The youngsters who struggle to speak because their parents let them watch too much TV

According to a poll published by Jean Gross, the Government's communications adviser, revealed that 22 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls have trouble developing speech and understanding other people. It emerged that middle class children were as likely to develop speech problems as children from less fluent families. This seems to be because thousands of households keep their TV on big parts or even all day. Even when the children are not watching the TV themselves, the background noise makes it hard for them to understand the speech of their parents or others around them.

Source:

The Daily Mail
Monday, 4 January 2010

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240406/How-constant-TV-giving-children-speech-problems.html



Reaction: I am not surprised that children have problems with developing their speech because of the television. When I was young our television stood in the attic and we were only allowed to watch television when it was after four
o'clock and raining or in the evening. If I was at a friends house where they did have a television in the living room I was always distracted. Then when children stay inside watching the television they don't talk to their friend so I think these children miss out a lot of occasions where they usually would 'practise' their speech.

Poots consider curfew for new Northern Ireland drivers

The environment minister, Edwin Poorts, is considering a night time curfew for newly qualified drivers. This way he wants to prevent road deaths. Northern Ireland has had a poor road safety record, significantly above the the rest of the UK. In 2009 there were 115 deaths from which 24 were pedestrians, 46 were drivers, 29 were passengers and 16 were motorcyclists which is significantly higher number than in the rest of the UK. He is also thinking about restricting the number of passengers a new driver can take along. However the minister first wants to consult the public on these issues.


Source:

BBC News
Monday, 4 January 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8439255.stm


Reaction: I think it is a good idea but also a quite complicated idea and I think newly drivers will not be to happy about it. If you want to introduce a night time curfew it you will have to be supervise it too. In summer and winter the times will probably be different and when is somebody a newly driver. Then you have the issue about the restricted number of passengers. I think that is even more complicated. Especially newly/young driver often drive with more passengers because their friend don't own a car or a license. If newly drivers can not take the people they want they will need another car which is bad for the environment.

Backlash over plan to extend TV advertising

Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, announced plans to relax the rules on product placement (advertising during a television program, not only in the commercial break). The reason for this is to help out the commercial broadcaster since internet and the downturn in advertising. Children programs would remain no go areas. Medical groups, teaching unions and children's charities are fierce against it. Research showed that a lot of children watch adult programs. The organisations are afraid that this will contribute to the epidemic of obesity and alcohol misuse. Furthermore when you allow adverts during a program the between the programmes and adverts could vanish.

Source:

The Guardian
Sunday, 3 January 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/03/backlash-plan-extend-tv-advertising

Reaction: I think they should not allow advertising during TV shows. I thinks their is enough time for advertising on television and I really hate advertising during television. Furthermore I think it will contribute to the growth of children with obesity and alcohol problems which means it is probably going to costs society a lot of money. However I understand that internet is a massive competitor for television industry but I think they should look for another solution for this problem. This should be at the expense of peoples health. Looking at all the arguments in this article I would be very surprised if the government goes through with this.

Ex-hostage 'delighted' to be freed

Peter Moore, a 36 years old computer expert from Lincoln, was released on 30 December 2009 after he had been taken hostage in Iraq in May 2007. Mr Moore was taken hostage in Iraq while working for the US management Consultancy Bearingpoint with four bodyguards. Three of his bodyguard were killed and the fourth is missing. The kidnappers were understood to belong to the obscure militia, the Islamic Shia Resistance. Mr more is delighted to be home and he wants some time and space to catch up with his family and start a period of counseling and medical care.


Source:

BBC News
Sunday, 3 January 2009

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8438327.stm


Reaction: I am glad he is free. It must have been a terrible experience to be held hostage especially for such a long time. I am also surprised that they released him because they held them for so long and killed his three companions and presumably the fourth too. I hope he will be able to catch up with his family and will be able to start his rehabilitation/reintegration again. Moreover I hope that the media and such will leave him alone so he has some space to pick up his life.

Hope for boy who couldn't eat any food

Ben McGrath, a 12 year old boy, suffers from a very rare illness where the body mistakes food for an infection. Since his birth anything he ate or drank made him have a terrible pain, his body would spasm or worse. The first years of his life he was in and out the hospital. When he was 18 months he was finally diagnosed with his illness, eosinophilic enterocolitis allergic enteropathy. For more than 10 years Ben has been fed a special elemental formula, inserted directly into his stomach overnight. Now there is a treatment that might make Ben able to have the tube removed when he is 15 and live a normal life. Ben can now eat some food, but only in small portions.


Source:

The Observer
Sunday, 3 January 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/03/boy-who-cant-stomach-food


Reaction: I hope they succeed with this new treatment. The boy is obviously held back by his condition and did not really have the time to be a normal child because of all the problems his condition brought him. I can not imagine what it would be like to not be able to eat or drink at all. Lots of things in society are build around eating, especially when you are a child. It has been very hard on him and his family and I think they definitely deserve some good results from this treatment.

Olympics row over horse 'cruelty'

An international row started when a video of a dressage horse was shown on youtube. It showed the Swedish rider Patrik Kittel warming up his horse using the Rollkur technique and made the tongue of the horse go blue. This technique makes the horse's neck round in a deep curve so its nose almost touches its chest. The horse can only see its own feet, so it is reliant on the rider for balance. This incident caused a storm of protest and threats to boycott the 2012 event in London. The British Horse Society demands the FEI to investigate this incident and the dressage training methods and practises being used on some of the world's most expensive competition horses.

Source:

The Observer
Sunday, 3 January 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/03/olympics-row-over-horse-cruelty

Reaction: I agree with the British Horse Society that there has to be an investigation about this matter! The horse riding sport should not harm the horses and if people abuse their horses in my opinion they should be banned from the sport or having horses at all. The fact that the tongue of the horse turns blue means something is wrong (most of the time it means they are in pain or have been during training) so I think an investigation about this particulary horse rider is also very important.

Inside Mulberry Bush school, a unique sanctuary for traumatised children

The Mulberry Bush school is the home for children who emotionally troubled and traumatized children between the age of 5 to 12 years. The Mulberry school can offer sanctuary to a maximum of 40 children. These children have had a terrible start in life often with assault, sexual abuse or even witnessed a family member being murdered. Furthermore, often these children have been in several foster homes and sent back because their foster parents could not handle them. The Mullberry Bush school tries to give these children a home where they are safe and can grow emotionally and try to help them to be more integrated into mainstream society. These children have such extreme patterns of behaviour that this school is their last change for any sort of normal life.

Source:

The Observer
Sunday, 3 January 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/03/mulberry-bush-sanctuary-traumatised-children

Reaction: I think it is very important that their are facilities for these children. They have never had a safe and loving home and can not be blamed for their behaviour. Their first years have been so traumatic and they do not know how to live a 'normal' life. Their standards have been the ones thought by their parents who abused them and traumatised them. Therefore I think it is very important these children are raised in a safe environment where they learn how to cope with their past and how to live their lifes as normal as possible.

Warning on heavy drinking 'burden'

Heavy drinking costs the NHS approximately 2.7 billion pounds a year. The growing addiction to alcohol is putting an enormous strain on the health costs and services and is a burden that is no longer sustainable. Alcohol consumptions has gone up 20% in the last three decades and the long-term costs will only rise. To solve this issue cultural and social aspects should be taken into account. Furthermore the social attitude towards drinking, alcohol prices, raising awareness towards alcohol harm, better links between services and education to children are important aspects while struggling with this issue.

Source:

The Independent
Friday, 1 January 2009

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/warning-on-heavy-drinking-burden-1855027.html

Reaction: I think this is a big problem. The numbers of alcohol related incidents are rising which means the costs are rising too. There is a lot of pressure on hospital staff and if people keep on drinking the healthcare costs will keep on rising. I also think it is a rather stupid problem. I think it is an outrage that people who drink to much take up precious time from hospital staff or ambulance staff. People know the dangers of alcohol and I think that most of these kind of incidents are unnecessary if people just used their brain a bit more often.

School system 'shameful', says CBI boss

Richard Lambert said the education system is producing results 'we ought to be ashamed of'. Photograph: Sarah Lee

Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, says the government is wasting money on the educational system while the outcomes aren't great. According to Richard Lambert the problems for the bad school results are rooted in a “culture of low aspiration”. He had a growing concern about the school system when prominent business leaders publicly decried the educational system. OECD figures show that Britain has more drunkenness in students than any other country and have the fourth highest cohorts of Needs. Ed Balls, the school secretary disagrees. He says that redeveloping the educational system has been necessary to improve the system.

Source:

The Guardian
Thursday, 31 December 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/dec/31/school-system-shameful-cbi-boss

Reaction: I agree partly with Richard Lambert. I do agree that part of the problem a cultural and social problem. On the other hand I do not think that the government is wasting money on the educational system. Creating a learning environment is the first step to improve the educational system. It is important that teachers have fair pay rises and that class sizes are not to big. Nevertheless I think it is not the only step you must take. However there is a lot of under performing that should be tackled. I think the government should pay attention to that part too.

Tony Blair admits: I would have invaded Iraq anyway

Tony Blair told Fern Britton, in an interview to be broadcast on BBC1, that he would have found a way to justify the Iraq invasion. Photograph: BBC

Tony Blair, the former prime minister, told Fern Britton in an interview he would have invaded Iraq even without the evidence of weapons of mass destruction. He would still have thought it to be right to remove Saddam Hussein from power and support a regime change. According to Tony Blair he was a threat to the region and even without weapons of mass destruction he would have found a way to justify the Iraq war to the people and the parliament.

Source:

The Guardian
Saturday, 12 December 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/12/tony-blair-iraq-chilcot-inquiry

Reaction: First of all I think it is wrong to start a war because you want a regime change, there are other measures you can take. I think it is wrong to endanger the life's of residents in a country because you don't agree with the regime. Secondly, if you start a war, don't lie about your reasons. Because of this interview to me Tony Blair has lost all his credibility. I start to doubt the real reason Tony Blair started this war, especially now I realise that soon after the war had started it became clear that their were no weapons of mass destruction.