Gardaí investigate if schoolgirl (14) died after taking part in ‘TikTok challenge’

Gardaí are investigating if a teenage girl has died after taking part in a viral social media ‘challenge’.
The 14-year-old took ill over the weekend and was rushed to a Dublin hospital.
It was believed she became very ill after inhaling aerosol after seeing a ‘challenge’ on TikTok.
The trend is commonly known as ‘chroming’.
She was pronounced dead on Monday morning and an investigation is taking place.
TikTok has said in a statement that their sympathies are with the family and content of this nature is “prohibited” on their platform and “will be removed if found’.
For more please visit the Independent’s website.

UK and US pledge to combat AI-generated images of child abuse

The US and UK have committed to developing and funding new capabilities to prevent the spread of AI-generated images of children.
The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman travelled to Washington this week, where she visited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the US-based child protection organisation.
The NCMEC’s work includes reporting online child sexual abuse cases to global law enforcement agencies.
The two countries have issued a joint statement pledging to work together to innovate and explore development of new solutions to fight the spread of this imagery and have called other nations to join them.
The Home Secretary’s visit comes a week after launching a campaign calling on Meta not to roll out end-to-end encryption on its platforms without robust safety measures to ensure children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation.
The UK Government looks forward to collaboration with tech company leaders. Industry experts and other nations in ensuring the safe use of technology.
For more, please visit the UK Government website.

Save the Children have released a report in partnership with the Children’s Rights Alliance for England and Just for Kids Law and backed by the former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield.
The report found that there are clear lessons to be learned and better systems put in place to protect children if a pandemic was to occur again.
They conclude that the loss of children’s freedoms could have been prevented if political leaders had better considered children’s rights and views.
They recommend that the UK Government to appoint a cabinet minister for Children and Young People, and make sure in times of crisis they are involved in key decisions.
The report further provides recommendations that the government should pass a law to make schools “essential infrastructure”, so MPs have more oversight before any closures.
Lastly, they state that the government should properly fund a Children’s Recovery Plan to “tackle the long-term effects on children’s social, emotional and educational needs.”
For more, please visit the Save the Children website.

A 15-year-old girl died after being stabbed in the neck with a foot-long knife in Croydon.
Members of the public rushed to help the girl who was attacked.
A 17-year-old boy who knew the victim has been arrested and is known to the local community groups for the last couple of years.
Both the land and air ambulance attended, but she was pronounced dead at the scene 50 minutes later.
Witnesses, or anyone with information have been asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference CAD 1601/27Sep, and to remain anonymous can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or online.
For more, please visit the Independent website.

Welsh Government data suggests that around one in six secondary school pupils in Wales are persistently absent from school.
The data suggests that 16.3% of pupils aged between 11-5 were persistently absent between 2022-23.
35.7% of those absent were pupils who are eligible free school meals.
Persistent absence is defined as missing 20% of the most common required sessions.
Overall levels of absence, based on missed half-day sessions have also doubled in number.
Association of School and College Leaders Cymru dubbed the statistics “shocking” but felt many within the profession would not be surprised.
Welsh Conservative education spokeswoman Laura Anne Jones urged Welsh Ministers to come up with a detailed plan to address the rise in school absenteeism.
For more, please visit the BBC News website.