Thursday 26 June 2008

‘For The Chiillldreeen…!’ Part 457

A quarter of the adult population faces an "anti-paedophile" test in an escalation of child protection policies, according to a report.

The launch of a new Government agency will see 11.3million people vetted for any criminal past before they are approved to have contact with children aged under 16.
Even sociologists are beginning to think they might have gone too far:

But the increase in child protection measures is so great it is "poisoning" relationships between the generations, according to respected sociologist Professor Frank Furedi. In a report for think tank Civitas, he said the use of criminal records bureau checks to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults has created an atmosphere of suspicion.

As a result ordinary parents - many of whom are volunteers at sports and social clubs - now find themselves regarded "potential child abusers".

In related news:

It was meant to be a gently embarrassing centrepiece for her son's 21st birthday. But when Gail Jordan asked bakery staff at Asda to print a photograph of him as a baby on to a cake they didn't see the funny side.

After one look at the photograph – which featured her son David at about five months and lying on his front – they declared that putting it on the cake would constitute pornography because his bare bottom could be seen.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doesn't this say more about the perverted mental processes of Asda management - and bakery staff - than anything else?

Also, on the Today programme this morning, in a discussion between Frank Furedi and Esther Ratzen, Rantzen studiously avoided the questions posed by the Civitas report. Her argument consisted of illustrating the good side of criminalising all adults (particularly men) by reference to some particularly appalling examples of child abuse and child murder. We've been here before: it's the all-purpose if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear argument perfect for busybodies like Rantzen.

Anonymous said...

Lol. Like the old joke about the psychiatrist and the Rorschatz cards, where the punchline is 'Well, you're the one showing me all the dirty pictures!'...?

Rantzen should have stuck with unusually-shaped vegetables and dogs that said 'sausages'.

John M Ward said...

I worked for Asda for a few years, a while back, and they were a good outfit on the whole. If I had been at the store where this request was made, I'd have suggested putting a nappy on the image built into the cake.

Simple, really!