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NEWS

Royal assent for Disability Discrimination Bill

The Children's Society said it was delighted that The Disability Discrimination Act will now become law. The Act will require schools to promote equality of opportunity for the 700,000 disabled children in Britain.

"The Disability Discrimination Act marks a new era for the rights of disabled children and young people in Britain," said the charity in a statement. "We are delighted that the Government has listened carefully to The Children's Society about the importance of schools in the lives of children and young people and in shaping attitudes and behaviours.
"The Government's commitment to ensuring that schools are fully included in new duties to promote disability equality is an important victory for the rights of disabled children and young people. This will mean that schools will be required to take action to provide equality of opportunity for disabled children; to monitor and assess progress and outcomes for disabled children and involve and consult with them.

"We hope it will encourage positive attitudes within the school community by ensuring that educational programmes, anti-bullying strategies, and citizenship activities have an explicit focus on disability equality."

Sky gives parents greater control on children's viewing

Parents in millions of households across the UK and Ireland will soon have greater control over their children's TV viewing, following Sky's announcement of enhancements to its Parental Control facility.

The new upgrade will enable parents to restrict access to channels or even to remove all listings for adult channels from Sky's easy-to-use Electronic Programme Guide, the Sky Guide.

The new controls, to be made available to all Sky and Sky+ boxes by Summer 2005, are in addition to the existing ratings and spending limits that are already available via the Parental Control facility. All digital satellite viewers will be able to take advantage of the enhanced Parental Control facility without purchasing any new equipment or paying any additional charge.

The new Parental Control features will be introduced in two phases:

Phase 1 - Using the Sky remote control, concerned parents will be able to restrict viewing to any digital satellite channel including Free to Air channels and unrated programmes. They will be able to choose whether to restrict access at all times or to prevent viewing only after 8pm. To unlock access to a restricted channel, a household member will have to enter a unique four-digit PIN number using the Sky remote control.

Phase 2 - For the first time, parents will be able to remove all listings for adult channels from the Sky Guide. To reinstate the adult channels to the Sky Guide, the four-digit PIN code is required.

Brian Sullivan, Director of Customer Products and Services at Sky, said: "Digital television brings an unprecedented choice of viewing but parents want to be sure that their families get the best out of what's on offer. With these new controls, Sky is giving parents peace of mind and the ability to really manage their children's viewing."

More than half of us can’t cope without plastic cards

More than 50% of people taking part in a unique financial experiment called Cash for a Month have found it impossible to manage without credit or debit cards, a new survey reveals.

One financial expert has shown that people spend up to a third more when using plastic payments, contributing to the ever-increasing debt mountain in the UK.

Cash for a Month was the brainchild of popular author and motivational speaker Rob Parsons, whose recent book The Money Secret highlighted a number of ways for people to reassert control over their finances. One method was reverting to only using cash on a day-to-day basis. Over 2,000 people signed up to participate in Cash for a Month, committing to using cash throughout the month of March.

Despite 57% of the participants surveyed saying they found switching to a cash-only lifestyle difficult, 81% recognised that it was an excellent way to keep on top of the finances.

"We found that using cash made us more aware of what we were able to spend. It made budgeting simpler and took a lot of the stress out of being unsure how much we had left. For the first month in a long time we feel in control," said one respondent.

Some 83% of respondents said they would recommend Cash for a Month to other people. One person told the survey: "I have enjoyed being able to use the initiative to talk about money issues with family and friends - it is a wonderful idea for people to adopt."

The difficulty of foregoing plastic means of payment was raised by many of the people surveyed. One participant admitted that "using debit and credit cards during the month is easy and convenient", but then they "can create stress at the end of the month as we try to juggle money to pay the credit card bill". After Cash for a Month, the same participant said: "We are looking forward to not having the stress of money juggling in the April bill!"

"You’re more aware that you’re actually spending money when you use cash, rather than a credit card, which is why using cash for a few months is often a reality check for people," added Rob. "I’m very pleased with the reaction to Cash for a Month. Countless people have told me it’s revolutionized their finances. I would like to challenge other people to put away their plastic cards and give cash a go!"

Cash for a Month was organised by www.themoneysecret.info

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		NEWS Royal assent for Disability Discrimination Bill The Children's Society said it was delighted that The Disability Discrimination Act will now become law. The Act will require schools to promote equality of opportunity for the 700,000 disabled children in Britain. "The Disability Discrimination Act marks a new era for the rights of disabled children and young people in Britain," said the charity in a statement. "We are delighted that the Government has listened carefully to The Children's Society about the importance of schools in the lives of children and young people and in shaping attitudes and behaviours. "The Government's commitment to ensuring that schools are fully included in new duties to promote disability equality is an important victory for the rights of disabled children and young people. This will mean that schools will be required to take action to provide equality of opportunity for disabled children; to monitor and assess progress and outcomes for disabled children and involve and consult with them. "We hope it will encourage positive attitudes within the school community by ensuring that educational programmes, anti-bullying strategies, and citizenship activities have an explicit focus on disability equality." Sky gives parents greater control on children's viewing Parents in millions of households across the UK and Ireland will soon have greater control over their children's TV viewing, following Sky's announcement of enhancements to its Parental Control facility. The new upgrade will enable parents to restrict access to channels or even to remove all listings for adult channels from Sky's easy-to-use Electronic Programme Guide, the Sky Guide. The new controls, to be made available to all Sky and Sky+ boxes by Summer 2005, are in addition to the existing ratings and spending limits that are already available via the Parental Control facility. All digital satellite viewers will be able to take advantage of the enhanced Parental Control facility without purchasing any new equipment or paying any additional charge. The new Parental Control features will be introduced in two phases: Phase 1 - Using the Sky remote control, concerned parents will be able to restrict viewing to any digital satellite channel including Free to Air channels and unrated programmes. They will be able to choose whether to restrict access at all times or to prevent viewing only after 8pm. To unlock access to a restricted channel, a household member will have to enter a unique four-digit PIN number using the Sky remote control. Phase 2 - For the first time, parents will be able to remove all listings for adult channels from the Sky Guide. To reinstate the adult channels to the Sky Guide, the four-digit PIN code is required. Brian Sullivan, Director of Customer Products and Services at Sky, said: "Digital television brings an unprecedented choice of viewing but parents want to be sure that their families get the best out of what's on offer. With these new controls, Sky is giving parents peace of mind and the ability to really manage their children's viewing." More than half of us can’t cope without plastic cards More than 50% of people taking part in a unique financial experiment called Cash for a Month have found it impossible to manage without credit or debit cards, a new survey reveals. One financial expert has shown that people spend up to a third more when using plastic payments, contributing to the ever-increasing debt mountain in the UK. Cash for a Month was the brainchild of popular author and motivational speaker Rob Parsons, whose recent book The Money Secret highlighted a number of ways for people to reassert control over their finances. One method was reverting to only using cash on a day-to-day basis. Over 2,000 people signed up to participate in Cash for a Month, committing to using cash throughout the month of March. Despite 57% of the participants surveyed saying they found switching to a cash-only lifestyle difficult, 81% recognised that it was an excellent way to keep on top of the finances. "We found that using cash made us more aware of what we were able to spend. It made budgeting simpler and took a lot of the stress out of being unsure how much we had left. For the first month in a long time we feel in control," said one respondent. Some 83% of respondents said they would recommend Cash for a Month to other people. One person told the survey: "I have enjoyed being able to use the initiative to talk about money issues with family and friends - it is a wonderful idea for people to adopt." The difficulty of foregoing plastic means of payment was raised by many of the people surveyed. One participant admitted that "using debit and credit cards during the month is easy and convenient", but then they "can create stress at the end of the month as we try to juggle money to pay the credit card bill". After Cash for a Month, the same participant said: "We are looking forward to not having the stress of money juggling in the April bill!" "You’re more aware that you’re actually spending money when you use cash, rather than a credit card, which is why using cash for a few months is often a reality check for people," added Rob. "I’m very pleased with the reaction to Cash for a Month. Countless people have told me it’s revolutionized their finances. I would like to challenge other people to put away their plastic cards and give cash a go!" Cash for a Month was organised by www.themoneysecret.info © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.