MetaFilter posts tagged with Children and UK

Watch from behind the sofa

Artw — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:30:53 -0800

Is Doctor Who too scary for kids? Parents surveyed by TheBabyWebsite seem to think so. But is being scared a good thing? (via io9)

Flippin' 'Eck, Tucker!

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:34:13 -0800

After 30 years, the final bell has rung and it's home time for Grange Hill... Entertaining several generations of British kids, it depicted a typical north London school with for the time a revolutionary level of gritty realism and later gaining controversy with violence, racism, teenage pregnancy, drug addiction and er nudity stories. Though oddly it was only this scene that was cut from all future broadcasts. It seems in recent years to have became a shadow of its former self and the ending a bit of a damp squib so perhaps it's better to remember those classic 'flying sausage' years... The 15 Greatest Characters Where Are They Now? Lee ' Zammo' McDonald interview

Austria asks: How did this happen again?

essexjan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:24:32 -0800

"The whole country must ask itself just what is really, fundamentally going wrong." An Austrian pensioner has admitted holding his daughter captive in a basement for 24 years, during which time he fathered seven children with her. Inexplicably, three of the children were later adopted by him and his wife, on the premise that their daughter had gone to live with a religious cult. One baby died, and its body was burned by the (grand)father in the back garden. The daughter and her other children lived in the basement, accessible only through a metal door secured by a combination known only to her father, with no access to sunlight or fresh air. Their one concession was a television. The escape came when the woman's 19-year-old captive child fell seriously ill, and her mother secreted a note in her clothing which was found by hospital staff. Their ordeal is far from over - the mother and the three captive children will need therapy that's beyond imagination. As will, no doubt, the other family members affected by this. But, following the Natasha Kampusch case two years ago, questions are being asked in Austria about how this could have happened in a small town where the family was well-known. The abuser was not a loner weirdo. And, of course, it couldn't happen in the UK, could it? As the British Government increases court fees for care proceedings by 2,500%, the risk of more children slipping through the safety net increases.

Cockroach baby ads banned

TheophileEscargot — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 04:48:08 -0800

UK bans controversial charity ads In recent weeks, UK newspaper readers have been opening their newspapers to find full-page, colour pictures of a cockroach crawling out of the mouth of a baby. Now the adverts, for children's charity Barnardo's, have been banned. Barnado's maintain that the pre-Christmas ads were justified as "a way of cutting through the apathy."

Have more sex

jonvaughan — Wed, 24 Sep 2003 04:44:50 -0800

Have more sex says the Conservative party in the UK, procreate for the good of the economy and solve the looming pensions crisis. "Europe's real demographic crisis is not longevity but birth rates". Research says, apparently, that most women want more children than they have, but could it also be the case that a growing number of people just don't see the attraction?

What's in a can of beans?

snez — Tue, 21 Jan 2003 11:35:53 -0800

Children of the bean sing a catchy little ditty and have a theme park adventure. Something strange is going on at Edleston Primary School and I like it. Prepare for blastoff. (some links contain flash)

Girl to sue over detention

feelinglistless — Sat, 28 Dec 2002 03:57:10 -0800

Girl to sue over detention "The family, who want compensation, will argue that the detentions were unlawful because they took place in Freya's free time. " If you can't give kids detention, how else are they going to be punished for breaking school rules?

dejah420 — Mon, 13 May 2002 08:15:35 -0800

Mother jailed for girls' truancy A question for our British gang, is truancy such a problem in the UK now that this is really necessary? When I went to school in England, lo those mumblemumble years ago, I don't remember it being this bad. For the rest of the world, do you think truancy in your country would justify locking up the primary caregiver or is this punishing the wrong person? Can parents be held responsible for everything a child does? And better said, should they? When should we grant children the priviledges and penalties of their own autonomous actions?

Jubey — Mon, 26 Nov 2001 03:06:38 -0800

Naughty Children to Be Registered as Potential Criminals in the UK UK police are to set up a secret database of children as young as three who they fear might grow up to become criminals. What next, DNA testing on embryos to find out if they have a genetic leaning towards criminal behaviour? Link courtesy of Backwash.

Steven Den Beste — Mon, 15 Oct 2001 06:20:11 -0800

A couple from the UK have a beloved son who has leukemia, and who may need a marrow transplant to save his life. They are using in-vitro fertilization to select a fertilized egg which will be genetically similar enough to their son so that the resulting baby could be a marrow donor. Is it ethical to design a baby as a transplant donor, even to save the life of another child?

yevge — Sat, 08 Sep 2001 10:40:16 -0800

A Million British children all jumped at the same time. They actually caused a little bit of recordable seismic activity.

jennak — Mon, 02 Jul 2001 09:30:31 -0800

9 out of 10 Brit Kids Have Cell Phones... and 8 out of 10 have tumors the size of oranges above their right ear. Beer with school lunches and now cell phones for kids?

What happened to tying up the phone line for hours and hours til mom turns red?

pracowity — Sat, 10 Mar 2001 06:19:38 -0800

Scotland Yard raids Saatchi Gallery over complaints of child pornography in Tierney Gearon show - Why? Gearon, a former fashion model turned art photographer, has included in the show a couple of pictures of her children naked. "In one the two children are wearing theatrical masks while in the other her son is urinating in the snow." Gearon sees nothing wrong with her pictures, but apparently they make some people a little nervous.

holgate — Mon, 04 Sep 2000 02:43:09 -0800

NHS to ban Ritalin for under-fives? See, I agree with this, but it's politically divisive. The commission on clinical excellence has made a couple of controversial decisions to restrict the prescription of expensive new drugs: Allegra for flu, beta-interferon for MS, and now Ritalin. When there's such demand for the latest and greatest drugs, fuelled by the marketing budgets of the pharmaceutical companies, how do we balance the hopes and wishes of patients against the economic restrictions and clinical scepticism of the authorities?