those of secondary-age pupils, say they are worried about their children’s futures
  • The government has said it is aware how challenging it is for parents to support children with home learning
  • For the full story, select here

Female child sex abuse ‘remains taboo’ while victims struggle

  • Victims of female child sexual abusers face “enormous stigma and shame”, according to police and charities
  • Figures from BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 show there were over 10,400 reports of this type of abuse from 2015 to 2019 – equivalent to an average of 40 a week
  • Experts say there is still a “lack of understanding” about the extent of such abuse
  • The UK government said it would not allow “any safe space for sex offenders to operate – male or female”
  • Between 2015 and 2019, the numbers of reported cases of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse to police in England and Wales rose from 1,249 to 2,297 – an increase of 84%
  • For the full story, select here