Five crises facing children after 2 years of pandemic

  • Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in 2020, children’s physical and mental health, education and economic wellbeing have been put in jeopardy.

  • Five crises facing children have been identified including a rise in offline and online violence, worsening mental health, schools closing and a surge in poverty.
  • Save the Children claim that the impact of COVID-19 on children was downplayed at the start of the pandemic but have become “starkly apparent” two years on.
  • You can read the full story on Save the Children’s website.

Instagram’s Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps removed from app stores

  • Instagram has removed its standalone Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

  • The Boomerang app allowed users to create looping videos from photos and Hyperlapse allowed the creation of time-lapse videos.
  • This aims to consolidate all offerings into the main Instagram app, but Boomerang is still available inside Instagram Stories.
  • You can read the full story on The Verge’s website.

Millions of girls fall out of love with sports by teenage years

  • A study has shown that girls who used to be very sporty “fall out of love” with physical activity as teenagers.
  • The reasons for losing interest include body image, puberty, and fear of judgement.
  • Other reasons include feeling unsafe outdoors, schoolwork pressure, lack of confidence and feeling self-conscious when watched.
  • You can read the full story on BBC’s website.

‘Growing problem’ of people viewing sexual images of children in Staffordshire

  • More than 1,850 people in Staffordshire sought help from the Stop It Now! Helpline for those viewing and sharing child sexual abuse images in 2021.

  • Stop It Now! aims to educate those abusing, or at risk of abusing about the harm and consequences of their behaviour and to help them stop.
  • Staffordshire Police investigated 327 cases of indecent images of children and the impact on the victims and families “cannot be underestimated”.
  • You can read the full story on the Stafford and Surrounds NHS website.

‘Unhappy’ Cambridgeshire children’s home ‘lacks warmth’

  • A children’s home in Cambridgeshire for 10- to 18-year-olds “lacks warmth” and is “an unhappy” place.

  • Some children in the home didn’t have wardrobes to store clothes in and there were soiled carpets and walls.
  • Staff morale in the home was low and children’s positive behaviours were left unrewarded while unwanted behaviour was left unchallenged.
  • You can read the full story on BBC’s website.