Parents warned seven risks of posting images of children leading up to Christmas

  • A 2018 study by Barclays Bank found that the average parent shares almost 1,500 images of their child before their fifth birthday, and more than 80% of children will have an online presence by the age of two.
  • In the run up to Christmas, cyber security experts at VPNOverview have outlined the seven main dangers when it comes to sharing photos and videos of children by parents, known as sharenting.
  • These include the risk of digital kidnapping: if images and personal information, such as name and date of birth, combined with social security information obtained illegally on the dark web, children are at risk of their identities being stolen online.
  • For more information on Sharenting, please watch our short video on Safer Sharenting.
  • For more on this story, visit the Coventary Live website.

Video games create ‘safe space’ for people with disabilities

  • In a BBC interview two children, Seth and Dylan, said they found it difficult to feel included with other children because of their disabilities, until they got into gaming.
  • 13 year old Seth, who uses a wheelchair due to a progressive condition, said that video games have helped him to “experience things like other people”.
  • Video games are being promoted as an accessible way for children to develop new skills and make friends.
  • Across the UK, Children in Need has funded projects that use gaming to support young people and health organisation NICE has recently approved a series of digital games to help children with anxiety.
  • For more on this, visit the BBC website.

Online gambling is causing a surge in suicidal young men turning to A&E

  • A 42% rise in demand for help with gambling addiction has resulted in the NHS needing to open two new facilities in England.
  • Consultant psychologist Matt Gaskell noted that “One of the first things I noticed was that groups were filled with young men wearing football shirts” and three quarters of patients are men, and most are in their 30s.
  • People in the North of England are most at risk of gambling addiction, according to Gaskell.
  • GambleAware accounts show it collected £16 million between April and December last year in voluntary donations from the gambling industry to fund a range of treatment services.
  • For more on this story, visit the Yahoo News website.