http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...268/Council-bans-parents-from-play-areas.html I read this and my first thought was "surely this is the media over-dramatacizing?" If it's accurate though it seems like the council really has gone overboard with this. A playground where you can't supervise your own child? Hypothetically, what if the child gets hurt? Could the parent sue the council since the child is in the care of the council at that time? And that's not counting the insulting implication that "any one of you could be a paedo so none of you can come in". I grew up in the 70s. Back then we didn't believe there was a paedo hiding behind every bush, so I could go out and play with my friends till after dark even before the age of ten. I understand that there are exceptions, but as a broad generalisation it seems to me that the more the nanny state interferes with the bringing up of children, the lower the quality of that childhood.
Just don't go there. See how long the council runs a fully staffed park with no one in it. Just a bunch of CRB checked people sat twiddling their thumbs while all the parents go to the local park.
Geez. IMO it's the parent's job to protect their children... these idiots think it's their job to protect children from their parents??? Sure, you get bad parents sometimes, but the same could be said for school teachers, doctors, etc. etc.
And how do they verify that the playground staff aren't pedophiles? Background checks don't catch people who are getting ready to become first offenders. And the first time some pedo supervisor grabs a kid and the kid's parents say "if I was allowed onto the playground, I could have stopped this," heads are going to roll. Anyway, I think the entire idea is ludicrous. Add a security guard or supervisor to a playground if you want, but don't ban parents.
One of the most pathetic things about our current government (aside from their servile toadying to big business) is their servile toadying to the tabloid press. Statistically speaking, paedophiles abuse within their home or extended family. The only way to prevent this is to ensure that children have an honest and open relationship with their parents and would talk to them about any suspicious relatives or neighbours. There is nothing the government can do about it as it's a matter of intra-family dynamics but in order to look like they're fighting the "paedo menace" they indroduce ever more draconian guidelines. Don't get me started on the enhanced CRB check (which includes not only your criminal record but any unproven or unfounded allegations and any crimes for which you've been found not guilty). It's the biggest and widest abuse of governmental authority in Britain's recent history and it'll do nothing to curb child abuse.
Peadophilias the new terrorism in the sense of how everyone's tripping out about it. I've heard some stupid things with this whole "everyone's a peadophile" climate we seem to be living in but this is one of the worst. In fact its not stupid its just pathetic.
Mine might make interesting reading. I just used to get blamed for a lot of things without any real evidence or even crime once.
Yeah, it's unfortunate. As anyone who's ever had dodgy friends would know - knowing dodgy people doesn't necessarily make you a dodgy character yourself.
A friend of mine was accused of raping his prom date. Allegedly he returned to her house at about 2 am the night of the prom and committed the crime. Thing is, he was at after-prom until sunrise. He was in a car full of people when he dropped his date off, and they went straight to after-prom and never left. About a hundred eye-witnesses exonerated him at the time of the alleged rape. This is just one example of why only convictions, not unsubstantiated accusations, should be part of a background check. Just my opinion.
This would have a negative impact on a child's development if he's being literally protected from his or her own parent, creating another problem that can be as worse as the one they're trying to prevent. Short-term solutions aren't necessarily the best.
