Following a series of lessons that tackle head on the problems related to bullying and cyberbullying, a Merseyside school has seen incidents of bullying drop:
Last night teaching officials said the powerful lessons were already paying dividends.
Recorded incidents of cyberbullying among pupils have tumbled by 75% when comparing recorded figures this month, as compared with December last year.
The school’s ICT director, Nigel Price, and head of the lower school, Barbara Jones, have run the classes after being trained by The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.
The lessons look at the impact …

As part of the government’s CashBack for Communities initiative, Angus, Perth and Dundee shall be receiving a cash injection of money retrieved from criminal activity:
As part of the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities initiative, 16 groups have been allocated funding awards to help them continue to operate in their areas.
The Volunteer Centre Angus was allotted £4,454 by the fund, while Forfar Wheeled Sports, which is helping to build a skatepark in the town, was given £4,691, as part of the total of £55,445 awarded to associations across the three council …

The United Nations has proclaimed 2010 to be the Year of Youth, aiming to "encourage dialogue and understanding across generations and promote the ideals of peace, respect for human rights and freedoms, and solidarity."
In an effort to harness the energy, imagination and initiative of the world’s youth in overcoming the challenges facing humankind, from enhancing peace to boosting economic development, the United Nations today proclaimed an International Year of Youth starting on 12 August 2010.
"The International Year is about advancing the full and effective participation of youth in all aspects …

Diane Engelhardt House in Cardiff, a multi-million pound charity centre that supports vulnerable children has official opened:
The centre has been built with the support of several donors.
One mother who turned to the charity for help for her two young children when she left an abusive relationship said it had saved their lives.
The Cardiff woman, who wants to remain anonymous, said her son and daughter, now 10 and six, had suffered abuse like her at the hands of her partner.
But she said an NSPCC course, part of its domestic abuse service, …

As reported earlier this week, a protest against cuts to youth service spending has gone ahead with the support of local youths:
YOUNG homeless people joined protesters at County Hall today to demonstrate against Oxfordshire County Council moves to slash spending on youth services.
Placards denounced the council’s plan to cut youth support by more than half – from £3.7m to £1.4m by 2013.
Daniel Fraser, 17, who is living in temporary accommodation in Rivermead Road, Rose Hill, Oxford, urged the council to maintain spending on youth services – particularly Oxford’s Detached Youth …

What is a social network? What are the dangers for children using such services?
In this latest article Computer Active explains all of the important terminology and current popular services among young people:
If chatter about social-networking sites and instant messaging (IM) bewilders you or leaves you cold, don’t worry. Opinion tends to be pretty equally divided as to their worth. At best, many detractors dismiss sites such as Facebook or Twitter or tools such as Aim and Windows Live Messenger as a waste of time. At worst they are perceived as …

A recent test programme in North Devon has shown a marked decrease in alcohol sales to minors:
Officers and young volunteers visited a total of nine businesses and all refused to sell alcohol to 15 and 16 year old young volunteers.
These results are a welcome improvement on a similar exercise held six months ago when a third of off-licenses in Barnstaple and Torrington failed similar checks.
The operation was part of an ongoing project focusing on the problems caused by the sale of age restricted products to youngsters. In previous Devon exercises, …

Southend Council’s Intervention Project designed to reduce the number of people turning to crime has had a "100% success rate" and as such received the praise of Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
Under the scheme, the council’s youth offending service gets in touch with families of youngsters with a high risk of offending.
They teach the families parenting skills, how to set boundaries with their kids and how to get them up and off to school.
It has been such a success that Mr Brown invited youth offending chief Carol Compton and council chief …