Live at the Witch Trials

Baby Peter.

Seems like the Mother may be out in a couple of years. The boyfriend, the one who also raped a 2 year old girl, may be out by 2017.

Sky News just gave the details. I don't think there is enough alcohol in the world to drown my disgust at this news.

I just cannot express my anger in suitable words.

The effects of beating children

Those of you who follow my blog will have seen that I recently have made several posts about a blog which, in my opinion, was promoting the beating of children.

A comment was left on that blog which, to me at least, summed up the matter. I thought the comments were worthy of repeating. I know that some readers feel that my reaction to these comments were OTT, but the less socially acceptable beating children is, the less we tolerate the use of violence to control children and the more people use other strategies to discipline children, the less cases like babyP we'll have. To the proponents of smacking, I'll say this. If the line is drawn in the sand with a zero tolerance of violence, then there are no grey areas and no excuses. When I left school in 1981, I lived in Stockholm for a while. I was surprised to find that the Swede's had banned corporal punishment decades before. Were their schools overrun by thugs? No. I'll accept that in some schools discipline has deterioirated since Corporal punishment was abolished, but I don't believe that this is due to the new rules. I just think that it was the result of poorly administered schools. If it was down to the ban on corporal punishment, then every school would be overrun by thugs.

Anyway, here's the comment.

"My Dad beat me and it did do a load of damage. I used to think 'whats that for' see he beat cos he could, bad day at the office dear, oww never mind beat da kid.
WTF.
In the end the beatings made me give up, give up on them as parents and me.
Im lucky I got out
Think it through...ya approving of someone twice ya size beating on ya.
Sorry I can't go with da 'this is so post ironic middle class babble, beating kids is wrong and dats the end of it.
Ya post sucks"

Couldn't really have put it better myself.

By the way, I'm just back from a weekend football tournament at Butlins in Bognor Regis with the Watling FC Under 9 team. Ten boys went with the team. All were a credit to their parents, a great time was had by all. These are things I want to define my relationship with my kids, not fear of being bashed.

A protection racket?

Barnet Council Website says the following about child protection (Click HERE for the full page) :-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Child protection

Children at risk

In the Children's Service we aim to:

* Support families in times of difficulty. This might be because they have a child with a disability or their family is having difficult times.
* Support children to make sure that they are safe and looked after properly by their families and carers.
* Safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the London Borough of Barnet who are in need, and
* Promote the upbringing of children by their families.

There are a variety of ways to support children and their families. Following an assessment, the services that may be arranged can include:

* ongoing social work support
* attendance at a Family Centre
* help from Family Workers
* referral to other agencies, such as a psychology service
* shared care for children with special needs
* support from the Youth Offending Team.

Sometimes children have to be `looked after' by Barnet Council. If this happens we will work with parents and carers to ensure that they are fully involved in plans for their children.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------



What struck me reading through the Barnet web page was how little it said about child protection. Given that the title is Child Protection and the sub heading is Children at Risk, there seems to be a complete aversion on the part of the person who put the page together to discuss the issue.

The Child protection page doesn't tell you what to do. You need to click on the Child abuse link. Five paragraphs down the abuse page, there is a telephone number and an email address (in standard type). Now I don't know about you, but I think that if you are searching "child protection" on Barnet's website (unless you are a saddo blogger like me) you have big worries about something. Surely the page should have a massive banner saying "If you have any concerns about a child at risk, call this number 24 hours a day". Rather than all of the waffle, as detailed above, cut to the chase.

If I'm worried that the alcoholic junkie next door (metaphorically speaking as my neighbours are lovely) is a threat to his children, I don't want him to be "involved". I want his children taken to somewhere safe. If he's abused them, I want him locked up. I want to know that serious action will be taken.

What made me think about all of this was a blog I read by an ex IRA terrorist - Anthony MacIntyre - who spent 18 years in prison. It made me think - what about you - (click HERE for the full blog) :-

There is little room for doubting the extent of professional negligence displayed by Sharon Shoesmith in her management of the child protection scheme in Haringey. The helpless and vulnerable were abandoned to the perverse designs of their tormentors. The Baby P case demonstrated that prisoners have a greater degree of protection than children at risk. It is inconceivable that someone detained in Belmarsh would be visited 60 times by professionals supposedly concerned about allegations of ill treatment at the hands of prison staff only for the prisoner to be later murdered by the same staff. And if, four days before he died, prison officers were to present him to professional visitors unconscious, his face smeared in chocolate, claiming that he was only asleep, it would be just as inconceivable that the professionals would walk away after a cursory wave.

Now am I drawing too much into a few lines of text on the Barnet Council website? Probably, but as a parent, I want to know that the council put the "at risk child" first. The website doesn't say that to me at all. I want to know that at risk children are afforded more, not less, protection than inmates at Belmarsh. Every so often, something happens and we have to re-examine the way we approach things and re-focus on what we are really meant to be doing. The Barnet Council Child protection website would be a good place to start.