From unwanted touching to rape: the scale of child-on-child abuse in English and Welsh schools
Ten years after full extent of problem was revealed, Guardian investigation finds schools facing uphill battle amid rapid societal changesThousands of child-on-child sexual offences reported at schools in England and WalesIt is 10 years since a report…
Star Wars actor John Boyega on the day his 10-year-old school friend Damilola Taylor was killed: ‘It kept me up at night because I was just with the guy’
The star was just eight when his friend was stabbed. Decades on, he’s ready to talk about that day – how it shaped him, and how, as he becomes a father himself, it will shape him as a dad“I feel a bit nervous,” confesses John Boyega, as he sits down in…
School gate to checkmate: British chess prodigy, 11, is youngest ever woman grandmaster
Bodhana Sivanandan’s father taught her to play age five and soon she was beating ex-champions. Now she is lighting up the Chess OlympiadOver the weekend, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest ever holder of the title of woman grandmaster at…
‘It’s frustrating to see immoral videos do so well’: how YouTube sensation Half-Asleep Chris sent a rollercoaster to space and made Bella the cat a star
His videos of cats, loopy contraptions and theme park rides round the heavens (and his back garden) have notched up a billion views. We meet Chris Burton in the suburban home where it all happensChris Burton is getting ready to redecorate his house. The…
‘Just like that, I lost my girls’: the mother who feels betrayed by the family courts
The theory of parental alienation is a ‘harmful pseudo-science’, according to recent official guidance in England and Wales. Yet it led to Sarah’s two daughters being taken away six years ago – and never returnedOn the afternoon that Sarah’s daughters…
What if the Seven Up! series started today? | Letter
Gordon McDougall recalls finding the original children to feature in the documentary strand that started in 1964In your editorial on the Up series (20 September), your point is well made that exposing seven‑year-olds on television…
High screen time can hurt children’s learning and language skills, study suggests
Effect of elevated screen exposure could be as significant as parental behaviour and premature birth, report saysThe effect of high screen time on children is as significant as parental behaviour and premature birth, if not greater, a global study has…
Play School is back – and with it the promise of TV I’m actually happy for my toddler to watch | Natalie Morris
Thank goodness for this antidote to today’s frantic shows that aim to grab our kids’ attentions the same way our phones grab oursAs a mum to a two-year-old in 2026 there is no shortage of things to make me feel bad about my capabilities as a parent. His…
‘I sleep with all my clothes on to protect my privacy’: a glimpse into life inside a child prison in France
Photographer Alexandre Bagdassarian spent eight months following the daily lives of children in a prison system criticised for the long time spent in cellsThe cells of the children were difficult places for me to photograph because they are impersonal…
Pope Leo urges healing of ‘deep wounds’ before meeting child sexual abuse survivors in France
Pontiff also uses visit to Catholic shrine at Lourdes to criticise assisted dying as ‘false compassion’The pope has called on the Catholic church to heal “deep wounds” and “painful errors”, before a meeting survivors of child sexual abuse as he continues…