An official survey of health in England in 2002 focused on the health of children and young people, and on the health of infants, aged under one, and their mothers. Almost a third of all children were obese.
Source: Kerry Sproston and Paola Primatesta (eds.), Health Survey for England 2002, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (links) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A report from a child protection charity presented the findings of a consultation with 735 young people, social and legal professionals and voluntary organisations regarding the Children Act 1989. It also set out key recommendations designed to enable the Act to fulfil its potential to protect the welfare and rights of all children and young people.
Source: The NSPCC Review of Legislation Relating to Children in Family Proceedings, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2500)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
A report showed a 'shocking' rise in the number of arrests and prosecutions in England and Wales for child pornography offences. It suggested a range of measures which the internet industry should implement to tackle the increase and improve protection for children.
Source: John Carr, Child Pornography, Child Abuse and the Internet, NCH (0845 762 6579)
Links: Summary (pdf) | NCH press release
Date: 2003-Dec
There was a further 5 per cent fall in the first quarter of 2003 in the number of children killed or seriously injured in road accidents.
Source: Road Casualties in Great Britain: Quarterly estimates - Experimental statistics, Department for Transport (020 7944 3098)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Nov
A study of food labelling revealed that children who ate a regular diet of foods specifically marketed with them in mind could face future health problems.
Source: Food Labels: The Hidden Truth - What are our children really eating?, Consumers' Association (020 7770 7000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Consumers' Association press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A report said that disabled children were nearly four times more likely to be abused than other children: but the government was failing to protect them. Abuse often went unrecognised, and disabled children rarely got justice because they were often not considered to be credible witnesses.
Source: National Working Group on Child Protection and Disability, 'It Doesn't Happen to Disabled Children': Child protection and disabled children, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775)
Links: Report (pdf) | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 was given a third reading and received Royal assent. The Act introduced a wide range of measures to improve the protection of children and vulnerable people, including stronger penalties for sexual violence and sexual exploitation.
Source: Sexual Offences Act 2003, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 3 November 2003, columns 544-638, TSO
Links: Text of Act | Home Office press release | Hansard
Date: 2003-Nov
A private member's Bill was introduced to prevent food and drink advertising during pre-school children s television programmes and related scheduling.
Source: Debra Shipley MP, Children's Television (Advertising) (No2) Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 4 November 2003, columns 669-671, TSO
Links: Hansard | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A report said that concerted and urgent action was needed to prevent an epidemic of child obesity.
Source: A Leaner Fitter Future: Options for action, Medical Research Council (020 7636 5422), Association for the Study of Obesity, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Links: Report (pdf) | MRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
An expert seminar concluded that a review had provided sufficient evidence to indicate a causal link between promotional activity and children's food knowledge, preferences and behaviours.
Source: Outcome of Academic Seminar to Review Recent Research on Food Promotion and Children, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report | FSA press release
Date: 2003-Nov
The food standards watchdog published options for action on the promotion of foods affecting children's diets and health, including the possibility of bans on TV advertising aimed at children, and health warnings on foods high in salt, sugar and fat.
Source: Food Promotion and Children: Options, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report | FSA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A report called for a 20mph speed limit on residential roads, which it said could reduce children s deaths and injuries by 67 per cent. It said that the death rate for pedestrian accidents was five times higher for children from the lowest social class compared to those from the highest social class.
Source: Louise Millward, Antony Morgan and Michael Kelly, Prevention and Reduction of Accidental Injury in Children and Older people, Health Development Agency (0870 121 4194)
Links: Report (pdf) | HDA press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The first commissioner for children and young people in Northern Ireland announced plans for a major study of the state of children s rights and welfare.
Source: Press release 1 October 2003, Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland (028 9031 1616)
Links: NICCY press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The Northern Ireland Executive published a progress report on the development of a ten-year strategy for children and young people. Ten task groups were proposed, grouped under the three themes of the United Nations convention on children's rights; participation; and protection and provision.
Source: The Next Step: Developing a Strategy for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland - Working paper on the emerging strategy, Children and Young People s Unit/Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Report (pdf) | NIE press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that the government was failing to ensure that children at primary schools were given healthy food that met its own nutritional standards, and that more money was spent on prison food than primary school lunches.
Source: Food for Life: Healthy, local, organic school meals, Soil Association (0117 929 0661)
Links: Report (pdf) | Soil Association press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A briefing paper summarised the initial results of a study of attitudes in England towards children. The study found that children felt less welcome in public places as they grew up, and became less likely to believe that most adults were friendly. Among adults, 53 per cent thought that England was friendly towards children, but only 36 per cent thought the same in relation to teenagers.
Source: Nicola Madge, Is England Child-friendly Enough?, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: Briefing paper (pdf) | NCB press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that children abused to create child pornography suffered intense feelings of powerlessness, shame and humiliation. It called for long-term support and treatment to be available for all victims of child pornography, and for a database of arrests and prosecutions to be set up to help identify the links between child pornography and other forms of abuse.
Source: Emma Renold and Susan Creighton with Chris Atkinson and John Carr, Images of Abuse: Review of the evidence on child pornography, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775)
Links: Summary (pdf) | NSPCC press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The Children's Commissioner for Wales published his second annual report. He condemned mental health services for young people as 'wholly unacceptable', and warned that a proposal in the Anti-social Behaviour Bill could lead to curfews being imposed on young people that would be in clear breach of their human rights.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts: 2002-2003, Children's Commissioner for Wales (01792 765600)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
Research among children and young people aged 9-19 examined how they used the internet, and their opinions on its safety and value. It was found that, while the safety message was getting through to young people, governments, internet providers and parents could still do more to make the internet safer for children. Children were becoming the internet experts in families, but were still mainly using the internet as a means to communicate with friends and relatives, and for music and games.
Source: Sonia Livingstone and Magdalena Bober, UK Children Go Online: Listening to young people s experiences, Department of Media and Communications/London School of Economics and Political Science (020 7955 7710)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | LSE press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
Research into screen violence found that pre-teen children (aged 9-13) developed a strong understanding of what they found violent and what violence meant to them. They were able to interpret what they saw on screen, to distinguish between reality and fiction, and to deploy a moral imagination in evaluating images.
Source: Andrea Millwood Hargrave, How Children Interpret Screen Violence, Broadcasting Standards Commission (020 7808 1000), British Broadcasting Corporation, British Board of Film Classification, and Independent Television Commission
Links: Links removed by Ofcom
Date: 2003-Oct
Researchers found that children who took part in family learning programmes reportedly showed improved reading, vocabulary, concentration and self-confidence. (Family learning involves parents, children and other family members in learning from, about and with each other.)
Source: Angela Brassett-Grundy and Cathie Hammond, Family Learning: What parents think, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: IOE press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The United Kingdom's record on child deaths due to physical abuse and neglect could be twice as bad as officially recorded, according to a report by a United Nations body. The report was criticised for unfairly assuming the causes of many of these child deaths.
Source: A League Table of Child Maltreatment Deaths in Rich Nations, Innocenti Report Card 5, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (+3 9 0552 0330) | Press release 18 September 2003, Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (0870 787 0885)
Links: Report (pdf) | UNICEF press release | FSID press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
A new book reported research which examined interprofessional work with families in which the mother had a mental health problem, and where there were also concerns about child protection.
Source: Nicky Stanley, Bridget Penhale, Denise Riordan, Rosaline Barbour and Sue Holden, Child Protection and Mental Health Services: Interprofessional responses to the needs of mothers, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Sep
A report examined the way foods were promoted to children, and the possible link between promotional activity and child eating patterns. It concluded that advertising to children did have an effect on their preferences, purchase behaviour and consumption, and these effects were apparent not just for different brands but also for different types of food.
Source: Gerard Hastings et al., Does Food Promotion Influence Children?: Systematic review of the evidence, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Appendices (pdf) | FSA press release | Food Commission press release |
Date: 2003-Sep
A new book examined the experiences of young people who were out of school and missed substantial periods of their education. It explored the level and quality of educational support young people received while they were out of school, the difficulties faced by young people as they returned to mainstream education; the links between bullying, racism and young people's experience of interrupted learning; and the extent to which young people were consulted in matters concerning their education.
Source: Missing Out on Education: Children and young people speak out, Save the Children, available from Plymbridge Distributors Ltd (01725 202301)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Sep
The government published its annual report for 2002 on action to promote the welfare of children, under the Children Act 1989. It referred to 'unprecedented activity to drive through the Government s determination to make things better for children, in particular the most vulnerable children'.
Source: The Children Act Report 2002, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A report said that cheaply-produced school meals could be putting children's health at risk. It called for more money to be spent on meals using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients to improve both the quality of food and the health of pupils.
Source: Kevin Morgan and Adrian Morley, School Meals: Healthy eating and sustainable food chains, Regeneration Institute/Cardiff University (029 2087 6412)
Links: Summary (pdf) | BBC report
Date: 2003-Sep
The Law Commission recommended changes in the law governing criminal responsibility for the non-accidental death or serious injury of children. It said that on average three children under the age of 10 were killed or suffered serious injury each week: but 61 per cent of investigations which reached a conclusion resulted in no prosecution for any offence. The Commission set out a draft Bill, under which failure to protect a child from serious harm could carry a maximum seven-year prison sentence.
Source: Children: Their Non-Accidental Death or Serious Injury (Criminal Trials), HC 1054, Law Commission, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Draft Bill (pdf) | Law Commission press release (pdf) | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2003-Sep
The government published an action plan to boost walking, cycling and bus travel to school, and tackle congestion around the school run. A good practice guide for local transport and education authorities was also published.
Source: Travelling to School: Action plan, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) and Department for Transport | Travelling to School: Good practice guide, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) and Department for Transport
Links: Action plan (pdf) | Good practice guide (pdf) | DfES press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A paper examined whether individuals who were alienated from their peer group in childhood were at higher risk of depressive symptoms, and less able to acquire and use economic and social capital in adulthood. Evidence was found that peer alienation increased the odds of poor mental health, and decreased the odds of having a partner and of having a university degree. Peer alienation, however, was found to increase the likelihood of civic engagement.
Source: Karen Robson, Peer Alienation: Predictors in childhood and outcomes in adulthood, Working Paper 2003-18, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
A review described the number, types and quality attributes of existing research studies on the barriers to, and facilitators of, physical activity among children aged 4-10.
Source: G. Brunton et al., Children and Physical Activity: Systematic review of barriers and facilitators, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Aug
A survey found that children were being prevented from playing outdoors by adults who claimed they caused a noise or a nuisance: 4 in 5 of the children surveyed (aged 7-16) said they had been told off for playing outdoors.
Source: Press release 6.8.03, Children s Society (020 7841 4415)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Aug
Researchers examined factors affecting children's 'emotional and social competence and wellbeing', and made a series of recommendations for action - including a government survey of developments in the area, and the production of case study material.
Source: Katherine Weare and Gay Gray, What Works in Developing Children's Emotional and Social Competence and Wellbeing?, Research Report 456, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A study found that out-of-school care had a positive social and educational impact on children. It focused on four groups - older children (8-14), children from minority ethnic groups, children in deprived areas, and children with special educational needs.
Source: John Barker et al., The Impact of Out of School Care: Qualitative study examining the views of children, families and playworkers, Research Report 446, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said that Britain was becoming less child-friendly, and that villages, towns and cities were turning into a more sterile and hostile environment for young people. Britain lagged behind Europe in terms of creating play areas and public spaces that aided the development and learning of children. The report blamed children s lack of freedom to explore their surroundings on cuts in local authority budgets, growing concerns over child safety and an increasingly litigious society.
Source: Ken Worpole, No Particular Place to Go?, Groundwork (0121 236 8565)
Links: Groundwork press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said that the hundreds of known cases of trafficked children in the United Kingdom were just the 'tip of the iceberg', and thousands more may be trafficked each year. Mainly coming from west Africa, eastern Europe and Asia, the children were trafficked for benefit fraud, forced or early marriage, adoption, and exploitative labour, as well as sexual exploitation.
Source: Stop the Traffic, UNICEF UK (020 7405 5592)
Links: Report (pdf) | Community Care article | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
The government announced that children in deprived areas would benefit from 2.2 million in new funding - earmarked for training volunteers who would teach road safety skills in schools. 24 local authorities would each be offered 90,000 over three years to fund the new initiative.
Source: Press release 31.7.03, Department for Transport (020 7944 3000)
Links: DT press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A research review examined evidence on the development of children from birth to three years old, and considered the detailed implications for the provision of care outside the home.
Source: Christine Stephen, Aline-Wendy Dunlop and Colwyn Trevarthen, Meeting the Needs of Children from Birth to Three: Research evidence and implications for out-of-home provision, Insight 6, Scottish Executive (0131 244 0092)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Jun
A report estimated that there were between 250,000 and 350,000 children of problem drug users in the United Kingdom about one for every problem drug user. It said that parental problem drug use caused serious harm to children at every age from conception to adulthood; that reducing this harm should become a main objective of policy and practice; that effective treatment of the parents could have major benefits for their children; and that the number of affected children was only likely to decrease when the number of problem drug users decreased.
Source: Hidden Harm Responding to the needs of children of problem drug users, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, available from prolog.uk.com (0870 241 4680)
Links: Report (pdf) | Home Office press release | Guardian report | Children's Society press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A report said that eating disorders among children were almost always part of an intertwined set of problems including family breakdown, bullying, bereavement, and in some cases abuse.
Source: I m in Control Calls to ChildLine about eating disorders, Childline (020 7650 3444)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A follow-up to a 1999 study of the mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain found that the persistence and onset of child mental disorders were linked to child, family, household and social characteristics. Some 25 per cent of children who had an emotional disorder when first interviewed, and 43 per cent of those with a conduct disorder, were also assessed as having a similar disorder three years later. The persistence of emotional disorders was particularly linked with mothers' poor mental health, whereas the persistence of conduct disorders was associated with the child having special educational needs, being frequently shouted at, and mothers' poor mental health.
Source: Howard Meltzer, Rebecca Gatward, Tania Corbin, Robert Goodman and Tamsin Ford, Persistence, Onset, Risk Factors and Outcomes of Childhood Mental Disorders, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A report evaluated a project designed to target multi-risk factors in children with emotional and behavioural problems, using a comprehensive, multi-component and community-based programme. Children taking part in the project had statistically significant reductions in emotional and behavioural problems at home and school, which were maintained 6 months after the intervention. Parents taking part showed a significant improvement in their parenting stress levels.
Source: Kathryn Lovering and Alice Caldwell, Scallywags: Interagency Early Intervention Project for Children with Emotional and Behaviour Problems - Research review and project evaluation, Centre for Evidence Based Social Services/University of Exeter (01392 262865)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A think-tank report argued that social workers were encouraged by the child protection system to act in ways that protected the system itself rather than in the best interests of children at risk.
Source: Andrew Cooper, Rachael Hetherington and Ilan Katz, The Risk Factor: Making the child protection system work for children, Demos and Tedworth Charitable Trust, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Paper (pdf) | Demos press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A study mapped all discharges of young people under 19 from healthcare settings, and examined their experiences of long-term healthcare.
Source: Kirsten Stalker, John Carpenter, Rena Phillips, Clare Connors, Charlotte MacDonald and Janet Eyre, Care and Treatment? Supporting children with complex needs in healthcare settings, Pavilion Publishing (01273 623 222) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: JRF Findings 633
Date: 2003-Jun
Interviews with children found that television was of significant importance in their lives. Most homes had more than one television set, and many children had a set in their bedrooms. Children spent significant amounts of their television viewing time watching genres other than those targeted at children. The level of parental knowledge about the material being watched was mixed: while parents voiced concerns, many admitted that they policed the viewing of their secondary school-age children less than that of their younger children.
Source: Kam Atwal, Andrea Millwood-Hargrave and Jane Sancho with Leila Agyeman and Nicki Karet, What Children Watch: Analysis of children's programming provision between 1997-2001, and children's views, Broadcasting Standards Commission (020 7808 1000) and Independent Television Commission
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
Social services directors said that a disproportionate number of black children had been the subject of official reviews due to abuse, suggesting insufficient safeguards in the system for young black people. Processes should be developed to integrate and utilise community networks in the prevention and safeguarding of children from black and other ethnic minority groups.
Source: Victoria Climbie - Response to the Laming Report: A Community and Multi-faith Perspective, Association of Directors of Social Services (020 8741 8147)
Links: Response
Date: 2003-May
The Law Commission recommended adoption of a statutory statement that, in cases where a child had suffered a non-accidental death or serious injury by one or other of a small group of people (at least one of whom had responsibility for the child s welfare), the state was entitled to call for an account from those involved of how the accident or death had come about. But it rejected the idea of imposing a legal burden on a defendant to provide an explanation for a child s death or injury which, if it were not discharged, would result in a murder or manslaughter conviction. (In almost 75 per cent of known cases of this kind, the person inflicting the death or serious injury is not prosecuted.)
Source: Children: Their Non-Accidental Death or Serious Injury (Criminal Trials) - Consultative Report, LC279, Law Commission (020 7453 1220)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
A report described a project which looked at the backgrounds of 55 young women aged 13-18 at risk of, or experiencing, sexual exploitation and/or prostitution. It was found that education services could lead in identifying young women at risk of sexual exploitation: but that support was needed from other social work professionals and local drug and domestic violence project workers.
Source: Jenny Pearce with Mary Williams and Christina Galvin, It s Someone Taking a Part of you : Study of young women and sexual exploitation, National Children's Bureau (020 7843 6029) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: JRF Findings 513 | NSPCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
Research challenged the view that children are damaged by growing up in families where a parent has a severe mental illness. It found that children feel that caring for their parents can improve family relationships.
Source: Jo Aldridge and Saul Becker, Children Caring for Parents with Mental Illness: Perspectives of young carers, parents and professionals, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | Rethink press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Mar
Researchers found a significant increase in obesity (measured by waist circumference) among children aged 11-14, particularly girls. In 1997, 28 per cent of boys and 38 per cent of girls were defined as overweight (against 9 per cent for both sexes in 1977-87), and 14 per cent of boys and 17 per cent of girls were defined as obese (3 per cent in 1977-87).
Source: David McCarthy, Sandra Ellis and Tim Cole, 'Central overweight and obesity in British youth aged 11-16 years: cross sectional surveys of waist circumference', British Medical Journal 22.3.03
Links: Article
Date: 2003-Mar
The government began consultation on proposed measures to prevent those convicted of sexual offences against children from travelling to specified countries where there is a risk they will abuse children.
Source: Government Proposals on the Issue of Sex Offenders who Travel Abroad, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
The Scottish Executive began consultation on a framework for the effective provision of universal and targeted services for children and their families from before birth to age 5.
Source: Integrated Strategy for the Early Years: Consultation, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Consultation document
Date: 2003-Mar
A children's charity reported on the condition of children in Scotland. It highlighted an 'alarming' increase in the number of babies born to drug-using mothers, and an increase in alcohol abuse and obesity among children. Once housing costs were taken into account, 30 per cent of children in Scotland were estimated to be living in poverty in 2000-01.
Source: Factfile Scotland 2003, NCH Scotland (0141 332 4041)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
Researchers explored the information on diversity available to courts dealing with child protection, and whether the legal criteria used to assess significant harm and future risk to children are sufficiently sensitive to culturally diverse approaches to parenting. The findings supported the need for ethnic monitoring in public law proceedings.
Source: Julia Brophy, Jagbir Jhutti-Johal and Charlie Owen, Significant Harm: Child protection litigation in a multi-cultural setting, Research Paper 1/2003, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500)
Links: Summary/Findings
Date: 2003-Feb
The Scottish Parliament passed a Bill to create a list of adults who are regarded as 'unsuitable' to work with children. The Bill places a duty upon employers and the courts to refer people for inclusion on the list if they have harmed children or put children at risk of harm.
Source: Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Text of Act | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A think-tank report said that children have become invisible citizens whose lives are increasingly controlled by over-protective adults. It accused children's charities of arousing unjustified public fears about risks to children's safety, and at the same time of suggesting that there are easy solutions to problems of child abuse.
Source: Gillian Thomas and Gina Hocking, Other People s Children: Why their quality of life is our concern, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Press release | Introduction (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A research review examined the definition and extent of parental problem drinking, and its impact on children. It argued that child protection staff should not make assumptions about the impact of parental alcohol use.
Source: Jo Tunnard, Parental Problem Drinking and its Impact on Children, Research in Practice, available from Alcohol Concern (020 7928 7377)
Links: Community Care article
Date: 2003-Jan
A Sexual Offences Bill was published, following an earlier White Paper. The Bill contained measures to strengthen the monitoring of offenders on the sex offenders register, and a range of new offences and harsher sentences for sexual offences against children and vulnerable people. Human rights campaigners expressed concern at an overemphasis on punitive rather than preventative measures.
Source: Sexual Offences Bill [HL], Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 29.1.03, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: Text of Bill | White Paper (pdf) | White Paper | HO press release | Liberty press release | Stonewall press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
The report was published of an inquiry into the torture and brutal murder of Victoria Climbie (aged eight) in 2000 by her great aunt and great aunt's boyfriend. The report recommended the creation of a children and families board to be chaired by a cabinet minister, as well as a national agency for children and families (which would hold the function of children s commissioner). The Secretary of State for Health, commenting on criticism of social workers in the report, said: 'While public servants should enjoy our support, they should not expect our excuses'. Children's rights campaigners welcomed the report but expressed disappointment that it did not call for either the creation of a fully independent children's commissioner or for a statutory ban on smacking.
Source: The Victoria Climbie Inquiry: Report of an inquiry by Lord Laming, Cm 5730, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28.1.03, columns 737-756, TSO | Press release 28.1.03, Children's Rights Alliance for England (020 7278 8222)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Hansard | CRAE press release | Barnardo's press release | GSCC press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Jan
A new book argued that the daily repetition of media violence helps to normalise and legitimise the acts being portrayed.
Source: Cynthia Carter and C. Kay Weaver, Violence and the Media, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Jan