Parents of 16,000 pupils have been sent stark letters warning that internet predators may be trying to groom their children for sex.Second, ignore the fact that the actual number of victims is small:
Police believe at least 20 pupils – and fear as many as 50 – have been ensnared on Facebook and other social networking sites over the past three years.Third, deny that you are actually trying to panic people:
In a bombshell letter, signed by headteachers, parents were told there was no need for alarm.Fourthly, wrap yourself in the ‘It’s for the chiiiilllreeen!’ figleaf:
But it added: ‘The safety of your child is never more important than at this crucial time.’Fifthly, ignore the actual MO of the suspects and cast your net even wider, so you can panic everyone:
Jenny Faulkner, who is Torbay council’s ‘children’s champion’, stoked further anxiety by warning children: ‘Don’t go about alone – go in groups of twos or threes or fours.Finally, get your hysterical reaction out before the police can spoil the fun with some, y’know, facts about the investigation:
‘We are saying children need to be careful and be vigilant. If they are going home, they should go straight there.’ She urged parents: ‘Just watch your children.’
Police sources said none of the attacks were random and many of the victims were vulnerable children, some of whom had run away from home and had fallen into drug use.Now sit back and watch the ensuing mob hysteria:
Job done!…parents spoke of their fears after news of the investigation emerged. Sharon Houghton, who has children aged 11, 13 and 15 at different schools in Torbay, said she and her husband Ray were worried and in the dark.
‘It is obviously very concerning and we have been given very few details about the investigation,’ she said. ‘I am now thinking I can’t let my kids go out. I want to know where they are at all times.’
One mother of a 13-year-old girl said: ‘We’ve been told not to let them on these sites like Facebook because they could be meeting up with strangers.
‘These older boys seem friendly and nice on the internet but they are a real threat.‘I’ve talked to a lot of the other mums and we’re all going to stop them going on there.’
Read about this last night, they even arrested someone. Gave out just enough hints to cause widespread alarm (how much of this was typical Daily Mail I don't know) and then left the whole of Torbay in the dark about just what the hell was going on.
ReplyDeleteOr how to appear as if you're worth your fat salary, whilst roping-in as many other Agencies as possible ..
ReplyDeleteSo that when the inebvitable shit hits the fan, the whole load won't land on you ..
I still have to work out what this has to do with the NHS though ..
Oddly enough, not a technique employed in Derby.
ReplyDeleteDidn't want to upset the community or impact its astonishing cohesion I guess.
Read this one in the Telegraph and not sure what to make of it. It's at least possibly entirely made up out of whole cloth. The victims are between 12 and 15, so it's not actually "paedophilia" at all, if it's a "philia" it's "ephebophilia", but may not be even that.
ReplyDeleteThe one arrest they have is a 19 year old, so we're hardly in dirty old man territory. I am reminded of chatting with a sweet old guy I used to work with, telling me he met his beloved wife of many decades when he was 17 and she was 13. I am also reminded of a girl on a website I used to frequent of a "liberal" nature, saying how when she started her sex life (at 14), she didn't really realise the risk she was putting her (older teenager) partners in.
The word "ring" is being used. It is always used to imply some ghastly organised conspiracy. We also have the inevitable ZOMG THE INTERNETS FACEBOOK meme. Drink and drugs? Come and look at the gangs of teenagers in the streets around where I live.
This whole thing may be nothing more than some disconnected incidents of underage persons having sex with over-age ones.
Still, nothing like a good panic, eh?
And in the meantime all this stupidity does is provide support and ammunition to Clarie Perry and Ed Vaizey in their campaign to lump us with internet filtering.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing it is not a MONA situation, so why don't they give us an idea?
ReplyDelete"Gave out just enough hints to cause widespread alarm...and then left the whole of Torbay in the dark about just what the hell was going on."
ReplyDeleteIt seems the police did their usual brief detail, but then the panic was generated by the council and schools...
"Or how to appear as if you're worth your fat salary, whilst roping-in as many other Agencies as possible "
Ah. Yes, that too.
"Oddly enough, not a technique employed in Derby."
Indeed! As Blueknight points out, it's clearly NOT a situation that should worry the authorities, so why do it? What do they have to gain?
"The word "ring" is being used. It is always used to imply some ghastly organised conspiracy. We also have the inevitable ZOMG THE INTERNETS FACEBOOK meme. "
As Clarissa points out, that plays into the hands of some very dodgy people indeed.