In the UK, over the past three decades or so, there has been a tenfold increase in the number of people diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. This astonishing rise is a cause for concern, autism (and other associated conditions, Asperger’s syndrome included) having emerged from nowhere to trouble our children and threaten their...Read More

Let us be clear about this right from the start. Our intention is not to criticise, to denigrate or to find fault. There has been much finger pointing – in the main at police forces in England and Wales – in response to the Inspectorate of Constabulary’s report on how child abuse investigations are conducted....Read More

Could YOUR child climb a tree? Many, we contend, would have no idea how, while others, it’s fair to say, would have little or no inclination. Give them an Xbox (or something similar) and it’d be a different matter . . . That children have, in general terms, become so detached from the great outdoors...Read More

Is YOUR child overweight? There is, it appears, a reasonable chance of it. You see, according to figures that have been released in recent days, almost one in four under-fives in Britain can be considered as such. This is, for obvious reasons, quite a concern. Research that is due to be presented at a congress...Read More

Think about men in the media and the picture that is painted often isn’t the prettiest. Operation Yewtree. Domestic abuse. Violent celebrities. Sexual Predators. From Savile to Clarkson, Ched Evans et al. From arrogance to abuse and all stops in between. The media does so much to shape our perceptions. That being the case, those...Read More

Earlier this month, we found ourselves at odds with Sir Richard Branson. You see, not long after publishing a blog post outlining the dangers that smoking skunk can pose to teenagers, the Virgin supremo made comments that left us staggered. The headline in The Telegraph read: ‘No harm in skunk for most of us, says...Read More

Young people need hope. Young people need vision. Young people need drive. Young people need aspirations. Young people need to take risks from time to time. To aim high. To try hard. To reach out and take the opportunities on offer. To achieve. To succeed. To realise their full potential. Young people do not need...Read More

In health terms, there is nothing that concerns parents more than a child’s emotional and mental state. This is a subject that we tackled in a recent post on our blog following some in-depth research into the subject. Not long after the report that prompted this post, further figures were released. These underlined some of...Read More

Got children? Got concerns? To be a parent is to fret. It’s part of the job. Not much makes us more anxious than the health of our children. Serious illnesses such as cancer. Long-term conditions like asthma or diabetes. Health, weight and diet. There’s so much to perturb parents. Few things, however, worries us much...Read More

This week – November 17th to 21st 2014 – is Anti-Bullying Week. Bullying in all forms is something that, both as professionals and parents, we feel VERY strongly about. In this, we are far from alone. The internet, so often at the root of the problems that children and teenagers experience, is awash with resources,...Read More