Childline increases counselling sessions over exam anxiety

  • Childline reports that the number of counselling sessions over exam anxiety has almost doubled in seven months.
  • More than 200 counselling sessions about exam worries took place in March 2022, nearly double the number of sessions in September 2021.
  • Childline practitioners delivered 1,734 counselling sessions in 2021-22 to pupils worried about exams and revision, representing a 62% rise from previous year.
  • You can read the full story on The Independent’s website.

Online platforms struggling with Buffalo shooting re-uploads

  • Following Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo, online platforms are seemingly struggling to prevent versions of the gunman’s livestream from spreading.
  • The shooter wanted to livestream the shooting on Twitch according to a to-do list he published on Discord outlining his intentions but his channel was taken down.
  • Twitch reported that that they are monitoring for “any accounts rebroadcasting this content” and Meta has added the footage to a database for automatic detection and removal.
  • Some re-uploads of the shooting included a link of a screen recording which received 43,000 interactions and a post on Facebook linking to the video that was viewed more than 1.8 million times.
  • You can read the full story on Engadget’s website.

Children’s activity levels have not recovered after end of restrictions

  • A study by the University of Bristol has found that children’s activity levels have deteriorated even after pandemic restrictions have been lifted.
  • The study found that only a third of children were meeting the national recommended physical activity guidelines.
  • There was also an increase in the time children spend sitting down each day during the week, spending on average 25 minutes longer.
  • You can read the full story on The Guardian’s website.

Wales needs new child poverty targets

  • Children’s Commissioner, Rocio Cifuentes, urges the Welsh government to set “ambitious new targets” to reduce child poverty levels in Wales.
  • She urges that continuing without a specific and measurable plan of action is unacceptable due to high levels of child poverty and the ongoing cost of living crisis.
  • The crisis could have a devastating impact on children in Wales, with young people from ethnic minorities and children with disabilities being particularly vulnerable.
  • You can read the full story on the BBC’s website.

England’s crumbling schools are a ‘risk to life’

  • Internal government documents report that many school buildings in England are in disrepair and present a “risk to life” to children, teachers, and staff.
  • Emails sent by senior officials raised the alarm on two occasions within the last 6 weeks.
  • Officials call for a matter of urgency for the Treasury to make funds available to increase the number of school rebuilding projects from 50 a year to more than 300.
  • You can read the full story on The Guardian’s website.