Subterms
Intelligent, curious toddlers are easy to spot in Western societies. Typically, they announce themselves with an endless string of “why” questions: “Why are we eating these?”; “Why are we getting in the car?”; “Why are you going to work?” But this isn’t how children’s learning operates in much of the world. We have found that “why” questions, seeking explanations, are […] More
The appalling extent of child abuse: On the 14th of January the Office for National Statistics (‘ONS’) published its first ‘compendium’ of statistics for child abuse in England and Wales, for the year ending March 2019. As it contains some truly appalling figures, I thought I should take a closer look. Better understanding As the […] More
No direct contact for father: All experienced family lawyers have come across it: the parent who is utterly certain that they know best, and who is unable to accept any contrary view. This outlook completely clouds their approach to any dispute over arrangements for their children, and how they deal with court proceedings aimed at […] More
A question I often encounter from clients is whether their ex can stop them from moving away with their children? Sometimes they are moving away to escape the tension or have met a new partner or wish to start a new life elsewhere. The legal answer is, as is often the case in family law, […] More
Sir Andrew McFarlane’s speech on our increased understanding of the subject of child abuse Another week, another speech by the President of the Family Division. Last week I wrote here about the speech that Sir Andrew McFarlane gave recently to a conference held by the Support Through Court charity, in which he gave an overview of […] More
The phenomenon of children learning mainly from each other – a typical practice in many hunter-gatherer communities – may provide important lessons about how to prepare children in post-industrial societies for rapid change and uncertain futures. We have found that when children learn from other children in two sub-Saharan African forager societies, it fosters independence […] More
How do children learn common stereotypes? Recent research has shown that, if you tell young children that one group is good at something (for example, “Girls are good at playing basketball”), they are likely to infer that other unmentioned groups (such as boys) are not so good at it. This is particularly likely if children […] More
The thirtieth anniversary of the Children Act As I reported here back in March, this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Children Act. As I said then, the Act changed the legal landscape when it came to dealing with children issues, bringing in new concepts and ways of dealing with those issues that we […] More
