Latest news with #parents
The Sun
2 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
Five freebies and discounts parents on Universal Credit can get worth up to £3,286
PARENTS on Universal Credit could be entitled to freebies and deals worth over £3,000. With childcare costs on the rise, looking after growing tots can be challenging. 1 But for struggling families there may be some extra cash and perks they can get their hands on - some of which they may never had heard of. Here is what is available... PREGNANCY GRANT - £500 New parents can claim this one-off grant within 11 weeks of the baby's due date or up to six months after the baby is born. It's a payment worth £500 to help with the cost of having a child. Parents will need to print out and fill in the Sure Start Maternity Grant (SF100) claim form and have it signed by a doctor or midwife. You could qualify for the Sure Start Maternity grant if you're claiming benefits and expecting your first child. You can also qualify if you have children already and are expecting twins or triplets. HEALTHY START - £442 Healthy Start scheme. Anyone more than 10 weeks pregnant or with a child under four years old and on benefits can apply online or via email. The scheme issues parents with a card they can use in supermarkets, which gives them free access to milk, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables and tinned pulses. Disability benefit explained - what you can claim The full list of benefits qualifying you for the scheme is: Income Support Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance Child Tax Credit with a family income of £16,190 or less per year Pension Credit Universal Credit with no earned income or total earned income of £408 or less per month for the family Parents can also apply for the scheme if you are under 18 and not on any benefits. You can find out more about the scheme in our full guide. FREE CHILDCARE - £1,739 Parents on Universal Credit may also be entitled to help with childcare costs. You'll need to be working - and your partner if you live with them - or have a job offer. But it doesn't matter how many hours you or your partner work. You can get 85 per cent of your expenses paid each month up to a maximum of £1,014 for one child or £1,739 for two or more kids. FREE SCHOOL MEALS - £500 Children whose parents receive income support such as Universal Credit, Job seeker's Allowance and Child Tax Credits can receive free school meals. How you apply depends on your personal circumstances - some people may be able to via their local council, while others might have to speak to their children's school directly. Type your postcode into the Government's website to see who to contact and how to apply at The exact amount you'll get depends on where you live, but the help is worth around £460 on average per child per year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. If you're eligible for free school meals, you may also get similar help during school holidays including Christmas and Easter, as well as half terms. If your child is eligible for free school meals, they'll also qualify for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme offering kids free activities to take part in outside of school.
Medscape
2 hours ago
- Health
- Medscape
Can Digital Therapy Improve Mental Health Among Teens?
TOPLINE: In a randomised trial of adolescents with mental health issues, the use of a 6-week online emotion-regulation therapy was found to be feasible and acceptable. Compared with an active control therapy, this online therapy significantly alleviated symptoms of anxiety, depression, and maladaptive coping. METHODOLOGY: This single-blind randomised clinical trial conducted between 2022 and 2023 in Swedish primary care included 30 adolescents aged 12-17 years (93% girls) with mental health problems and their parents. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 6 weeks of either therapist-guided primary care online emotion-regulation treatment (POET; n = 15) or supportive treatment (n = 15) as an active control. Primary outcomes included feasibility and acceptability; secondary outcomes included symptom severity and improvement (measured using the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity Scale [CGI-S] and CGI-Improvement Scale), symptoms of anxiety and depression (measured using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale [RCADS-47]), global functioning (measured using the Children's Global Assessment Scale [CGAS]), and emotion regulation (measured using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire [CERQ]). Outcomes were self-reported online or obtained via telephonic interviews immediately after treatment and at a 3-month follow-up. TAKEAWAY: The study had a consent rate of 81%, with 93% of participants completed at least one assessment immediately after treatment and 87% completed 3-month follow-up assessments. Treatment satisfaction was high among both adolescents (mean Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 [CSQ-8] score: POET, 20.6; supportive treatment, 22.8) and parents (mean CSQ-8 score: POET, 24.8; supportive treatment, 23.1). When comparing before and immediately after treatment, the POET group showed significant reductions in symptom severity (CGI-S: effect size, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.73-1.86), symptoms of anxiety and depression (RCADS-47: Cohen d, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.37-1.84), and maladaptive cognitive coping (CERQ: Cohen d, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.52-1.70), as well as improvement in global functioning (CGAS: Cohen d, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.66-1.85). The control group showed no significant differences. When comparing before treatment and at 3 months post-treatment, the POET group maintained reductions in symptom severity (CGI-S: effect size, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.76-1.88), symptoms of anxiety and depression (RCADS-47: Cohen d, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.51-2.08), and maladaptive cognitive coping (CERQ: Cohen d, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.22-1.40), as well as improvement in global functioning (CGAS: Cohen d, 1.54; 95% CI, 0.95-2.14). The control group showed no significant differences. IN PRACTICE: "Given that adolescents represent a large patient group with limited access to psychological treatment, these findings suggest that POET is a promising treatment in primary care, with the potential for broad outreach and improved accessibility for adolescents with mental health problems," the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Katja Sjöblom, MSc, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. It was published online on June 11 in JAMA Network Open. LIMITATIONS: A small sample size and lack of stratification in the randomisation procedure prevented the between-group analysis of effectiveness. Most participants were self-referred, potentially introducing selection bias. The active control study design limited clinical interpretation compared with a control group using treatment as usual or gold standard treatment. DISCLOSURES: This study was supported by grants from the Kavli Trust, Region Stockholm, and the Swedish Research Council. Several authors reported receiving grants, royalties, and personal fees from various academic, governmental, and private sources, and one author reported holding shares in companies outside the submitted work. Details are provided in the original article. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
Primary school children taught about the 300 flags of Pride
Schoolchildren are being taught about 300 different LGBT pride flags and the sexualities and gender identities behind each of them. Leaflets handed out at primary schools by the charity Swindon and Wiltshire Pride claim there are more flags representing sexuality and gender identity than there are for countries. The material, signposted by the local council on social media, goes into detail about a 'small selection' of 29 varieties. It says: 'While some might think [300] is too many, it's all part of a drive to be more inclusive of the expansive breadth of identity within the community'. Along with the rainbow LGBT Pride flag are a variety of offshoots, from the 'intersex-inclusive Pride flag' to the 'polyamory Pride flag' and even a black and white 'heterosexual flag' for straight people, which it says can include transgender people. The materials make up part of a free annual support guide produced by the charity, which also points to websites providing advice on controversial practices such as wearing a 'binder to reduce apparent size of breasts', the use of cross-sex hormones in under-18s, and information on 'fetish spectrums'. Parents of children at the primary schools told The Telegraph their concerns had been ignored by the local Labour council. The three double-page spreads about Pride flags describe the identity each is meant to represent, what the colours mean and when the flag was created, if known. For example, beneath the pink, purple and green 'trigender Pride flag', the charity explains that 'trigender is a gender identity in which a person switches between or among several genders, including a third gender', which may change depending 'on the individual's mood or environment'. The 'omnisexual' flag explainer says the term refers to someone attracted to all genders and sexualities, and that it was created in 2015, but that the creator 'never explained the exact meaning of the colours'. The polyamory flag, which represents people who engage in multiple romantic and sexual relationships at once, is described as being comprised of 'blue for openness and honesty, magenta for desire, love, and attraction; purple represents a united non-monogamous community. Gold represents the energy and perseverance and the white represents possibility'. One mother, a former teacher, said the guide being given out in primary schools was 'really concerning'. 'Obviously the polyamory one, encouraging children to have multiple sex partners, they shouldn't be sexualising children,' she said. 'In the guide itself, under education, it states it is 'for schools, teachers, and students'. 'A couple of sentences down, for example, it says 'raise awareness of the lesser known identities across the fetish spectrum',' she added, saying that was 'inappropriate'. Among the other Pride flags are 'genderqueer', 'demiboy' and 'demigirl', 'pangender', 'abrosexual' and the 'straight ally flag', which places the rainbow colours in the shape of an 'A' on top of the black and white heterosexual flag. Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at human rights charity Sex Matters, said the flags 'draw children in' and 'suggest that children need to find themselves on the list'. 'They recruit children into the world of sexual orientation and gender identity, which is inappropriate and unnecessary. Encouraging very young children to wonder about their gender or sexual orientation in this reckless way creates safeguarding risks,' she added. 'Some of these flags promote the false belief that a child can be born in the wrong body, which is deeply unsettling for young people. They should be protected from such misguided and harmful ideas, but instead, adult concepts are being pushed at them, disguised as harmless fun.' The controversial material has been the subject of complaints for ignoring the Cass Review, which has resulted in changes to the NHS's treatment of gender-questioning children, but schools have not been bound by the same rules. Despite being published almost a year after Baroness Cass, a paediatrician, published her final recommendations and raised concerns about the use of cross-sex drugs in children, the guide continues to point towards resources promoting them. The guide also includes a page on 'top tips for gender equality in the classroom' with advice on mixing up he/she/they pronouns in books, jumbling up toys so all genders have an equal opportunity' to play with them, and allowing children to change their gender identity in class. 'Be inclusive of a child who identifies as another gender to the one they were assigned at birth,' it says. 'Refer to the child in the gender they prefer. Your modelling of how this child is included and referred to will be paramount to the attitudes of the other children and their families.' It also says: 'Use gender-neutral language when referring to children, e.g. instead of saying 'Choose a boy', say 'Choose a friend'.' Another page has a diagram of the 'genderbread person', a gingerbread figure, which says: 'Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand, but most people don't. Gender isn't binary. It's not either/or. In many cases it's both/and. A bit of this, a dash of that,' it reads. Under identity, it tells children that identity 'is how you, in your head, experience and define your gender, based on how much you align (or don't align) with what you understand the options for gender to be.' The mother and former teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed her concerns had been waved away by Jim Robbins, the council's chairman. She said she had also met local MP, Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, who has made enquiries to the council and is awaiting a response. The mother said: 'My question was, why are schools and public health not in line with the Cass Review? How can school policy be so divorced? 'She [Ms Alexander] said I was 'the only person in my constituency that has raised these issues',' the mother said. 'I know there are more, but even if [it was just me], we are talking about child safeguarding, child safety needs to be investigated.' A spokesman for Swindon and Wiltshire Pride said: 'We believe in 'Pride 365': a year-round commitment to celebrating identity, raising awareness, and supporting LGBTQIA+ people in our community. Throughout the year, we engage with a wide range of local events, organisations, and educational settings to build understanding and foster inclusion. 'During this Pride Month, we were invited into a small number of local schools to support their curriculum-led work around diversity and LGBTQIA+ relationships. Our support guide includes helpful information, links to support organisations, and content written for all audiences – it contains no sexual content whatsoever. 'It is disheartening, though sadly not surprising, to face unfounded attacks or misrepresentations of our work. As a visible LGBTQIA+ charity, we know that some individuals may seek to undermine the progress we are making in fostering a more compassionate, inclusive society. 'We remain proud of our mission and grateful to the many people, schools, and communities who continue to stand with us.'
The National
7 hours ago
- Health
- The National
More than a third of children spend over seven hours a day on screens, UAE study finds
More than one third of children in the UAE spend over seven hours each weekday on screens, according to new research. The findings, published as schools in the country take tougher action to restrict mobile phone use, also highlighted a link between the excessive use of electronic devices and a lack of exercise. Carried out by University of Sharjah and American University of Beirut, the research reported that 37.7 per cent of students spent more than seven hours on screens each weekday, outside of lessons. 'High screen time was associated with lower physical activity levels, as 68.8 per cent of children who exceeded seven hours of screen time did not participate in any physical activity,' the study said, referring to time outside of lessons during the school week. Based on data about mobile phone, laptop, television and tablet use submitted by parents of 300 children in the UAE aged from four to 17, the paper also found that screen time increased with age. What can parents do? The findings highlighted, the researchers said, 'the need for families to take proactive measures to limit screen time and encourage more physical activity in their children'. 'Parents should be encouraged to set clear limits on screen time and promote alternative activities, such as sports, outdoor play and family outings,' the researchers said. With more than six in 10 children eating sweets while using screens, the researchers said that 'addressing dietary habits is crucial'. The new paper is titled, 'Assessing the effect of screen time on physical activity in children based on parent-reported data: a cross-sectional study,' and is published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science. Aine McGlue, head of secondary at the British International School Abu Dhabi, said that previous research showed that today's children were less active than young people from previous generations. 'So much of it is caused by inappropriate use of digital media,' she said. 'To expect a child to have the social and emotional maturity to detach themselves from a phone is unreasonable … Schools have to take a proactive stance.' In August, at the start of the 2024/25 academic year, BISAD, a Nord Anglia school, introduced a ban on mobile phone use by pupils during school hours. It is one of many UAE schools to have brought in such restrictions. Ms McGlue said that the policy was 'quite contentious at first', but parents were invited to coffee mornings during which the rule was explained, with the school highlighting research around the link between reduced screen time and improved mental and physical health. The rationale was also explained to pupils. 'Kids need to know that we're not implementing this as a punishment: there's research and evidence behind this to say this is in their best interests,' Ms McGlue said. 'The policy is clear: if you're seen with your phone, the phone is confiscated. If your phone is taken a second time, it's the parents' responsibility to come in and get the phone themselves.' Alternatives to screen time By, for example, installing table tennis tables, the school has given students additional things to do outside of lessons, instead of using phones, she said. 'At lunchtime, when kids might be feeling a little unsure about how they're going to use this time, they're actually out now playing football, they're out playing basketball,' Ms McGlue said. 'We've set up open mic sessions so that kids can creatively perform using their music skills. They have an audience around the things that they're doing.' Research from many other nations has highlighted the potential harms linked to excessive use of screen devices. In a study based on data from New Zealand, Dr Ladan Hashemi, of City St George's, part of the University of London, found that when families had stricter rules about using screens when children were of pre-school age, obesity rates were lower later on in childhood. Dr Hashemi told The National that excessive screen time, poor diet, lack of physical activity and poor sleep were all linked. Using screens too often can, for example, encourage unhealthy snacking, while late-night screen use can disrupt sleep. 'Families who had better regulation around the use of screen devices, their children were more likely to have better sleep, longer sleep, and they were less likely to spend time on screen devices, which means they have more time for physical activity. These are strong contributors to reducing childhood obesity,' Dr Hashemi said. She said that for school-age children, less than two hours per day on screens was widely recommended – but also that parents should set an example. 'You can't just tell children to abandon devices if you as a parent are spending too much time on screens. You need, as a parent, to set an example as a role model,' she said. Dr Hashemi said that parents may 'use screen devices as a babysitter' to occupy their children, so cutting down on screen time meant that parents should provide alternative things to do. 'If you restrict the children's screen time, you need to give them more means to spend their time – family time, activity time, school-based activities, community-based activities,' she said. The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends that for children aged two to five, non-educational screen time should be limited to about one hour per weekday and three hours per day at weekends. For children aged six and older, the academy recommends that parents 'encourage healthy habits and limit activities that include screens'. Screens should be turned off during family meals and outings, the academy suggests, and turned off and removed from bedrooms at least half an hour before lights out. In March, the UAE's first digital detox clinic for children has opened in Abu Dhabi offering a programme to address the growing problem of screen addiction in young people.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Top tips for taking children to Glastonbury Festival
Music, art, games, fields and "lots of fun". It is no wonder that festivals are an increasingly popular choice for families looking for summer Glastonbury Festival a go-to for adults and children alike, we spoke to three mums about their top tips for keeping all the generations was a popular choice - not the kind you get to the festival in, but the kind you can trundle your children around in, because festivals are very big spaces for little key advice is a healthy dollop of patience for parents and a comfy pair of shoes for, well, everyone. Kelly and her husband, both 41, from Weston-super-Mare, are planning their eighth and 10th visit to Glastonbury Festival this year. Their children, aged six and 10, are looking forward to their fourth said they are "incredibly lucky" to be able to enjoy two days of the festival before the children's grandparents bring them to the site on Saturday means the adults have two days before the children arrive, and the children do not miss said her top tips would be: Be flexible, don't over-plan, relax and most importantly, have fun!"Your festival experience is completely different when you take your children, so don't try and get them to fit into your schedule... go at their pace, explore with them and experience the festival through their eyes." Kelly's other tips include:Put a wristband with your mobile number on your child's wrist (or pick one up from the kidzfield)Create a meeting point in each spaceTake ear defenders for childrenAvoid big acts on small stages as crowds are overwhelming. If you go, stay at the back where there is space to danceSee as much as possible with your children. Kidzfield, Greenpeace, Glastonbury-on-sea, circus and theatreExplore the South-East corner during the day – there's lots of great stuff to see there and you'll avoid the crowds. And hunt down the dragon in the woods by the Stone Circle Melissa, 42, and her partner Ben, 37, live near Woolavington, in Somerset, and are taking their daughter Lexi for the third time this summer and Ben's son for the second has been to almost every Glastonbury Festival since she was 16-years-old, adding it must be about her 20th time going. She said life as a mum can get extremely busy, "so it's nice to wear what you want, be covered in glitter, make friends with strangers and party in a field".Melissa said that like Kelly, they also split Glastonbury week in two - allowing them to set everything up and catch up with friends before going home to pick up "some very excited children" on Saturday, have a shower and head back to the said her top tip for taking babies is a good carrier. "When Lexi was tiny she loved being in the carrier and we could just take her everywhere with us - even dancing," she said a solid pushchair is also a must and that the festival's Little Kids R&R tent is "amazing" as it has facilities for children and babies with bottle cleaning, sterilising and baby changing. Melissa's other tips include:Let the kids explore - there's so much for all the senses with the Kidzfield, circus, theatre and cabaret and "the pier is like another world"Take snacks - lots of snacks! Bubbles for the kids to play with Take a couple of changes of clothing for the days, and layers and onesies for evening A big blanket to put over the pushchair once babies/toddlers are asleep Vicky, 41, from Windsor, Berkshire, took her two daughters to Glastonbury Festival in 2023, when they were aged two and three, and said most people thought they were crazy, "but we had a lot of fun".Although unsuccessful getting tickets this year, she said she would love to take them again, and she is an admin of Glasto Families Facebook and her husband had previously attended the festival about five times and said key to the success of taking their children was hiring a camper van and going on the Tuesday so they were able to settle before a lot of people key piece of advice is to have a good mode of transport to take young kids around the site - with big wheels, "so if it is muddy, it can still manoeuvre well"."An all-terrain buggy or wagon, is vital, especially when you have young children," she said. Vicky's tips include: Be flexible - you never know when children may have a meltdown or need the looTake food, snacks and easy breakfast things - we took porridge pots which means they started the day with full belliesIf you want to see bands, take games, sticker books and colouring books so the children have something for when they get boredAnd, she said, see the festival through your children's eyes. Her four-year-old daughter watched the Foo Fighters and Guns N' Roses and now wants to join the rock band at school and play the drums. "It inspires them to do things they wouldn't do otherwise," Vicky added.
