That’s according to a new study by Persil, whose Every Child Has The Right campaign has recently launched.

A staggering 85% of British mums are concerned that children are growing up too quickly, and 64% believe children are being deprived of childhood through the lack of free play.

Free play helps the following areas of children’s development:

• Boosts their imagination and creativity
• Improves language and expression
• Helps them stay active and prevents obesity
• Reduces stress
• Helps raise self-confidence
• Increases emotional development and social skills for later on in life

Ideally, parents should make time each day for at least one hour of active play, outdoors if possible.

Children need little structure or encouragement, because they are naturally active. They just need the time, permission, and the right space.

The Free Play Initiative focuses on five areas within play that can help a child’s development: Play, Explore, Create, Imagine and Experiment.

More information is available at www.persil.com.

Not a week after a survey about parental knowledge of their children’s online activities comes another from Garlik.

This one suggests that 75% of parents are monitoring what their children get up to online without their knowledge, by logging in to their social networking accounts, or setting up their own profiles so that they can “spy” on their kids.

The survey of 1,000 children aged from 8-15, and 1,030 parents, also found that children as young as eight are visiting web sites which aren’t meant for under-12s, including the social network phenomena of Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo.

More worrying is that around two-thirds of children admitted to posting information that could help identify them individually, such as mobile phone numbers and where they go to school. One in five had even met up with people they’d only befriended online.

Garlik, a company involved in the prevention of online fraud and identity theft, said that web sites needed to do more to prevent underage children from accessing them. However, parents are also responsible for what their children get up to online, and while spying may seem a bit drastic, there are things families can do to minimise the risks.

(Via Pocket Lint)

Suggesting that they simply offer “instant-hit hedonism” during a speech on family, marriage, and education, he said, “Titles such as Nuts and Zoo paint a picture of women as permanently, lasciviously, uncomplicatedly available.

“We should ask those who make profits out of revelling in, or encouraging, selfish irresponsibility among young men what they think they’re doing.

“They celebrate thrill-seeking and instant gratification without ever allowing any thought of responsibility towards others, or commitment, to intrude.”

A spokesman for the Periodical Publishers Association said that the issues that Mr Gove raised were “deep and complex social issues which reach far wider than simply reading a magazine.”

Mr Gove continued his speech by saying that young men needed to face up to their responsibilities, which in turn could reduce social problems such as teenage pregnancies. He also reiterated the Conservative Party’s commitment to supporting marriage and family, including through financial help.

What do you think? Do “lads mags” contribute to problems in society, and if so how much?

(Via BBC News)

Advice from elderly generations coupled with scores of baby books such as “The Contented Little Baby Book” by Gina Ford and “Feeding your Baby and Toddler” by Annabel Karmel has led to mums adopting a more stringent approach to motherhood.

The past 50 years has seen motherhood evolve from a structured rigid approach during the 1960s to a more relaxed attitude during the 1970s and 1980s, but mums of today are ditching the methods of their own mums in favour of their grandmother’’s fuss-free methods.

Babies are even taken out and about more to ensure they get more than three hours of fresh air each day.

The poll of 4,500 mums of all ages, conducted by Kamillosan to celebrate the brand’s 75th anniversary, revealed that modern mums find it difficult to practise a relaxed attitude towards raising their children.

Feeling under pressure to get it right, 79 per cent of mums of today say they have read tons of books about the best way to raise their child, with 38 per cent relying on their grandmother’s experiences and tales of old.

As a result, 55 per cent of babies today are woken by their parents at a set time every morning.

Two-thirds will then go on to eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner at set times during the day, and 57 per cent will have one or two scheduled naps.

In the evening the average mum will bath baby, give them a bottle of milk and then settle them in bed after a bedtime story and nursery rhyme.

Once a fortnight the average baby is taken to the health visitor to measure height and weight.

A spokeswoman for Kamillosan said, “Surprisingly, motherhood trends have gone full circle with today’s mums replicating the strict baby routines that were adopted by their grandparents. New mums today adhere to the same set meal and bed times that their grandmothers once followed, as well as singing the same lullabies. However, not everything has stayed the same. New mum’s today supplement their grandmothers’ advice by visiting internet parenting sites to source information. They also prefer to follow government guidelines with regards to car seat safety, as the survey revealed a large majority of grandmothers used to travel in the car with their baby on their lap. Despite motherhood changes over the years.”

Despite the fall back to routine, there have been some major developments in the way women approach motherhood since the 1960’s.

Most importantly, mums of today have the added pressure of juggling part time jobs and motherhood.

However, although they didn’t go out to work, 52 per cent of Sixties mums did send their children to a playgroup or childminder or nursery of some sort.

Today’s mums are more likely to breast or bottle feed on demand, believing that a baby under six months should be fed whenever it is hungry.

And although Sixties mums fed a on a strict four hourly routine, if their baby was screaming for milk 67 per cent would give in and feed the child regardless of the time.

Government guidelines for children’s car seats are stricter than ever before.– which is why 86 per cent of mums are absolutely stringent with making sure their baby is travelling in the correct car seat.

Fifty years ago, only 57 per cent of mums would worry about the way their baby travelled in a car, and 41 per cent frequently just had the baby on their laps.

Here’s a set of “Dos” for parents, and “Don’ts” for children, written by Sue Atkins of Positive Parents.

Do’s for Parents

Do: Talk to your child about how they use the internet. Encourage them to show you how they access the net and to talk to you about any concerns they may have regarding online chatting. Show an interest rather than point an accusatory finger of distrust at them. Your child will feel reassured and safe if you show a balance of respecting their way of communicating but keeping a watchful eye on what’s happening.

Do: Keep the computer in a public place in your home - if a predator sees a bustling living room or kitchen in the background on the webcam rather than just a quiet child’s bedroom, he will probably be less likely to embark on attempting to groom your child.

Do: Keep up to date with technology. Ask your child to teach you new things - they’ll enjoy spending time with you, and you’ll enjoy being with them too, but also know that you are keeping them safe in the process.

Do: Remind your child that any people they only know through the internet (and not in the real world) may not be who they say they are.

Do: Check the privacy settings covering their profiles online.

Do: Make it clear to your child that you will occasionally check what websites they are using and will also sometimes ask questions to make sure they know the people they are contacting.

Do: Remind your child that anything they post can be visible to the world.

Don’ts for Children

Don’t: post any personal information, e.g. e-mail address or mobile number on profiles.

Don’t: post anything online you don’t want the world to see.

Don’t: continue online conversations that make you feel uncomfortable or suspicious about whom you are talking to. Report these to the Child Protection Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) website via their ‘report abuse’ facility and talk to your parents or another adult whom you trust to help you.

Don’t: agree to meet anyone in person whom you only know via the internet.

Don’t: open any attachments or links if you don’t know (in the real world) the person who has sent them.

Don’t: use your real name in chat rooms - pick a nickname just to use online.

Don’t: assume that the people you are chatting to online are who they claim to be.

Don’t: keep any anxieties, worries or little niggles to yourself about approaches to you, or conversations you have had, online. Talk to your parents and/or an adult you trust. If not, you can call Childline.

Don’t: ‘accept’ strangers who ask to be ‘friends’ on your online profile - say NO or just ignore them. Don’t be tempted to say YES.

Don’t: agree if someone suggests keeping your chats a secret - tell your parents or a trusted adult.

Resources

NCH’s advice on internet safety
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
Think U Know: part of the CEOP site. Has pages specific to certain age groups to help them understand how to use the internet safely. Can also report abuse here.
Childline– - telephone 0800 1111

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold pictures of twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon Jolie Pitt to Hello Magazine for a cool £7.5m, making them the most expensive baby photos of all time.

There’s a story for the kids when they grow up. The Hollywood couple gave the £2m proceeds from pictures of their first baby, Shiloh Nouvel, to charity. I wonder if they’ll do the same this time around?

(Via Marie Claire)

David Beckham “persists” on Sesame Street

Footballer David Beckham is to make a guest appearance on US children’s show Sesame Street, in which he’ll help Elmo spell the word “persistent” (no rude jokes from me, you can make your own up).

“David has always been a huge fan of the show’ they revealed, ‘When he was a kid he watched it, like a lot of people, and knew all the characters. He was more than happy to go on,” a source told The Telegraph newspaper.

Ahh, sunny days.

(Via Marie Claire)

Rosetta Getty will fight for husband in affair with Sienna Miller

Reports suggest that estranged wife of Balthazar Getty, Rosetta, will “forgive and forget” the affair he is having with Sienna Miller. “Rosetta thinks the bond she has with him and their kids is stronger than anything Sienna can offer,” a friend told The Daily Mirror.

“As time goes by he realises how deep his love for Rosetta and their children is,” an insider said of Balthazar.

(Via Marie Claire)

Erna Rivera admitted losing her temper, punching and kicking her and throwing her against furniture, according to Mauricio Lara of the police homicide division. The girl died on the eve of her tenth birthday.

The woman’s partner had already been accused of family violence in the previous year, but it’s not known if the case was investigated by authorities.

As if it needed stating, it proves that some people just do not know how to bring up a child, nor handle their own emotions and actions. Of course, we don’t know anything about the mother’s situation, but if she already had an alleged history of violence towards family members, something should have been done sooner to protect the child. Of course, with hindsight it’s easy to say that, but it’s yet another case where tragedy has struck.

(Via Yahoo! News)

Even small amounts of soya products, now frequently used in the Western world as meat and dairy substitutes, as well as popularly used in Eastern cuisines, lowered the sperm count, and those with the highest intake of soya-based food had almost half the level of active sperm in their semen.

Scientists believe that isoflavones, a compound found in soya, mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen, which could therefore explain the reduction in sperm levels.

Soya products which can cause this affect include tofu, tempeh, soy sausages, bacon, burgers and mince, soy milk, cheese, yoghurt, ice cream, and soya-based roasted nuts, drinks, powders, and energy bars.

However, it’s not a cut-and-dried case, because researchers also believe that obesity plays a major factor in determining sperm count. That is probably why Asian men, who will often have a diet rich in soya products, are still fertile - obesity is much less of a problem in Asian countries, whereas in the US and other Western countries it is a serious, and increasing, issue.

(Via Yahoo! News)

With the summer holidays here, children are likely to be spending more time in front of the computer, often unsupervised. This has implications not only for their safety, but also for how much the Internet broadband connection is being used.

With various measures coming into place regarding the illegal downloading of music and other material, in which the UK Government and Internet Service Providers would hold parents responsible for what their children download, parents could be letting themselves in for a shock.

Michael Phillips, Product Director, BroadbandChoices.co.uk, said, “We were surprised to learn that such a high proportion of parents heavily rely on verbal agreements to ensure their children’s online activities are safe and legal. Children are often more tech-savvy than their parents and the click of a mouse can take them anywhere. This research highlights the need for parents to be aware of the simple checks they can put in place to safeguard children who are increasingly using the internet to build new relationships.”

BroadbandChoices.co.uk recommends the following steps to help busy parents effectively monitor their child’s online activity:

1. Parental control software: Some ISPs like AOL and BT offer parental controls as part of their service, while other users can get them with their antivirus and security suites. Parental controls allow you to block certain sites and keywords, apply different settings for different age groups, and monitor your child’s online activity. You can also use the Messenger Plus! program to keep a log of conversations they might be having using Instant Messenger.

2. Education: Completely banning older children from the Internet is unlikely to stop them from using chatrooms and social networking sites, so instead, explain why they need to be careful on the Internet and make sure they know never to give out personal information or meet strangers without an adult around.

3. All on one PC: Keeping the family computer in the living room is a great way of ensuring that your children stay safe online. They’re far less likely to spend time in chatrooms or downloading illegally if their parents are in the same room. Also, make sure that you’re set as the administrator on any PC in the home, so that only you can change the settings on your parental control software.

4. Antivirus and firewall software: Using security software to protect your PC will also protect your child from spam emails with inappropriate content, and phishing emails where they could give out personal information including bank details.

5. Monitor downloads: If you’re concerned about the affect your children’s downloading is having on your monthly usage allowance, use a Download Monitor to keep an eye on downloads and set alarms to alert you when you near your limit.

BroadbandChoices.co.uk’s download monitor can be accessed at http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband-download-monitor.html

According to market research by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), back pain in the UK has risen by a staggering 5% since last year and in another poll, the BCA revealed that nearly half (44%) of 16-24 year-olds suffer from back pain.

BCA Chiropractor Tim Hutchful commented, “We are concerned that the incidence of back pain has grown so dramatically amongst young people. In 2004, less than one in five young people were suffering, now that figure has risen to every other young person in the UK having some form of back pain, which is of serious concern.”

To help alleviate the incidence of increased back pain, the BCA is encouraging the nation to look to the past and ‘bring back’ some of those well-loved toys and get active again. By inviting the nation to leave behind their lazy lifestyles, ditch the computer games and engage in some outdoor activities, the BCA is looking to the toys that kept our parents and grandparents amused for hours, to assist in alleviating the UK’s ongoing back problems.

• Skipping Ropes: assist with fitness and improves balance
• Hula Hoops: helps core stability and helps increase mobility of the spine, as well as toning abdominal muscles
• Space Hoppers: strengthens the spine, improves core stability
• Bat & Ball: important in improving hand and eye co-ordination (it is amazing how many people have difficulty catching these days!)

By providing activity for all the family, these retro toys are not only fun to play with, they can also help promote and strengthen your posture as well as improve your general fitness levels.

Chiropractor Tim Hutchful continues, “We want to educate people about how making a few simple lifestyle changes can help to reduce the risk of back pain as well as making you feel and look better. Using any of the toys mentioned or incorporating a very simple three minute exercise routine entitled “Straighten Up UK” into your daily lives will help to strengthen your spine and improve your posture.”

Straighten Up UK is a simple, three minute posture care programme designed to help you feel and look your best. The programme is divided into three quick sessions:

• Stars (warm up)
• Flying Friends (posture care)
• Core Balance (to finish off the session)

By promoting balance, strength and flexibility in your spine, the risk of getting problems with your back now and in the future can be substantially reduced.

The exercise routine is available to download from www.straightenupuk.org or for more information and a free Straighten Up leaflet visit www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk.