Young people with mental health conditions turned away
Think tank CentreForum has found that mental health services turn away around 23 per cent of children and teenagers referred to them. The study also found a wide variation in average waiting times for different service providers, and that young people with mental health problems are still not always getting the right treatment. To read more of the report visit centreforum.org.
Information-sharing platform launched
New Philanthropy Capital, a think tank and consultancy for the third sector and the NSPCC, a leading children’s charity, are piloting SupportShare.org, an informationsharing web service. It is aimed at organisations working with young people to help rebuild their lives after abuse or neglect. By exchanging information on what works, they hope it will help organisations learn from each other, improve services, and build a community. For more information and to register your organisation, visit supportshare.org.
‘WE DO NOT BELIEVE OFSTED SHOULD BECOME THE STATE REGULATOR OF RELIGION. FOR AN INSPECTOR TO SCRUTINISE A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS, BIBLE STUDY, YOUTH MEETING OR CHURCH WEEKEND AWAY WOULD BE HIGHLY INTRUSIVE.’ Joint statement from CARE, Christian Concern, Evangelical Alliance, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and The Christian Institute.
Raise hope for girls
Girls’ Brigade Ministries are inviting people to share their hope for girls, through using the hashtag #hopeforgirls or by visiting ukgirl.jimdo.com. People can also join GB Ministries for the second UK Girl Gathering on International Day of the Girl on 11th October 2016. Aimed at youth workers and church leaders passionate about investing in girls, this will be a day of discussion. GB’s participation & advocacy cotordinator Dr Claire Rush said: ‘GB Ministries believes that girls and young women can lead and inspire us; girls are generation-shapers, hopebringers and transformers of culture. The UK Girl conversation aims to start a discussion about girls, faith and culture. We believe that it’s time for a more hope-filled narrative for young women than what is being offered by the culture that surrounds us.’
Nailed it, failed it
NAILED IT
Captain America fighting Iron Man! Obviously this is brilliant. (Though in theory we’d have said the same about Batman fighting Superman, and that was the mother of all fails.)
Leicester City
Folks, Leicester City won the league. Just drink that in for a second. Leicester City won the league. The 5000/1 outsiders. The biggest upset in sporting history. Enjoy the magic, football fans, it won’t last long.
FAILED IT
Artists Hiding Album
iTunes-only releases. Spotify-only release. Tidal-only release. Cassette tape-only releases. Stop this trend now; some of us want to listen to Beyonce and Taylor Swift – is that so much to ask?
Church has a ‘massive role’ in preventing bullying
The charity questioned around 9,000 young people aged 12 to 20. It found bullied people are twice as likely to bully others and twice as many boys bully as girls. The report showed that 44 per cent of young people that were bullied have experienced depression, 41 per cent social anxiety and 33 per cent had experienced suicidal thoughts.
The research found that young people who bully others were more likely to say that their family members encourage them to do things they do not want to; they feel less supported than average and feel that their family members do not love them as much. It also suggested that people who bully are more likely than average to have experienced something stressful or traumatic in their lives, such as a family fall out, parents splitting up or an illness.
Youth worker Liam Moore, who runs River of Life Ministries in Liverpool is calling on the Church to step up to tackle the issue. Speaking to Premier Youthwork he said: ‘It’s really, really frightening and something’s got to be done, radically. We’ve got to highlight these things in Sunday schools and youth clubs. The Church has got a massive, massive role to play – not just within the Church but in the community; we’re seeing a lot more of the Church going out into the community.’
Other findings from the report show that one in five of all young people have physically attacked somebody. Based on their own definition 14 per cent of young people admit to bullying somebody, 12 per cent say they bully people daily.
Monthly Crunch
One Poll survey, April 2016
43% of under-25s can identify Justin Bieber lyrics
38% of under -25s recognise Shakespeare
1/3 of young people could not recognise ‘To be or not to be’
Liam Hackett, Founder and Global CEO of Ditch the Label said: ‘For some time now, we have had an active interest in generating a greater understanding of people who bully others. We knew anecdotally that bullying behaviours are often used as a response to stress or trauma, or to project how somebody feels about themselves onto others, but we have never been able to substantiate it with hard data. Until now. For the first time ever, we have uncovered the reasons why young people bully others, by exploring the impact of stress, family dynamics, social conditionality and the perception of self.’
Revenge pornography victims as young as 11
Children as young as 11 are among more than 1,000 alleged victims of revenge porn who reported offences in the first year of the new law coming into effect, it has been revealed.
An NSPCC spokesman said: ‘It is shocking that children as young as 11 are becoming victims of revenge porn, and underlines the urgent need for action by social media sites to improve safety. Young people also need to be aware of the serious risks of sending explicit material or photos of themselves.’
This year Facebook teamed up with Google to host an EU Child Safety Summit, bringing together experts to discuss how the industry could keep young people safe online. Dr Emma Short, the director of the National Centre for Cyber-Stalking at the University of Bedfordshire said: ‘The number of young people affected is an area for great concern, but the figures probably only represent the tip of the iceberg. Sending “nudes” in dating or predating relationships has become something of a norm for young people aged 18 and under.’
Youth pastor jailed over rape
A youth pastor and trainee vicar who used his position to befriend and then assault two teenage girls has been jailed for 15 years. Timothy Storey, 35, met his victims at a church summer camp before bombarding them with indecent texts and social media messages to manipulate them into meeting him again.
The judge, Philip Katz QC, said his ‘insidious’ behaviour meant he was a serious danger to the public. He ordered Storey to serve an extended period of four years on licence on top of his 15-year custodial sentence. Judge Katz told him: ‘You manipulated them into situations where you knew it was going to be their word against yours. They both trusted you, as did many others. Your behaviour also demonstrates rank hypocrisy.’
Both women were over the age of consent, the judge said, but were still vulnerable. ‘The psychological harm you caused her was so severe. The incident changed the course of her life,’ he said of one of the girls. Discussing the other victim, the judge said: ‘Your influence over her was total. You had been insidiously grooming her for a year.’
The Diocese of London, which acted as his employer also came under the wrath of the judge over how it handled the situation. Speaking about the Church, he said there was ‘wholesale failure by those responsible at that time for safeguarding’.
The Diocese responded shortly after. It said: ‘While, since 2010, we have made significant improvements to our safeguarding processes, and greatly increased the resources available, we are constantly striving to make our Church safe for everyone. Nevertheless, we fully acknowledge the comments that have been made by the Judge and we are committed to ensuring that lessons are learned and acted upon. We will now be commissioning a thorough independent review of our own handling of the case and will be contacting Timothy Storey’s victims accordingly.’
