Concerns the Online Safety Bill ‘might fail to protect young people from harmful content’

  • Chief executive of the Samaritans, Julie Bentley, has said that information surrounding the methods of suicide and self-harm would not reach the threshold to be classed as illegal content for those over the age of 18.
  • Research has shown that vulnerable young people in their late teens and 20s would be placed at increased risk due to this discrepancy.
  • Ms Bentley stated that legally becoming an adult did not mean that young people stop being vulnerable.
  • Research commissioned by the charity, found that 83% of UK adults agreed that suicide and self-harm content can have damaging effects on adults as well as children.
  • For more on this story, please visit the Yahoo News website.

NASUWT teaching union fails to meet ballot turnout

  • The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) reported a 42% turnout for the ballots, which was below the 50% threshold needed for lawful strike action.
  • NASUWT members, as well as those from other unions have already been on strike in Scotland.
  • Teachers from five unions in Northern Ireland are continuing to take action short of a strike which has been affecting attendance and admin tasks.
  • NASUWT national officer, Michelle Codrington-Rogers has said that teachers leaving the profession are leaving a higher workload for other staff, which could result in burnout ultimately affecting their pupils.
  • For more on this story, please visit the BBC News website.

Coercive control: Report says few teens know about form of abuse

  • A new research study, called Young People’s Understanding of Coercive Control in Northern Ireland has been carried out by Ulster University (UU), Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and the Northern Health Trust.
  • 16% of more than 2,000 16-year-olds had heard of coercive control and knew what it meant.
  • More boys than girls who took part in the study said they knew about the issue.
  • The researchers said there was limited evidence on how relationship and sex education (RSE) in schools were addressing the topic of coercive control.
  • This research comes amidst several recent calls for changes to how RSE is taught in schools.
  • For more on this story, please visit the BBC News website.