Become a Rock Star on Your Summer Holidays With Haven

June 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, UNITED KINGDOM, Jun 25 (MARKET WIRE)
–
Rock on down to a Haven Holiday park this summer! Budding rock stars can
sign up for the Paul Nicholas School of Rock and Pop which takes place
exclusively at Marton Mere near Blackpool, Presthaven Sands in North
Wales and Primrose Valley on the North Yorkshire coast during the school
summer holidays. Aimed at 8-16 year olds, the sessions are free of charge
and could have you performing rock classics within the hour! Guitars,
amps, drums and music tuition are all included.

Whichever Haven Park you choose, you can strut your stuff on stage with
the Haven’s got Talent contest. Singers, dancers and comedians are
welcome to perform – and you never know who might be talent-spotting!

But if you prefer to watch rather than take part, Haven have a full
programme of daytime and evening entertainment.

This summer you can meet Tom and Jerry ‘in person’ when they appear
exclusively at Haven Holidays’ 35 family friendly Parks around the UK.
Haven have some fantastic family holiday deals on offer so it’s not too
late to book, especially as the kids will be able to meet the hilarious
duo, shake paws and have their photo taken in a rare opportunity to
discover the ‘real’ characters behind the popular cartoons.

Tom and Jerry have a hilarious new stage show which is a first for the UK
and will tour Haven Holiday parks throughout the summer holidays. The Tom
and Jerry Tour starts at Berwick on Sea on July 4th and will include all
Haven parks on every break during the summer.

You can also enjoy Haven favourites Rory the Tiger and friends performing
shows for the kids, glitzy stageshows with all your favourite rock
classics, circus performances, pantos, wrestling and top cabaret acts.

Daytime activities include free football coaching, free Learn2Swim
lessons, kids clubs and the new Wildlife Detective programme.

Summer prices start at just GBP 549 for a week’s holiday for a family of
four at Presthaven Sands in a standard 2 bedroom holiday home from July
23rd. Click on www.haven.com or call 0871 230 1900.

Calls to 0871 numbers cost no more than 10p per minute. Calls from other
networks may vary.

Haven Holidays is part of Bourne Leisure Ltd who own Warner Leisure
Hotels and Butlins Resorts and were awarded Best UK Operator 2009 by
Travel Trade Gazette.

Holiday homes are also available for purchase on Haven Holiday parks.
Click on www.havenholidayhomes.co.uk for details.

Contacts:
For press enquiries and media information:
Deborah McCabe
01444 235 154
Deborah@aboutwords.co.uk

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Kids as young as 6 getting suntans to look like Jordan, Cheryl Cole

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 26 (ANI): Children as young as six are getting suntans to look like stars such as Katie Price a.k.a Jordan and Cheryl Cole.

A study of 1,000 six to 16-year-olds found almost two thirds of kids want bronzed skin – and four in ten sunbathe “as often as possible”.

During the study, over half said it was ‘more fashionable’ to be tanned than pale. 60 percent felt better when they had a tan and 41 percent felt ‘thinner’.

The study also showed that one fifth sunbathed without suntan lotion to ‘get brown quicker’.

According to the research, a further 17 per cent used body lotions and oils instead of sun cream.

“Kids are damaging their future health,” the Sun quoted a spokesman for Superdrug, behind the survey, as saying.

(ANI)

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Brit Indian kids have better mental health than Brit Whites

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 12 (ANI): British children with Indian ancestry have better mental health than British Whites, a new research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has shown.

Anna Goodman, the report”s lead author from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine says: “Most research into ethnic differences focuses on issues where minority ethnic groups are doing worse than average. We believe it is also important to investigate areas where minority groups have an advantage, and use this understanding as a way to improve the health of the whole population”.

To reach the conclusion, researchers used data from the 1999 and 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Surveys, which took a nationwide sample of 5-16 year olds living in England.

The proportion of Indian children with any mental health disorder was 3.7 percent, the lowest of any major ethnic group and substantially lower than the 10.0 percent proportion in White children.

This Indian mental health advantage was driven by Indian children having fewer behavioral problems (e.g. aggressive or antisocial behaviour) and fewer hyperactivity problems. This pattern was reported by parents, teachers and children alike, suggesting that it reflects a real difference and is not the result of chance or biased reporting.

Part of the Indian mental health advantage was explained by the fact that Indian children were more likely to live in two parent families and had higher academic abilities. Most of the advantage, however, was not explained by the major known risk factors. In addition, Indian children did not show the strong socio-economic gradient in behavioral and hyperactivity problems, which was observed in Whites.

Anna Goodman says: “Child mental health problems have grown more common in Britain in the last 50 years, and are much more common in children from poorer families.

“Indian children suffer fewer problems and the socio-economic gradient is much less marked. Understanding why this particular group of British children is doing so well could therefore hold important clues for improving both child mental health and also child mental health equity in all ethnic groups”. (ANI)

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Brit Mums’ slam Liberal Democrat porn plan

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr. 26 (ANI): Mothers in Britain have expressed dismay and anger over a Liberal Democrat plan to let 16-year-olds watch and star in pornographic films.

The controversial policy has faced blistering criticism in the chat rooms of Mumsnet, a popular website for mothers, The Sun reports.

Under the Lib Dems, the legal age for viewing or appearing in adult movies will be cut from 18 to 16.

But the policy – overwhelmingly passed at the party”s conference in 2004 – has now been savaged on the internet by women who claim it is “essentially legalisation of child porn”.

One mum, called crystal123, fumed: “Many young people aged 12 appear 16 or 17 and could easily end up in explicit pornography.

Parenting websites like MumsNet and NetMums are seen as vital election battlegrounds.

A Lib Dem spokesman said: “Our manifesto sets out what we will do in government. This policy is not in our manifesto.” (ANI)

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Drunk Mark Owen ‘lured 16 year olds to bed’

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 17 (ANI): Adding to the expose of Take That star Mark Owen as a love cheat are revelations made by a fan who claimed the singer lured her and her friend into bed when they were 16.

Susan Blake said she and friend Kim, from Southampton, were approached by Owen, who later invited them follow him into his bedroom, on the night of the band’s one of 1995 Earls Court concerts.

“He walked straight over to where we were sitting and said, ‘Hello girls’. He asked what we were doing. We said we were tired and about to go to bed. He said, ‘Want to come to a party in my room?’ He told us to go up to the top floor in half an hour. It was clear that he was drunk,” the Mirror quoted Susan as saying.

She continued: “We walked into his room but there was no one in there, just the smell of incense. I said, ‘I thought there was a party in your room’ and he just laughed, saying, ‘Oh, no.’ Because he was in Take That, I just thought they were ­trustworthy and nice. He offered both me and Kim champagne but we both asked for water.”

Susan added: “Then he just took his clothes off and sat on the bed in a pair of white Calvin Klein boxer shorts. Kim and I looked at each other and thought, ‘What?’ Mark then said, ‘You can both stay if you like.’ I looked at Kim who nodded. I got into the left hand-side of the bed with my clothes on and Kim got into the right hand-side.

“After about five minutes, I felt his hand touch my leg. He kept saying, ‘I want sex with you both’ but I said I didn’t want to. He even got condoms out of the bedside drawer.”

The trio ended up in a threesome, claimed Susan, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

Susan, now a 31-year-old mum of three girls, said: “I look back know and think, ‘You, silly moo’. But we were just young kids. I had only ever kissed a boy before. He knew that we were both young girls and he was taking ­advantage of us. But it’s his wife I feel sorry for now.”

Owen, 38, is presently in rehab after he confessed cheating on his wife Emma with several other women, including young groupies. (ANI)

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Teens accused of bashing man over $10

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Police have charged two 16-year-olds with assaulting a man and robbing him of $10 in Bendigo on Saturday night.

A 24-year-old suffered facial injuries after the alleged attack near a petrol station on McIvor Road about 11:00pm (AEDT).

Police believe the pair followed the man to the petrol station and demanded he withdraw money from an ATM.

Senior Constable Grant Thompson says the teenagers bashed the man when he refused.

“We’re alleging that the victim was set upon by the two 16 year-old males, leaving him with undisclosed facial injuries, before leaving the service station with a quantity of $10,” he said.

The teenagers have been bailed and are due to appear in the Children’s Court in May.

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“Gollum from Lord of the Rings” spotted, bludgeoned in Panama

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sept 18 (ANI): A mystery creature reportedly beaten to death by a group of teenagers in Panama has become the subject of intense speculation on internet forums.

Terrified locals in Cerro Azul were running scared after the creature they describe as “Gollum” crawled out of a lake and charged schoolkids, reports The Sun.

It was spotted on Saturday when four 14 to 16-year-olds were playing by the waterfront, according to Panamanian news service Telemetro.

The hairless creature has been described as having rubbery skin and measuring almost 150cm.

The teenagers were said to have feared for their own safety as the creature moved towards them so they picked up rocks and sticks and beat it to death, before throwing its corpse in the water and running away.

The youths tossed the carcass into a nearby lake but later returned to take photographs, the report said.

Experts have yet to examine the images. However, locals told Panama news channels that the water-monster was “Gollum from Lord of the Rings”.

One said: “I have only seen that creature once before – and it was in the Tolkien film.”

The fictional Gollum – originally known as Smeagol – was a hobbit whose later name was derived from the “disgusting gurgling, choking cough he made”.

JRR Tolkien – who wrote the Middle Earth adventures – said of the character: “He had become deformed and twisted in both body and mind by the corruption of the Ring.

“His only desire was to possess the Ring which had enslaved him, and he pursued it for many years after he lost it.”

Internet speculation centres around whether the “monster” is actually a shaved sloth or pit bull terrier. (ANI)

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With one million users, Britain’s the cocaine capital of Europe: UN report

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, June 25 (ANI): According to a United Nations drugs report, more than one million people in Britain are cocaine users, with one in 20 school children also having tried it, making Britain the cocaine capital of Europe.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime found that even three per cent of 15 and 16 year-olds claim to have tried crack cocaine.

It estimated about 860,000 cocaine users in England and Wales, and around 140,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland combined.

“The UK thus continues to be – in absolute numbers – Europe’s largest cocaine market, with its second highest cocaine use prevalence rate,” the report stated.

The World Drug Report 2009 revealed that there was a drastic increase of cocaine users in UK from the mid-90s, but remained stable over the last two years.

“If you take year and on year there seems to be a decline in this market but there is considerable cause for concern as the UK has still in absolute terms the largest numbers in Europe,” the Telegraph quoted Dr Sandeep Chawla, lead author of the report, as saying.

The report found four per cent of youngsters have taken ecstasy and almost three in ten have tried cannabis.

“This is a really depressing snap shot of the drugs problem in the UK and underlines just how ineffective the Government’s strategy on dealing with the drug problem has been,” said Chris Grayling, Shadow Home Secretary.

The report provides details of supply routes that bring drugs to the UK, and says that cocaine is shipped to UK via the Caribbean or the west coast of Africa.

It also said that heroin comes from Afghanistan on land routes through the Middle East to Europe before it is re-packaged and smuggled in to Britain.(ANI)

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One-in-three New Zealand 16 year-olds had sex, survey reveals

May 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Wellington – At least one-in-three 16-year-olds questioned in a survey of 500 youngsters in New Zealand have had sexual intercourse, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Half of the teens surveyed by the New Zealand Council of Educational Research said they had been in love. The Family Planning Association said the results showed a need for better sex education.

“This shows how important it is for parents to talk to their children around sexual health and sexuality,” Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond told The Press newspaper, Christchurch. “Sixteen is still young.”

“The reality is that sexuality education and sexual health education in New Zealand is incredibly inconsistently applied across schools.”

Edmond said that young people needed information so that they could make decisions. No research supported claims that telling young people more meant that they would have sex earlier, she said. “In fact, it does seem to be the opposite.”

The study revealed that 84 cent of the 16-year-olds had drunk alcohol in the previous year – although they cannot legally drink until 18 – and 51 per cent had done something they regretted while drunk. (dpa)

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Flintoff backs fair play scheme for Brit kids

April 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 21 (ANI): England cricketing hero Andrew Flintoff is backing a scheme in which kids are being taught how to play fair in sport after a survey showed elbowing, tripping and hair-pulling are among common tactics mentioned by 52 percent of the eight to 16-year-olds questioned.

Under the new scheme, youngsters aged eight to 14 in 3,000 primary and secondary schools involved with the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to Shine programme will receive a two-hour ‘Spirit of Cricket’ session.

It’s massively important as a sportsman to play hard, play fair, respect your opponent and respect yourself,” Sky News quoted Flintoff, as saying.

The poll also found less than a fifth of girls would consider doing something unfair to win, compared with a third of boys.

According to the results, Liverpool is the place where children see unfair play most often while Plymouth is the place least likely to find cheaters.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Cricket Foundation commissioned the survey.

MCC head of cricket John Stephenson said the organisation “strongly believes that competition is good for children and that sport should be played to win”. (ANI)

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Brit youths commit one crime every two minutes

March 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar.6 (ANI): A Youth Justice Board report has disclosed that British youngsters aged 10 to 17 carried out 277,986 offences in the past year.

According to The Telegraph, there was a 20 per cent rise in the number of children convicted for violent offences over the past three years.

The research showed that 53,930 10- to 17-year-olds were convicted of violence against the person last year, compared with 44,998 in 2004/5.

There were also increases in public order offences, theft and handling, and criminal damage crimes among young people.

The report identified a surge in the number of “ladette” offenders, as crimes committed by young women increased by 10 per cent to 57,962.

Conversely, the number of crimes committed by boys fell six per cent to 234,175 over the same three year period.

Figures also showed that women accounted for 21 per cent of all offences committed – compared to 18 per cent three years ago.

Despite the increases in violent crime and robbery, the use of custody as a punishment fell from 6,862 cases four years ago to 6,853 last year.

A separate Mori poll from the Youth Justice Board also showed that one in six young people has been involved in a “happy slapping” attack.

The 11 to 16-year-olds said they had either recorded or photographed an assault.

Among pupils questioned, 22 per cent said they had used their mobile phone to send a voicemail or text designed to scare, harass or threaten someone.

Among girls the proportion was 26 per cent. It was the first time youngsters had been asked about mobile phone-related crimes.

The Conservatives blamed the marked rise of violence among girls on binge drinking.

The news came as a new study claimed that cartoon favourites such as Scooby Doo and Pokemon could increase aggression among children because they feature high levels of violence. (ANI)

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Kids in single-parent households, stepfamilies see comfort in grandparents

February 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 24 (ANI): Kids, especially those living in single-parent or stepfamily households, see their grandparents as their source of comfort, according to a new study.

The research also found that grandchildren are closer to their maternal grandparents and, within that dyad, closer to their grandmothers.

“Grandparents are a positive force for all families but play a significant role in families undergoing difficulties,” said lead author Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz, PhD, of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“They can reduce the negative influence of parents separating and be a resource for children who are going through these family changes,” Attar-Schwartz added.

In addition, adolescents who spend more time with their grandparents are likely to exhibit better social skills and fewer behaviour problems.

Even those living in stepfamily households benefit from benefit from time with grandparents.

To reach the conclusion, the researchers asked 1,515 English and Welsh 11- to 16-year olds from 1,010 schools who lived with two biological parents (66.3 percent), a single parent (18 percent) or within stepfamilies (15.7 percent) how much involvement they had with their closest grandparents to see if this relationship made a difference in the children’s emotional and behavioral adjustment.

According to Attar-Schwartz, students reported that the more they talked to a grandparent about social and school activities, got advice or felt they could ask for money, the less hyperactive and disruptive they were.

Supportive relationships with other family members outside the immediate family may lead to better adjustment for children and adolescents, said the authors, who found this is especially true for children growing up in single-parent and stepfamily homes.

The study appears in the Journal of Family Psychology. (ANI)

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Kids are being “damaged” by mums going to work!

February 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Feb 2 (ANI): A new survey suggests that kids are being “damaged” with more and more mothers going to work.

It has been said that the growing economic independence of women from their male partners is contributing to family break-ups.

As per the report from The Church of England-affiliated Children’s Society and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams’, more mums with babies just under a year old are working, and carers are looking after their kids.
About seventy per cent of the mothers of 9-12 month-old babies do some paid work compared to a quarter 25 years ago, and family break-ups are up, with a third of 16-year-olds now living apart from their biological dad, reports the Sun.

The survey also showed that around 50 per cent more kids of separated parents had problems than those from a “nuclear” family, and looking at the growing number of broken homes, the study says working mums are contributing to it.

“Women’s new economic independence contributes to this rise,” the study noted.

It calls for parenting classes, psychological support when couples hit the rocks, and more help with affected kids.

But work advisory service Mums in Control have a different view to the whole thing.

“It’s nonsense to suggest all mothers should stay home,” it said.

“Many work because they have to financially. And far from damaging their families, their salary is what allows them to stay together. This is even more true in a recession,” it added. (ANI)

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