The Guardian reports on the shocking figures of increasing violence against parents by their offspring provided in a report, When Family Life Hurts by the charity Parentline Plus. One parents' helpline manager from YoungMinds, Daphne Joseph commented, "Calls about managing disruptive and aggressive behaviour are the most common concerns. A quarter of these are about young people who are violent towards their parents. Parents can often feel desperate and ashamed about their son or daughter's aggressive behaviour, so anonymous, professional advice from a helpline is much sought after." Full story.

The Guardian reports on the use of classic films in UK schools provided by the charity, Filmclub, which suggest that 'movies help disengaged pupils to connect with their lessons'. The response from teachers has been overwhelmingly positive, '...93% of teachers running Filmclubs believe they have opened up access to culture for children. Four out of five say that the clubs increase pupils' critical skills...' Full story.

The Telegraph reports on the recent findings from Leicester and Leeds Universities in their study, Must Try Harder: Evaluating the Role of Effort in Educational Attainment", which shows that teachers respond more favourably to those children whose parents were actively engaged in their children's learning. Professor Gianni De Fraja, Head of economics at the University of Leicester, stated that 'the level of interest parents take in their children’s education is six times more important for a pupil’s eventual grades than the child’s own effort' . In addition, parental involvement is 'four times more important than how hard the school works to help children progress'.
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The Independent reports on comments made  by Rupert Murdoch at the inaugural  Margaret Thatcher Lecture in which he spoke about the shameful state of the British Education system. "If children in the poorest parts of the world can learn how to read and write – as well as do maths and science in schools with dirt floors and tattered textbooks – there is no excuse for the way British children are being failed by well-resourced schools." Full story

ProLiteracy, the world's largest organization of adult literacy and basic education programs, herald new findings from the National Institutes of Health which link child achievement to their parents' level of literacy. ProLiteracy's president and  CEO, David C. Harvey commented, "...ProLiteracy has said for years that parents and caregivers are their children's first teachers. If mom or dad has poor reading skills, it's less likely they will have books in the home or read to their children, which are important steps in getting a child ready to learn to read...It's great to have some new academic research that supports this position..."
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The Telegraph reports on the impending launch of Penguin's new networking site, Spinebreakers, whose aim is to keep young people interested in reading. This unique site will allow teens to write about books and authors. Full story.

BBC News reports on the findings from Plan International's global report on the economic impact of violence in schools. Bullying in schools has become so serious that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) consider it to be a public health issue. Full story

The Daily Mail reports on the depressing statistics presented in international league tables that children in England are not spending enough time on literacy and maths. The figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Education at a Glance 2010 report, show that English schools do very badly in comparison with other Western countries.
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The Independent reports on the long-running saga of girls doing better than boys in education. Questions arise as to the usefulness of such findings . One professor stated that allowing boys and girls to reach their full potential is really  the main issue. Full story

BBC News reports on the thousands of  'missing students' who turn to crime after failing to attend school. Sir Alan Steer, who advised the previous government on improving discipline in schools in England, described the situation as a 'scandal'.Shockingly, it is not simply a question of disruptiive pupils but includes those with a range of learning difficulties as well as mental health problems. Full story