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Welcome to the Devon and Cornwall Police website for professionals working with children and young people

Every police interaction is an opportunity for intervention and to build better relationships

Latest News



13/06/2021: Children’s access to online porn fuels sexual harassment, says commissioner

Curbs on children’s access to online pornography need to be brought in urgently to stop the spread of an activity that is partly to blame for normalising sexual harassment in schools, according to the . . . new children’s commissioner for England. Dame Rachel de Souza is urging governments and tech companies to introduce age verification checks. She warned that access to hardcore pornography was shaping children’s expectations of relationships and was partly to blame for thousands of testimonies of sexual harassment by schoolchildren published on the Everyone’s Invited website over the last few months.
Guardian

12/06/2021: TikTok: the new frontier for safeguarding issues

TikTok is a mystery to most adults. It may seem like a site for harmless dances and viral trends that teenagers enjoy – and for the most part, it is. But as with so many things on the internet, there . . . is a danger of a darker side.
Times Education Supplement

11/06/2021: Girls asked for nudes by up to 11 boys a night, Ofsted finds

Some girls can be contacted by up to 11 boys a night asking for nude images, the schools watchdog for England says. In an Ofsted survey, girls explained that if they blocked boys on social media “they . . . just create multiple accounts to harass you”. The report also found nine in 10 girls experienced sexist name-calling or were sent explicit photos or videos.
BBC

11/06/2021: ‘Cannabis sweets’: NI schools issue warning to parents

Schools in NI have been asked to warn parents and staff about pupils eating cannabis oil disguised as sweets. The Department of Education (DE) said a young child had to be assessed in hospital after . . . they “inadvertently consumed cannabis” when eating the sweets. The warning came in a letter to all school principals from DE. It said children could suffer hallucinations, nausea or vomiting if they ate the sweets.
BBC

11/06/2021: OnlyFans must do more to protect children, watchdog says

The children’s commissioner for England says OnlyFans needs to do more to stop underage users after the BBC revealed some were selling explicit videos. BBC News found under-18s have used fake . . . identification to set up accounts on the site and police say a 14-year-old used her grandmother’s passport. Dame Rachel de Souza has written to the British website expressing her “shock” and “deepest concern” at the findings.
BBC

11/06/2021: Why schools need to talk about loneliness

Lockdown, isolation and bereavement have all contributed to feelings of loneliness in the past year. Two charities have put together teaching resources to help. Since March 2020, all our lives have . . . changed in ways that we could never have imagined. Every one of us has experienced anxiety, fear and, most likely, boredom.
Times Education Supplement

11/06/2021: ‘Sex abuse in schools is an issue that shames us all’

This week Ofsted shone a bleak spotlight on what it’s like for many girls and young women to be just that: girls and young women. In a sobering report, inspectors revealed how prevalent sexual . . . harassment and online sexual abuse is in the world that our children and young people inhabit. For many of them, incidents are so commonplace that they see no point in reporting them.
Times Education Supplement

10/06/2021: More swearing but parents want children protected

People are increasingly likely to use strong swearing in their everyday life, says research from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The body, which gives age ratings to films, says about . . . a third of people in the UK are more likely to use strong swear words than five years ago. But the research found parents did not want age restrictions weakened for swearing in movies and DVDs. Parents wanted to protect children “for as long as possible” from swearing.
BBC

NEWSLETTER: Youth and Online Safety

Events


30/06/2021: Effective Drug and Alcohol education (From £95.00)

Informed by our work with academic experts in the field and the evidence base for what works when teaching about alcohol … and other drugs, this interactive online course will explore how PSHE education leads and teachers can plan and teach Drug and Alcohol education in primary schools. It will explore what makes effective, age-appropriate learning for primary pupils growing up in modern day Britain and how utilising positive social norms can support learning. The course will support your understanding of how to equip your pupils with the knowledge they need relating to alcohol and other drugs, as well as how to develop the skills and attitudes to manage pressure, and seek support.
More Information

31/07/2021: Treating Depression in Young People Workshop with Dr Penny Utton (2-Day) (£0 – £170)

Join Dr Penny Utton for this 2-day workshop designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills for working with young … people. This workshop is open to anyone with an interest in the subject matter, wants to develop their skills and expand their knowledge. This workshop is particularly appropriate for training and practising counsellors, psychotherapists, counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals.
Iron Mill College 7 Barnfield Cresent ExeterMore Information

18/09/2021: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Understanding and Working with Children & YP (£65.00)

The day will first look at the Emotional and Psychic Development of Children and Adolescents.

Somerset Counselling Centre, TauntonMore Information

Publications


Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges

Ofsted was asked by the government to carry out a rapid review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. This report summarises our findings and . . . recommendations.
Read

Children’s views on being reported missing from care

Children who are looked after in the care system are disproportionately likely to go missing. One in every ten looked after children will go missing . . . compared to an estimated one in every two hundred children generally.1 They are also much more likely to be reported missing on multiple occasions: in 2020, over 12,000 children who were looked after went missing in over 81,000 missing incidents. Nearly 65% of missing looked after children were reported missing more than once in 2020.
Read

Domestic Abuse Act 2021

An Act to make provision in relation to domestic abuse; to make provision for and in connection with the establishment of a Domestic Abuse . . . Commissioner; to make provision for the granting of measures to assist individuals in certain circumstances to give evidence or otherwise participate in civil proceedings; to prohibit cross-examination in person in family or civil proceedings in certain circumstances; to make further provision about orders under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989; to provide for an offence of threatening to disclose private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress; to provide for an offence of strangulation or suffocation; to make provision about circumstances in which consent to the infliction of harm is not a defence in proceedings for certain violent offences; to make provision about certain violent or sexual offences, and offences involving other abusive behaviour, committed outside the United Kingdom; and for connected purposes.
Read

Independent Review into Child Sexual Abuse in Football 1970-2005

The FA has today published Clive Sheldon QC’s independent report into allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse in football.

Read

Useful Links


The Breck Foundation

The Breck Foundation campaigns for a safer internet for all children and young people – whether they are gaming, communicating on social media, using . . . apps or taking part in any other internet-based activity.
https://www.breckfoundation.org

The Ben Kinsella Trust

We are one of the leading anti-knife crime charities in the UK, set up following the tragic murder of Ben Kinsella in 2008. Our vision is of a society . . . where no family or community suffers the loss of a life to knife crime. We are a young person’s charity and we believe in prevention through education. We adopt a universal and early intervention approach aimed at preventing young people from making the wrong choices and helping them to stay safe.
https://benkinsella.org.uk

Young Carers in Schools Programme

Young Carers in Schools is a free initiative that makes it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers, and awards good practice. Run . . . jointly by Carers Trust and The Children’s Society, the Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) programme works with schools across England to share good practice, provide relevant tools and training, and to celebrate the great outcomes that many schools achieve for young carers. Due to the increased pressures of Covid-19, now is a crucial time to be implementing support for young carers in school.
https://youngcarersinschools.com

The For Baby’s Sake Trust

We campaign and share expertise on improving life-chances. We call on government not to waste the precious time when babies’ brains are developing and . . . parents want help to break cycles of domestic abuse and related traumatic adversities. We empower expectant parents with what they need to break the cycle of domestic abuse and give their baby the best possible start in life, especially by helping them to come to terms with trauma and adversity in their own childhoods.
https://www.forbabyssake.org.uk

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