Results tagged “children” from Birmingham Post - News Blog

You've got to admire the Government. It's basically hung an axe over the head of 638 secondary schools it believes aren't doing well enough.
These schools now either need to shape up or face the consequences, which could include being shut down.

Suicide is a difficult subject to write about. Now that the media concern surrounding Bridgend and the suicides of young people in that area has declined slightly, it might be an apt time to reconsider the media reporting.

In documenting the alarming suicide rate in what some in the tabloid media daubed 'Britain's bleakest town', it was quite common for newspapers to talk of social networking sites and suicide pacts. Rightly, some of the less responsible reporting has been condemned. Yet not all of the press coverage has been bad. Indeed, it might also have a positive effect and change policy.

There is clearly a story to cover when large numbers of young people take their lives, and it is right that we ask questions about how we might respond. I would also like to think that the media reflect the public interest, and that that is not simply ghoulish, but more driven by a true feeling of concern and empathy for the young people who ended their lives and their friends and families.