6 h. ago Pupils with special needs ‘have to travel further to school for suitable place’

Spending by councils on transporting children with Send to schools is predicted to increase to around £1.97 billion in 2025/26, a report suggests.

Politics

15 h. ago Children crossing Channel from France exposed to teargas, report says

NGO says rise in interventions has only increased danger as new data shows at least 15 children died in transit last yearChildren and babies coming to the UK on small boats from northern France have been teargassed and subjected to tactics such as the discharge of rubber bullets and the slashing of dinghies with knives, according to a new report.The publication on Tuesday of We Want to Be Safe, by the French non-governmental organisation Project Play, came as the latest figures on daily crossings released by the UK government reached an all-time high of 19,982 for the first six months of the year, a 40% increase compared with the same period last year. Continue reading...

Society

4 d. ago Colombia gangs lure children to join ranks via TikTok and Facebook, UN warns

Armed groups post videos of weapons, cars and parties to social media to depict ‘perks’ of lifestyle, say expertsGangs in Colombia are increasingly recruiting children into their ranks, with a notable number coerced over TikTok and Facebook, the United Nations has warned.The UN Human Rights Office in Colombia said it had verified 474 cases of recruitment or use of under-18s between 2022 and 2024, and that the situation was “worsening in 2025”. In 36 cases children were recruited at school, while recruitment through social networking platforms was of “grave concern”, it said. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Number of children with special educational needs plans surges by 10% in a year to increase burden on cash

According to figures from the Department for Education (DfE), there were 638,700 children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in January this year.

Politics

6 d. ago The increasing number of children born via IVF fertility treatment

Latest data also shows a reduction in the number of IVF treatments funded by the NHS

Politics

8 d. ago Women's Tennis Association create 'space safe' for players undergoing fertility treatment

The Women's Tennis Association has created a "safe safe" for female players and will protect their rankings should they undergo fertility protection procedures, including egg freezing and IVF

Sport

9 d. ago I was diagnosed with PCOS – and was soon drowning in misinformation

From medically unqualified influencers pushing expensive supplements online, to nurses peddling myths about pregnancy, I had to find out all I could about my condition myself. This is what I’ve learnedI suspected I had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) long before it was confirmed. The signs were there: the acne scars that littered my back, the irregular periods, the hair in places on my body that I didn’t see on many of my friends. I suspected it from the moment that one of my best friends, who as a girl taught me about bleaching my body hair and waxing my legs, was diagnosed with it as a teenager.Admitting all this publicly feels like an unburdening, but also an invitation to more shame. But I write this because my experience is far from unique. As many as one in 10 women have PCOS, a condition associated with hormonal disturbances that can range from weight gain, “unwanted” body hair and hair loss, to irregular periods and struggles to conceive children (including an increased ris...

Events

2 w. ago Serious crime involving children increases in London, report finds

Serious crime involving children increases in London, report finds  BBC

Events

2 w. ago Pregnant mothers’ high blood pressure linked to this increased risk in children

Gestational hypertension affects some 16 percent of U.S. pregnancies

Events

2 w. ago Why tennis players undergoing fertility treatment will have their world ranking protected

This initiative was ‘very much at the instigation of the players’

Sport

2 w. ago ‘Dad strikes’ in London and Edinburgh demand better paternity leave

Hundreds of fathers protest with children to call for two weeks’ statutory paternity leave to be increasedHundreds of fathers took to the streets of London and Edinburgh on Wednesday to demand better paternity leave, in a protest that was billed as the world’s first dad strike.They came with babies in papooses and pushchairs, as they brandished placards and dad jokes to call for an overhaul of the meanest paternity leave system in Europe. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago It’s my goal to live to 100 – and it’s not just diet and exercise that will help me achieve it | Devi Sridhar

Every time my mind goes down the ‘optimisation’ route, I’m reminded of my job as a public health scientist, looking into the factors that affect how long we will liveProf Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)For much of the past century, life expectancy continually increased. In most countries in the world, children could hope to live, on average, longer, healthier lives than their parents. This expectation is still true of the mega-wealthy. In fact, tech billionaires and multimillionaires have recently been fixated on finding the secret to longer life, convinced that with enough money, technology and cutting-edge science, they can stave off the inevitable for a few more decades to reach 120 or even 150 years old.But their efforts aren’t trickling down to the rest of us. The world’s health crises are getting worse, with life expectancy going backwards in several high-income countries, such as the UK ...

Events

4 w. ago ‘It’s so boring’: Gen Z parents don’t like reading to their kids

Screen time has increasingly replaced story time, and experts warn this could lead to children falling behindLast week, former elementary school teacher Spencer Russell posed a question to parents who follow his Instagram account, Toddlers Can Read: “Why aren’t you reading aloud to your kids?”The responses, which Russell shared with the Guardian, ranged from embarrassed to annoyed to angry. “It’s so boring,” said one parent. “I don’t have time,” said another. One mother wrote in: “I don’t enjoy reading myself.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘It’s so boring’: gen Z parents don’t like reading to their kids – and educators are worried

Screen time has increasingly replaced story time, and experts warn this could lead to children falling behindLast week, former elementary school teacher Spencer Russell posed a question to parents who follow his Instagram account, Toddlers Can Read: “Why aren’t you reading aloud to your kids?”The responses, which Russell shared with the Guardian, ranged from embarrassed to annoyed to angry. “It’s so boring,” said one parent. “I don’t have time,” said another. One mother wrote in: “I don’t enjoy reading myself.” Continue reading...

Politics