NSPCC’s ‘How Safe Are Our Children?’ report

20 Jun 2018 in Safeguarding and Child Protection > Safeguarding & Child Protection >

Print this article Font size -16+

NSPCC’s ‘How Safe Are Our Children?’ report

Jenny Coles, Chair of the ADCS Families, Communities and Young People Policy Committee, said:

“Keeping children and young people safe from harm is important work for all local authorities, but we cannot do this alone, everybody has a role to play. Child protection work has become increasingly challenging, a challenge augmented by a 49% reduction in local authority budgets since 2010. This year the NSPCC’s report majors on technology-facilitated abuse and exploitation, this is an increasingly complex area for all involved in child protection and for children and their families – not least due to the popularity of social media, its swift evolution and the way in which individuals and criminal networks use the internet to abuse and exploit children. These platforms are now a part of everyday life but they bring with them a range of opportunities and risks. Online abuse can take many forms and can have a devastating and long-term impact on children and young people’s emotional and mental health. Our own Safeguarding Pressures research shows that digital dangers are a growing factor in some referrals to children’s social care and we agree that the voluntary Code of Practice does not go far enough to protect children and young people from the range of risks they face when online. Providers must recognise their role in keeping children safe online too and we would support considerations around how to develop and strengthen legislation in this area to keep children safe from harm.”

ENDS