Distorted stereotypes about gang culture have been exploded in a study with members of six English gangs, Police Professional (July 17) reports. Dr Robert Ralphs, lead fieldworker on the project at the University of Manchester, says that police respond to gangs as groups of criminally involved young people, where membership is undisputed. In reality, “gangs are loose, messy, changing friendship networks, less organised and criminally active than widely believed with unclear, shifting and unstable leadership”. He calls on police to change their tactics when confronting gangs.

Here's something else you might not be aware of. Scotland has just 0.1 per cent of the world's population, but its higher education sector produces nearly 1 per cent of the world's research, Times Higher Education (July 17) reports. Meanwhile, the growth rate of the Scottish economy last year was a third less than the rest of the UK. How are the two linked? Well the Scottish National Party government is seeking independence - and to achieve that it has to prove that separation from the UK will bring tangible benefits for the nation. Experts say that how Scotland translates the high levels of research and development that take place in its universities into the economy is crucial. But here's the rub: investment in higher education in Scotland lags behind the rest of the UK.

Creative writing can play an important role in regeneration. Sarah Butler, a writer who runs a literature consultancy, tells New Start (July 18) that writers can work with communities to uncover and even create a sense of place, which can be embedded into the fabric of a new development. A writer can turn “messy, complicated issues” into verse that can be a powerful way of taking the voices of people directly affected by a process of regeneration to the decision-makers.

Nurses are concerned at the ever-younger age of children presenting with eating disorders, Nursing Standard (July 16) reports. Data released by the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) in 2007 shows that 18 per cent of children under 13 with an eating disorder are boys and the youngest child recorded was just 6. Martin Davies, a mental health nurse and operational lead at Althea Park in Gloucestershire, says that the rising incidence of childhood eating disorders bears a direct relationship to the breakdown of family values, the rise in divorce rates and the increase in fragmented families.

Knives get everybody nervous

Hospital staff dismayed that new legislation could make them legally required to report knife wounds to the police

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Schools often struggle to integrate refugee and asylum-seeking children who have recently arrived in the UK, but Valentines High School in Ilford, Essex, is bucking the trend, Children and Young People Now (July 16) reports. Its 1,300 pupils speak more than 50 languages and hail from all corners of the globe. Jan Pearson, head of the school's ethnic minority achievement team, says: “We don't label students, we treat them all as individuals.” Asylum-seeker or refugee, the school uses the term “overseas student”. A community mentoring programme, initially inviting local imams to help to address underachievement among some pupils from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, now includes mentors from Africa, the Caribbean, Albania, Turkey, Lebanon and the Indian sub-continent - all CRB checked and trained.

Media monitor

Hardened criminals may not strike you as tree-hugging types. But that's exactly what some prisoners are doing in an attempt to win an early release. The Woodland Trust has enlisted their help to measure ancient trees, many of which are in prison grounds. Lags link arms around trunks to gauge their girth. The Prison Service says that this helps inmates' maths skills. It may also help their chances with the parole board, reports the Daily Express (July 15).

The daughters of police officers might hope for an easy ride when they introduce their dates to Daddy. But officers and staff at Humberside Police have been using the police national computer to check the credentials of children's suitors, reports The Daily Telegraph (July 14). They have also looked up cars their friends are buying to see whether they've been stolen.

No self-interest, though, in the actions of Councillor Roderick Bluh, leader of Swindon Borough Council. The authority wants to scrap speed cameras so that it can put its £400,000 annual Gatso spend to other purposes. As it happens, Bluh served a three-month ban from driving in 2006, reports The Daily Telegraph (July 16). He had 12 points on his licence for - guess what - speeding.

Not very fast at all is Shiv Charan, 74, an Indian man who failed his high school exams for the 38th year running. He first took the Year 10 tests in 1969 and has vowed to continue until he passes. In fact, he won't wed until he passes, he tells The Sun (July 16). “As long as I am alive I will keep trying, in order to get a wife.” Fingers crossed for success and marriage vows next year.

It's all gone quiet at a charity shop in Exeter, where staff were told not to sing along to the radio. Workers at a store run by Mind, a mental health charity, once entertained customers by having a croon. But without a £60 licence from the Performing Rights Society, Mind put a stop to the singing. Managers at its stores were cautioned not to play radios, reports The Times (July 16).

Headline of the week

Here’s looking at ewe, kid
Pupils from London and Cornwall are enjoying the benefits of an exchange scheme, reports The Times Educational Supplement (July 18)

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