Latest news with #NSPCC
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
The story every mum and dad needs to hear as kids groomed and blackmailed on social media
Children across Birmingham are being groomed and exploited into gangs through social media. It's a frightening truth, but it's the reality here in 2025. Youths are approached online with offers of high-end trainers or 'fast cash', in return for running drugs or driving a car on behalf of a gang. Once they're involved in that lifestyle, they find themselves carrying knives, machetes and even guns. Whether its unfiltered videos of stabbings or gangs being glamourized in music videos, children are all being exposed to the same content on social media. Read more: Birmingham Children's Hospital offers 'harsh truth' as staff fight to save teenage stab victims We explored the dangers of social media influence on children as part of our Deep Cuts project - a three month investigation into the root causes and societal issues behind knife crime. As part of our five key asks, we're urging all parents to make sure parental controls are applied to their child's phone. Birmingham's gang police spoke of the cruel tactics used to groom kids online while an ex-gang member told us how social media posts can instigate violence in the real world. We also sought advice from NSPCC, who shared the grooming signs every parent should look out for in their teenagers. "There's predators that prey on kids that are just given an iPad, or given a phone and parents say 'here you go, leave me alone,'" Sgt Varley, of Operation Guardian, told us. "They're in their room and it's like kicking them outside and leaving them to fend for themselves - that's the equivalent of it, being a kid on social media, because they don't know what's right and what's wrong. 'They film them performing a sexual act and it will be posted on Snapchat or Instagram if you don't do this.' They are basically like prisoners." Worryingly, the online world also creates a platform where confrontations - which would otherwise stop at school - can escalate 24/7. One ex-gang member, who carried a knife and was involved in a street robbery, told BirminghamLive: "If social media wasn't around, a lot of things that happened to me wouldn't have happened. "Certain arguments that happen should not have gone that far. If group chat wasn't made to carry it on and certain posts weren't made to aggravate people, make people angry and embarrass people. "Social media is just that thing that puts the cherry on top for everything and just instigate so many things, that don't need to be instigated." His story is one of fear and hope - and one every parent should read. Though he grew up in Longbridge, he found himself influenced by excluded kids sent to his school. Mixing with gang-affiliated youths from Handsworth, he was slowly and gradually gripped into a life of crime. In his own words, he spoke of the changes As well as a youth worker, Ken is a 'peer researcher' currently exploring the link between social media and violence. "Lots of people are the same and they're having the same crisis because one of the top things is social media," he added. "Everyone is seeing the same content, everyone is seeing the same music. So everyone is listening and taking in the same information. "Everyone is naturally just talking the same, having the same mentality, having the same Issues, let's say because they're taken in the same things." As part of Deep Cuts, we also asked the NSPCC for their important advice on protecting children from grooming and exploitation. We were directed to view the signs parents should look out for in their kids - but also warned these could be masked as "normal teenage behaviour." A spokesman for the NSPCC told us: 'To determine whether a child is being exploited or groomed isn't easy as the signs can be subtle or even hidden. Older children may display what appears to be "normal" teenage behaviour that can otherwise mask more serious underlying problems. 'Children and young people can be groomed by a stranger or someone they know. This can happen either online, in person or both. When a child is groomed online, perpetrators may hide who they are by sending photos or videos of other people. They might target one child online or contact lots of children very quickly and wait for them to respond. 'Groomers will exploit any vulnerability they can to increase the likelihood of a child or young person becoming dependent on them and less likely to speak out. What is more, children may not realise that they are being been groomed. They may have complicated feelings of loyalty, admiration, love, as well as fear, distress and confusion. 'Potential signs of grooming may include whether a child is being very secretive about how and where they're spending their time. They may have an older boyfriend or girlfriend, unexplained amounts of money or new things given to them like clothes and mobile phones. They may also display sexualised behaviour that's not appropriate for their age. 'The impact of grooming can have a lasting impact on victims. It is important that parents speak to their children and address the consequences of violent or illegal behaviour. If parents or carers are concerned about the safety of a child, they should reach out to police or other agencies. There is also the NSPCC Helpline, where adults can receive free advice and information by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@ Meta, which runs WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, highlighted that they had launched Teen Accounts - which "at least 54 million teens around the world" had been moved into. "This means that they now have enhanced protections, like automatically being placed into private accounts and the strictest setting of our Sensitive Content Control, limits on notifications over night and reminders to leave the app after 60 minutes, and they can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to," said a spokesperson for Meta.
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Barrow's Dave Day 2 weekend as road closures in place
Road closures and barriers have been set up ahead of Dave Day 2, which is being held in memory of Hairy Bikers presenter Dave of bikers are expected to travel again to Barrow, Cumbria, to celebrate the life of the 66-year-old TV chef, who hailed from the town and died from cancer last Jason Woodcock - known as Woody - said people "were getting very excited" for the weekend and Furness Council warned several roads into Barrow would be "very busy" across Saturday, with crowd barriers placed in the town centre along the route. Last year's event, which saw more than 20,000 bikers travel from London, raised £127,000 for charities the NSPCC and the Institute of Cancer Research."Lots of people are getting very excited... We're really looking forward to doing this again," Mr Woodcock told BBC Radio two-day event involves entertainment on Saturday and Sunday as well as a concert and a charity football match, with tickets priced £10 for each event."It's going to be a whole weekend of togetherness," Woody added. The council warned of wider congestion around junction 36 of the M6, with Dave Day motorcyclists expected to arrive in Barrow from route of the procession travels via the A590 from the M6, turning left on to Park Road at entry into Barrow and proceeding to the town centre through Abbey council said that while it was not involved in co-ordinating the event, it was working alongside emergency services to ensure public safety and minimise community impact. "To ensure everyone's safety, please remain behind the barriers and do not step into the road or try to 'high-five' the passing bikers," a spokesperson continued. The council said there would be designated crossing points that people should use, with help from marshals and signage displayed about the procession. National Highways advised motorists to "allow more time for their journeys and to plan ahead, with thousands more bikers than usual expected on the motorway network over the weekend"."It is anticipated the M6 will be particularly busy, especially at Knutsford Services, where motorcyclists travelling from the south will gather before completing their journeys north," a spokesperson said. National Highways added that extra traffic officers would patrol at key locations. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
South Wales Argus
20-06-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Jet2holidays supports apprenticeships with 1.4m funding
Jet2holidays has committed £1.4 million for 2025/26 through its Appoint an Apprentice scheme, now in its third year. The scheme supports charity partners, independent travel agents, and suppliers in recruiting and training new and existing talent. Miriam D'souli, HR director at and Jet2holidays, said: "The response following the launch of our Appoint an Apprentice scheme three years ago has been truly remarkable, and we have received some fantastic feedback. "We are delighted to be rolling out the scheme for a third year and to be pledging our biggest level of funding ever, so that we can support even more partners to recruit the next generation of talent." In its first year, Jet2holidays funded nearly £500,000 in apprenticeship levy funds, supporting 72 new apprentices across 50 companies. The company also provided £120,000 in funding to NSPCC.
Spectator
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
NSPCC refuses to apologise to Braverman
Baroness Casey's landmark review into Britain's grooming gangs published some truly horrific findings on Monday. The damning audit revealed that disproportionate numbers of Asian men were responsible for child sexual exploitation gangs and, shockingly, that the authorities failed to crack down on them for fear of being racist. It has prompted outrage from those who had been vilified for suggesting particular groups of people were more likely to be perpetrators than others – and Mr S is curious about whether the organisations who were quick to cry racism will now retract their criticism. It seems the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is not quite there yet. In May 2023, the organisation signed a joint letter – alongside 64 other groups – in which they huffed and puffed about comments made by Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak on grooming gangs, rebutting ex-Home Secretary Braverman's claim that perpetrators of group-based offending were 'almost all British-Pakistani'. (IPSO deemed this to be misleading, but did not uphold the complaint after it accepted the Mail on Sunday's clarification, published some days later. The press regulator added: 'The Committee was not asked to, and did not, make a finding on the general issue of whether these offences are disproportionately committed by British-Pakistani men.') The letter blasted the 'misinformation, racism and division' spread by the politicians and claimed that 'partial, inaccurate or divisive claims' about child sexual abuse undermined crime prevention. The organisations fumed: We are extremely concerned that recent public communications about child sexual abuse from Government Ministers have been based on misleading information and risk creating division, rather than keeping children safe. But recent events have altered the accepted facts somewhat. The complex picture by the Casey report suggests that, where ethnicity data was logged (in around a third of the cases of group-based child sexual exploitation) there was an overrepresentation of Asian and Pakistani men. Take Manchester, for example: according to the report, over a three-year period 52 per cent of suspects involved in multi-victim, multi-offender child sexual exploitation cases were Asian compared to 38 per cent who were white. And, as Mr S has written before, Pakistani men are up to five times as likely to be responsible for child sex grooming offences than the general population, according to figures from the Hydrant Programme, which investigates child sex abuse. Around one in 73 Muslim men over 16 have been prosecuted for 'group-localised child sexual exploitation' in Rotherham, research by academics from the universities of Reading and Chichester has revealed. None of this is enough to make the NSPCC row back, however. Instead the organisation pointed Mr S towards its statement made on Monday in response to Baroness Casey's review, which said: Any child can be a victim of child sexual exploitation and adults who commit these horrific crimes come from different backgrounds and communities. Perpetrators target the most vulnerable and accessible children in society and if we narrow our focus, we risk missing those hiding in plain sight, whatever their ethnicity. When Steerpike pressed the society, it said it had no plans to put forward a retraction or apology. How very interesting. Perhaps some of the letter's other signatories may choose to distance themselves from that rather dated memo instead. Talk about aging badly, eh?
Daily Mirror
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Lauryn Goodman's 'feels sick' as her kids are dragged into trolls' hate campaign
Lauryn Goodmanhas become the victim of a hate campaign, which has seen trolls accuse the model of not feeding her children properly and mistreating Kairo and Kinara Lauryn Goodman"felt sick" after discovering trolls had doctored a cute photograph of her children - pasting the NSPCC logo on it and plastering it online. The slurs even accused Lauryn of failing to feed little Kairo and Kinara properly, allegations which left the model disgusted. The picture, complete with the NSPCC logo and the charity's phone number, ended up on notorious gossip website Tattle Life. It is one of the latest episodes amid a vile hate campaign Lauryn has faced since the story broke of her having had two children with married England footballer Kyle Walker. However, as Lauryn has been lauded for her work on social media, on which she helps other parents, and even styles herself as "a mumfluencer," the decision to share this particular image hit the woman especially hard. The mum of two said: "I couldn't eat, I felt sick and I was filled with anxiety. I got heart palpitations. I felt like I was having a panic attack... They said that Kairo and Kinara were being neglected and treated badly. They even said that I wasn't feeding my children properly and there were just no repercussions. It was disgusting and so horrible about them." The edited image appeared on Tattle Life alongside a giggling emoji. The anonymous troll, who Lauryn has described as a "keyboard warrior", had written: "It's one edit away from an NSPCC advert." Tattle Life has gripped more than 12 million unique users every month since it was founded eight years ago and became infamous for its savage attacks on influencers and celebrities. The site claims to allow "commentary and critiques" of people who "choose to monetise their personal life," but members of the public are allowed to post anonymously about anyone they want – saying anything they like, no matter how damaging. Victoria and David Beckham, TV presenter Stacey Solomon and Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague have also been victims of the keyboard warriors. But this week, founder Sebastian Bond, who had remained anonymous since the launch of the site, was finally unmasked. He went to some lengths to hide his identity and connection to the site, using different names and disguising his operations behind businesses based in locations across the world. It is reported tech entrepreneur Neil Sands and his wife Donna, who runs a popular clothing brand called Sylkie and is a fashion influencer with 26,000 Instagram followers, were awarded the damages for defamation and harassment after a court heard they were the target of a 45-page thread and were traumatised by the website for almost a decade. And Lauryn says she formed an alliance with the couple, having met through an Instagram chat group called Tattle Unmasked, which tries to reveal the identity of anonymous posters. Hailing her success, the TV personality, who has had difficulty with the website since 2020, told Mail Online: "I feel like it has impacted me in quite a lot of ways... It has contributed to the circus and the narrative of the saga with Kyle. "They are keyboard warriors, they feel so safe behind it and that they have anonymity. They take it too far and they say things that they would never, ever say to you if they saw you and they feel safe enough to go down this dark path without realising the repercussions on other people."
