Children

Children, and children's rights

Labour says people who indoctrinate children with religion may also be allowed to hit them

Although smacking is banned in state and private schools a loophole in the law means that while teachers in state and private schools are banned from smacking children, part-time teachers of religion are not. (Guardian 30.1.10) Teachers who take pupils for fewer than 12.5 hours of lessons a week have the same status as someone who is standing in for a parent, and can therefore give a child a mild ‘smack’. They can plead the defence of "reasonable punishment". The issue has been raised by Ann Cryer MP, who wants the loophole closed. In response Ed Balls, children’s secretary, said, "The defence...

Birmingham Social Services: Not fit for purpose

Birmingham city children’s social services have been found “unfit for purpose” as child deaths in that city hit the headlines. I cannot be the only social worker to have read that statement and thought, “too bloody right, we’ve been saying it for years.” The current round of adverts for social work depict a glossy picture which is very far from the reality of the best social work teams at the moment. The report by the Scrutiny Committee in Birmingham shows how different. The report raises many issues, including cramped and inadequate working conditions for overworked and stressed staff...

Protecting children from religion

A young child is removed from his family, taken to live in a remote community, made to engage in strange rituals, denied the company of ordinary children, dressed in unusual clothes and surrounded by adults who worship him. Are these scenes from some despotic cult? No, this is the way that new religious leaders are “nurtured” under the auspices of what are widely held to be the enlightened and progressive practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Osel Hita Torres was identified whilst just a baby as the reincarnation of then recently deceased Lama Yeshe. The Tibetan Buddhist Federation for the Protection...

Social work post-"Baby P"

The Social Work Activities Network (SWAN) describes itself as “a loose network of social work practitioners, academics, students and social welfare service users united in their concern that social work activity is being undermined by managerialism and marketisation, by the stigmatisation of service users and by welfare cuts and restrictions. “…good social work … can help people address the problems and difficulties in their lives. Many of these difficulties are rooted in the inequalities and oppressions of the modern world and good social work necessarily involves confronting such structural...

Screening for autism?

Yesterday's Guardian led with the headline, New research brings autism screening closer to reality: Call for ethics debate as tests in womb could allow termination of pregnancies . On Stroppyblog, a mother of a child with Asperger syndrome discusses the issues. Click here .

"Baby P" and a "narrow trade-unionist response": a critique of critics

See other articles: the Solidarity 3/143 article on the Baby P case, and the criticism of it, to which this is a reply ; Haringey; why the "business model" didn't work, by Pauline Bradley, from Solidarity 3/142. Suppose a man from far away, and with a shaky grip on the English language, picked up a copy of the last Solidarity and read my article on the "Baby P" case. Suppose he hadn't seen the previous issue, with Pauline Bradley's article. He might possibly conclude from what I wrote there - "a narrow trade union ist response to this terrible event — rallying round to defend the social...

The lessons of the “Baby P” case

Whoever is to be blamed, and however the degrees of blame are to be portioned out, the bottom line is that “Baby P” was killed after a horrific 18 month life, during all or most of which he was repeatedly beaten and physically injured by his mother, and her partner, and, perhaps, the lodger. Other articles: Haringey; why the "business model" didn't work, by Pauline Bradley, from Solidarity 3/142 A reply to the criticisms in the comments below, by Sean Matgamna. This happened while the family was being supervised by the social services and “Baby P” was known to be at risk. Everyone involved...

Baby P: why the business model didn't work

Until 2006 Pauline Bradley worked as a social worker for Haringey council, whose social work department has been in the news over the death of “Baby P”. During her time at Haringey Pauline saw the tragic death of Victoria Climbie, the inquiry into her death by Lord Laming, and the subsequent reforms made by the government. Here Pauline, who now works in Dumbarton, explains why she thinks the social work system can fail children like “Baby P”. This is the full text of the interview which Pauline did with Cathy Nugent. The text in the printed paper is just Pauline's responses; here we include...

Government cops out on smacking

“A smack is parents trying to hit you, [but] instead of calling [it] a hit they call it a smack.” — A seven year old (from It Hurts You Inside , Children’s Rights Alliance) A proposed amendment to the Children and Young Person’s Bill, which would have outlawed the physical punishment of children, will not now be discussed or voted on in Parliament. The time allotted to that discussion was reallocated to Alistair Darling’s announcement on bailing out banks with billions of pounds. The amendment — backed by 100 Labour MPs but not supported by the government — would have cost nothing. It would...

Asperger’s, autism, and special talent

On Sunday 5 October, my son Joe and his dad went to the “Autism and Music” concert at the Savoy Theatre in London. It was promoted by the Autism Research Centre, which is based at Cambridge University and headed up by Professor Simon Baron Cohen. Most people hear about the difficulties associated with autism and Asperger Syndrome, including social and communication problems, and obsessions. But the obsessions can also give rise to particular talents, which apparently cluster around music, art and maths. So the idea of the concert — and of an arts exhibition at the ICA later that week — was to...

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