The Children’s Commissioner’s priorities for online safety
This week the Children’s Office is recognising the importance of online safety for children and young people. In the first of a series of blogs, the Children’s Commissioner discusses why online safety is a major concern for her, and her work in her time as Commissioner to guarantee a safer digital world for all young […]
Celebrating International Day of the Girl
Today, I am celebrating the International Day of the Girl. I am ambitious for all children, but I think it is particularly important to talk about the successes of young women and girls and to acknowledge the specific barriers they face. This year, I’ve had the pleasure of encouraging girls to think about maths skills […]
Community – the Children’s Commissioner’s view
Children should feel safe to play and have fun in their communities, both online and offline, no matter where they live. What children say about Communities Children value shared spaces in their local community, where they can play and develop strong friendships and skills. However, after mental health, a lack of safe and fun […]
Resources for families
Back into School resources for families from the Children’s Commissioner
What leads to a child being out of school?
On 15 June I published the findings from my Attendance Audit, my exploration across 10 local authorities of the experiences of children who are not attending school regularly or who are out of school altogether. The report, ‘Voices of England’s Missing Children’, details the solutions and practical ideas the young people and my team have […]
What we learnt from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller children who responded to The Big Ask
As Children’s Commissioner I am dedicated to championing the voices of all children which is why I was delighted when 2,300 children and young people that self-identified as Gypsy, Roma, or Traveller (GRT) submitted responses to The Big Ask last year – the largest ever survey of children in England. As Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller […]
The Children’s Commissioner publishes Voices of England’s Missing Children report
Last year, I launched The Big Ask survey, to hear from England’s children about what matters most to them. Just over half a million children responded to The Big Ask – making it the largest-ever survey of children in the world. What I heard was inspiring, we are dealing with an ambitious group of children […]
Resources for schools
Back into School resources for schools from the Children’s Commissioner
Resources for children and young people
Back into School resources for children and young people from the Children’s Commissioner
As the summer half term starts, the Children’s Commissioner shares deep dive into The Big Ask findings on attendance
Welcome back! It’s the beginning of a new half-term and, arguably, one of the most important. For many children this will be the last half-term with friends before secondary school, further education, or higher education. It’s a time for revision, exams, and preparing a fun summer ahead. For teachers, and all professionals working to support […]
The Children’s Commissioner attends Mental Health Roundtable at 10 Downing Street
Today, I attended a roundtable at 10 Downing Street to speak about children and young people’s mental health and why it is so important. This meeting was hosted by the Prime Minister and Gillian Keegan, the Minister of State for Care and Mental Health. Alongside this, I attended with Claire Murdoch NHS Mental Health Director, […]
The Children’s Commissioner celebrates teachers across the country for National Thank a Teacher Day
Today is National Thank a Teacher Day and, along with thousands of children across the country, I want to celebrate teachers for all the amazing work they do every single day. In the Big Ask, children told us they like school and they clearly love their teachers. After a gruelling couple of years of online […]
Archived Content
Anti-Bullying Week – The “B” word
As we come to the end of Anti-Bullying Week, our Children’s Writer Chris Thompson reflects on his visit to an anti-bullying workshop. With thanks to Kidscape for inviting us to attend and listen to the views and experiences of children who have been bullied. “There’s no quick fix. Today is the start of a journey.” […]
Rotherham drama students make a “Safe Place” from bullying
As part of Anti Bullying Week, we’ll be highlighting some of the activities happening up and down the country and speaking to children, young people and their families about how they’re taking part. A group of college students from Rotherham College have devised a play about bullying which they are performing to primary school children […]
Gaming the system
The overwhelming majority of children (93 percent) in the UK play video games. Yet despite its popularity, the culture of ‘gaming’- its rules and its rituals, the varying profiles of players, the risks they face – tends to be spoken of by adults, whether they be policymakers or parents, as if it were an alien […]
The state of child poverty and how we can tackle it
On the United Nations Day for Poverty Eradication we should never fail to be shocked that we are talking about child poverty when are one of the wealthiest countries on earth. Yet as all of us here know, the number of children living in poverty has been steadily increasing in recent years. There are around […]
The World Wide Web at 30: Re-imagining a web built for children
Between 9 – 10 May, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, hosted a conference on children’s digital rights at BBC Salford for ENOC – the network of Children’s Commissioners and Ombudsmen from all over Europe. Pupils from two local schools, Chorlton High School and Manchester Communication Academy, joined the conference for a session in […]
Children’s Commissioner publishes a statutory Duty of Care for online service providers
A couple of years ago, one of the biggest social media companies accused me in a meeting of ‘trying to shut down the internet’ after I dared to ask them to be more transparent and to take responsibility for the appalling content hosted on their platform. I wanted them to be an engaged player in […]
Online platforms must do more to tackle social media content which is harmful to children
The following letter, written by Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has been sent to several of the leading social media organisations, including Facebook, which includes Instagram and WhatsApp, Snapchat, Youtube and Pinterest. The tragic suicide of Molly Russell and her father’s appalled response to the material she was viewing on social media before her […]
Children’s Commissioner launches social media giants’ terms and conditions ‘jargon-buster’ to give kids more power in digital world
Simplified versions of T&Cs for schools across England are designed to give children more power and information
Digital 5 A Day In The Classroom
Digital 5 A Day is a framework to help children get the most from their time online and to balance digital activity with overall wellbeing. Digital 5 A Day is a tool for parents, carers and others working with young people to use in framing discussion about social media use and broader digital citizenship. In this blog post teacher, Dave Presky, reflects on how Digital 5 A Day can be applied in the classroom.
Children left to fend for themselves in the digital world
Children’s Commissioner calls for a digital ombudsman to mediate for children over removal of content and more transparent corporate