children

Drugs and alcohol

Drinking alcohol is very common. For most people, it is an enjoyable part of a party or going out with friends. Most people who drink do not have a drink problem. However, for some children and young people who call ChildLine, alcohol does cause problems. This can be because they are drinking too much. More commonly though, it is because someone they care about – a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, girlfriend, boyfriend or a friend – is drinking too much. For these callers, alcohol is a problem. This is called alcohol abuse.

Barriers to work: lone parents and the challenges of working

As part of its drive to end child poverty by 2020, the Government aims to encourage 300,000 more lone parents into work.

A number of questions arise, however, about the measures that the government is taking to achieve that goal: Are they appropriate? Will they be effective? What could be done differently?

This report looks at these questions from the perspective of lone parents who use Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) services.

Paedophiles (Radio 4 series: Woman's Hour)

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series asks if a community can recover when a known abuser returns to live there and if a small community can help in the rehabilitation of a sex offender. What benefits does the community gain? A mother whose daughter was sexually abused by a local man is concerned how his return to their community will affect her family's lives. Jenni Murray talks to child psychotherapist Anne Bannister to discuss how a community can heal itself when a known paedophile lives within it.

Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2003

This Act was developed in response to investigations carried out by a Scottish Parliament committee which concluded that a new and independent office of 'Commissioner for Children and Young People' (the Commissioner) should be established. There are a number of principles which underpin the Act. These are that the Commissioner is independent; the best interests of children and young people should be a primary consideration in all matters affecting them; and the views of children and young people should be taken into account in accordance with age and maturity.

Refuge for young runaways in the UK: a critical overview

This report deals with the concept of 'refuge' for children under the age of sixteen who are away from home or care, as established under section 51 of the Children's Act 1989 and section 38 of The Children's (Scotland) Act 1995. It discusses the factors affecting its provision in the UK and goes on to detail a series of pilot programmes, run between 2004-2006. These were funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills, aimed to extend the models of community-based refuge.

The Yorkshire Ripper (Radio 4 series: Woman's Hour)

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at how the Yorkshire Ripper's crimes affected the 25 children he left motherless. Almost 30 years ago, a young woman went missing in the early hours of the morning. When they found her body, only yards away from the house where her four young children had been sleeping, the police were yet to realise they had a serial killer in their midst. Wilma McCann was the first victim of Peter Sutcliffe who became known as the Yorkshire Ripper.