PlayAction OnLine - Fair Play For Children

Transcription

PlayAction OnLine
3rd September 2008
[email protected]
This really is a very full issue, around 150 pages long, partly because we didn’t have a mid-August edition (leave and
IT gremlins no less) but also because there is so much to report. Because of this, we have put an index for each
main section at the end, and within each section a contents list of articles. Just click on the section concerned
below to read its index, and then click on the article(s) you want to read. It mostly works ..... honest.
If you have any comments, want to contribute etc, the email address at the top right hand corner is for you. We are
also happy to have enquiries for ads. (same address) and we’d very much appreciate donations (see our web site at
www.fairplayforchildren.org) or alternatively, benefit yourself and Fair Play by visiting our online Shop, details in this
edition. This edition is in two parts.
With best wishes
Jan Cosgrove [Mouth still open ....]
National Secretary, Fair Play for Children
Contents
Children’s Play
Part 1
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Let’s Make the World Fit for All Our Children to Play In
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PlayAction OnLine
Britain’s Shame: The Logical End of
Pandering to Racism
PlayAction Online is
published by The
Fair Play for ChildrenAssociation .
Views expressed are
not necessarily supported or promoted
by Fair Play unless
stated. We gratefully
acknowledge all contributions. Permission should be sought
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Sources stated.
This organisation was founded in 1972 by Bishop Trevor Huddleston. Better
known as the founder of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, idolised by Desmond
Tutu, who gave Hugh Masekela his first trumpet, and honoured by Nelson
Mandela. A man who would no more shirk his duty to speak out against injustice than he would forget to breathe.
What he would have made of the policies which have led to Yarslwood and
the abysmal record of this and previous Governments over the detention of
children of people seeking asylum is easy to know. He would have condemned it and still would be condemning it.
Not enough that the Chief Inspector of Prisons in July condemned the regime there as damaging children, now the
Children’s Commissioner for England, Professor Al Ainsley-Green, has made the most swingeing attack on the centre.
The New Statesman this week launches ‘No Place for Children’ a Campaign to end the practices which Ainsley-Green
and the Chief Inspector of Prisons have both roundly condemned.
Our raison d’etre is to support the Right of every Child to Play. That means more than just a box of tired toys routinely provided. Other Rights have to also be in place, such as the absence of cruel and unusual treatment mor
proper Health Care. Anyone watching the Channel 4 News Report on 3rd September where we learn of the baby de-
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PlayAction OnLine
nied proper feeding despite offers by a Nurse to bring in the
formula feed (the mother is HIV and thus bottle-feeding was required) and instead provided with sugar and water will have
been disgusted.
When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, we were told this
would be an era of ethical government. Yarlswood is the embodiment of an unethical policy founded on appeasing a constituency stirred up by the Daily Mail and other tabloids. The
underlying issue seems to us to be a racist subtext which, instead of confronting it, Governments at the least have pandered to it, fearful of offending residual racism which some
tabloids have no qualms about stirring up.
It will not be enough simply to patch-over individual cases or even close Yarlwood. The underlying issues need to be
addressed ethically by Mr Brown and very soon. Fair Play echoes what we know Trevor Huddleston would now be
vigorously demanding, an end to a squalid practice and policy and the creation of a fair and ethical basis for treatment of those seeking refuge in Britain. Opposition politicians also need to refrain from using this issue for party
ends. They may be seeking election and even government. Their ‘needs’ are a poor second to the needs of these
children. An end to trauma, oppressive measures and being used as scapegoats. Most of them have already endured enough, often unspeakable horror, before they set foot here.
Britain has no right to add to their misery. Whatever the eventual decisions about each family, whilst they are here,
we have an expectation that they will be treated decently. We need an end to the dreadful complaceny of the
Home Office. The UN Committee Report on the UK’s record on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is soon
to be published. Many expect there to be heavy criticism and this issue will be core. If so, it will be deserved.
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Picture left:
Professor Al Ainsley-Green
Children’s Commissioner
for England
Yarl's Wood
Befrienders
Volunteers undertake to visit
a detainee regularly, listening and caring about what
happens to them. In this
way, although we cannot affect the outcome of their
case, we can help to reduce
their isolation, acting as a
contact with the outside
world. The visitor notices
when anxiety and depression, or other medical problems, are becoming serious.
Please Visit:
www.ywbefrienders.org
Links to articles on Yarlswood:
PlayAction OnLine
Channel 4 Story
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/law_order/commissioner+attacks+inhumane+treatment+of+asylum+children/2441807
From New Statesman
http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform/2008/09/children-detention-immigration
http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/09/yarl-wood-detained-meltem
http://www.newstatesman.com/human-rights/2008/09/children-campaign-morgan-story
http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/09/yarl-wood-school-mum-took
Detainees Stories
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2008/09/yarls-wood-testimony-brigitte
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2008/09/yarls-wood-testimony-katherine
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2008/09/yarl-wood-baby-locked-milk
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2008/09/yarl-wood-children-drink
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PlayAction OnLine
Risky play prepares kids for life
Adrian Voce
Source: Society Guardian,
When the government published its safeguarding strategy for children last summer the part that caught the eye –
and the headlines – was not about child protection but about the dangers of over-protecting them. Conjuring up a
more carefree time of conkers and snowball fights, the new children's secretary Ed Balls said, "We mustn't wrap our
children up in cotton wool, but allow them to play outside so as to better understand the opportunities and challenges in the world around them, and how to be safe."
He meant it too. In April he launched Fair Play, a new national play strategy as a flagship policy of the government's
10-year Children's Plan. This was underpinned by an initial three-year, £235m spending programme on outdoor play,
to begin immediately. One of the principles of Fair Play is that "children need to take risks to learn how to manage
risks … an essential part of growing up". It proposes "to ensure families get the support and information they need
to judge what is right for their child … increasing parents' knowledge and understanding of the risks and benefits of
play".
Research for this year's Playday, on August 6, reveals the extent of the challenge the government has taken on, suggesting that, as a society we believe children are more at risk now than they were a generation ago, when actually
the reverse is true. Thus the ICM survey found that more than three-quarters of all children aged 7-16 wanted more
adventurous play opportunities then they currently have. Half of 7-12 year olds told us that they are not allowed to
climb a tree without adult supervision or have been stopped from climbing trees because it's considered too dangerous. Many children say they have also been stopped from playing ordinary childhood games such as conkers, chase
and even hide-and-seek, because of the supposed dangers. Forty-two per cent said that they are not even allowed
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Children’s
Play
to play in their local park without an adult present.
PlayAction OnLine
Children's play has long been understood to have a key role, both in their wellbeing and satisfaction as children, and
in the development of their future life skills. Research indicates how vital to each of these functions is the uncertainty – the sense of danger, even – that children are impelled to seek out when they play. It is not the "theme" that
attracts them to theme parks, but the scary rides. Such entertainments, though, contrive the sense of danger without allowing children any discretion in their response, or requiring from them any development of skill. Just get
strapped in, hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
At real play, children are in charge, instinctively making hundreds of decisions as they assess and determine the levels of risk they want to take, physically, emotionally and socially: mastering, day by day, an increasing repertoire of
skills, adding to their bank of experience. Throughout the animal kingdom, the play of the young is commonly observed to be a rehearsal of life skills, fundamental for species' survival. Human children are no different, needing the
make-believe world of play to experience and master the fullest range of challenges – and their emotional responses
to them – as a series of lessons for the world they will eventually have to negotiate for real.
So, through play, children acquire confidence, but also an awareness of limits and boundaries. They learn, in short,
how to be safe. As the popular American educator and broadcaster, Fred Rogers said, "Play is often talked about as
if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood".
Modern worries and anxieties – and, it should be said, an outdoor world which really is less child-friendly then ever
before – has led to a risk-averse culture that finds expression in overbearing health and safety policies which fail to
weigh the benefits of a given activity against the risks involved. Providers of children's playgrounds, in common with
many public services, are in fear of litigation in the event of even minor scrapes. So they increasingly err on the side
of caution, investing heavily in impact-absorbing surfaces and equipment that rigorously meets safety standards but
often lacks real play value.
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Fair Play is seeking
to launch an OnLine
Library of publications related to Play,
Children’s Rights,
etc.
We intend to place
documents for general access in Adobe
Acrobat Reader PDF
files. So we are asking readers for:
+ PDF documents
+ Word documents
+ URLs to documents on Line.
Please send your
electronic documents
as an attachment to/
link in an email to:
[email protected]
PlayAction OnLine
It is to the government's credit that it has not simply pointed the finger at "paranoid parents" but will publish guidance on public play areas, produced by Play England, that seeks to break with this "safety first and last" culture, and
to instil a greater willingness to offer children spaces that can really inspire them. Also, the national play strategy,
published in April, addresses parents' genuine concerns and pledges to change planning frameworks, make the
streets safer and improve supervision in parks and open spaces.
The play strategy has also committed funding to the type of staffed facility that offers children – who are otherwise
short of good open space – the ideal play area. This is the traditional adventure playground, where trained staff cocreate with children themselves the environments where their imaginations can really soar. Here they will jump,
swing, run and climb, typically through a labyrinth of wood, tyres and ropes that they have helped to construct. They
will build their own dens, sit around fires, throw water over each other, grow things, cook and eat them, dress up
and make things (all from scrap materials: adventure playgrounds were recycling before the word was even in common usage), or just kick a ball around. These playgrounds – free of charge and open to all – are communities and
spaces that serve only children's need to play and have adventures.
With only 30 new ones scheduled to be built over the next 3 years, most children will still never get to visit a real adventure playground. But an adventure playground only tries to give to children what most used to be able to take for
granted from growing up with a degree of freedom to explore. They are telling us that this is no longer the case. If
we want them and future generations to have the confidence and skills to survive and thrive in an increasingly challenging world, we need to listen to them.
Adrian Voce is director of Play England
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Children today are mollycoddled prisoners - it’s no surprise they
turn into extreme sports fanatics
If I’d spent my first 18 years doing time in a cotton-wool cell, I’d
snowboard off a cliff too
Monday August 11 2008
Here’s a news story guaranteed to provoke a fusillade of indignant spluttering, courtesy of your inner Clarkson: German politicians are reportedly planning to ban Kinder Surprise eggs on the grounds that they’re a safety hazard. In
case you’re not familiar with the concept, the “surprise” inside each Kinder egg is a cheapo little toy housed within a
plastic shell. Anyway, the Germans are worried that hungry, gurgling kiddywinks might mistake the gifts for food and
wind up choking to death. “Children can’t differentiate between toys and nutritional items,” said Miriam Gruss, a
member of the German parliamentary children’s committee.
What, really? Don’t get me wrong - I think children are idiots. But even I find that statement a tad unfair and sweeping. I used to have a spud gun when I was a kid. In case you’re not familiar with that concept either, it was a small
metal pistol that fired chunks of potato. Not once did I aim the potato at anyone. Or try to deep-fry the gun. And I
was thick as shit. I guess it was luck.
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In fact my run of luck was pretty impressive. Other toys I failed to ingest include a Scalextric, several boxes of space
Lego, the board games Operation and Mousetrap, and a complete collection of Paul Daniels’ TV Magic Tricks - even
though the latter included an egg-shaped gizmo called The Magic Egg. Somehow, miraculously, my conker-sized kiddywink brain managed to differentiate it from a real egg. Thus my life was saved by a whisker. Gruss won’t countenance such a slapdash approach to child safety. Not on her watch. “It’s a sad fact,” she said. “Kinder Surprise eggs
have to go.”
As you can imagine, the committee’s proclamation has already caused a fair bit of outraged huffing, not least from
the manufacturer, Ferrero, which until now has perhaps been best known for providing the catering at badly dubbed
ambassadors’ receptions in the late 1980s. “There is absolutely no evidence that the Kinder Surprise eggs, as a
combination of toy and foodstuff, are dangerous,” said Ferrero’s spokeswoman. Then she snatched a golden-foilwrapped nobbly chocolate bollock from a nearby silver platter and added, “Monsieur, with these Rocher, you are really spoiling us.”
Now I’m no fan of Ferrero chocolate, which vaguely tastes like regurgitated icing sugar to me, but I can’t help thinking that it would be hugely unfair on the company if an unsubstantiated link between Kinder eggs and danger began
to form in parents’ minds and sales suffered accordingly. Let’s face it, even though Kinder eggs are generally bought
for the gift rather than the sickly chocolate shell, and even though many of the toys are so ingeniously designed they
could easily be sold on their own, munching through the outside to get at the inedible inside is half the fun.
What’s more, jittery, neurotic parents don’t need any more false scares to piss their pants over. They’re already raising their twatty little offspring like mollycoddled prisoners: banned from playing outdoors in case a paedophile ring
burrows through the pavement and eats them, locked indoors with nothing but anti-bacterial plasma screens for
company, ferried to and from school in spluttering rollcaged tanks. . . Christ, half these kids would view choking to
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No wonder they grow up to become tiresome whooping advocates for extreme sports. If I’d spent the first 18 years
of my life doing time in a joyless cotton-wool cell, listening to some angsty bloody parent banging on about how precious and special I was every pissing day, I’d snowboard off a 300ft cliff at the first opportunity too. Under those circumstances, tumbling down a rockface and cracking your skull open must feel like a declaration of independence
crossed with an orgasm.
How did we get to this point? Our sense of self grew too strong. We gazed up our own bums for so long, we each
became the centre of the universe. We’re not mere specks of flesh, jostled by the forces of chance. We’re flawless
deities, and goddammit we deny - deny! - the very existence of simple bad luck. If we trip on the pavement, someone else is to blame. Of course they are. And we’ll sue them to prove it if necessary.
In a bid to pre-empt our self-important litigiousness, armies of risk assessors scan the horizon, dreaming of every
conceivable threat. You could bang your head on that branch. Crack a rib on that teaspoon. Choke to death on that
chocolate egg.
Well, it stops here. And it stops now. Next week, I’m launching my own range of Kinder eggs. They’re called Unkinder Eggs. And they don’t contain sweets. They contain specially designed hazards. Spiked ball bearings. Springloaded razor-blade traps. Flimsy balloons filled with acid. Miniature land mines powerful enough to punch holes in
your cheeks and embed your teeth in the wall. The idea is to carefully nibble away all the chocolate without incurring
a serious injury. Thrills! Tension! Chocolate! It’s the confectionery equivalent of extreme sports. You’ll love it.
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PlayAction OnLine
And hey - that’s not just cocoa butter and milk solids you’re savouring. It’s better than that. It’s the great taste of
risk. · This week Charlie laughed at the glaring bum-awful rubbishness of Orange’s current I Am Who I Am Because of
Everyone advertising campaign, which somehow manages to be cloying, irritating, pretentious, irrelevant and baffling
all at once: “If ever an advert deserved a punch in the face, it’s this one.”
Kids need the adventure of ‘risky’ play
A major study says parents harm their children’s development if they ban tree-climbing or conkers
It is a scene that epitomises childhood: young siblings racing towards a heavy oak tree, hauling themselves on to the
lower branches and scrambling up as high as they can get. Yet millions of children are being deprived of such pleasure because their parents are nervous about exposing them to any risks, new research has revealed.
A major study by Play England, part of the National Children’s Bureau, found that half of all children have been
stopped from climbing trees, 21 per cent have been banned from playing conkers and 17 per cent have been told
they cannot take part in games of tag or chase. Some parents are going to such extreme lengths to protect their
children from danger that they have even said no to hide-and-seek.
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‘Children are not being allowed many of the freedoms that were taken for granted when we were children,’ said
Adrian Voce, director of Play England. ‘They are not enjoying the opportunities to play outside that most people
would have thought of as normal when they were growing up.’
Source (The Observer)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/03/schools.children
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PlayAction OnLine
All of Us – The Framework for Quality Inclusion
KIDS has revised and re-branded the All of Us Framework (previously the All of Us Checklist) to incorporate the developing standards and initiatives across children’s services. This third edition provides a framework for improving
practice by including Disabled children and young people in early years, play and childcare settings and services.
There are two training days associated with this revised All of Us Framework
Assessing through the All of Us Framework: to set the scene and context for quality assurance mentors, assessors and development workers (half-day 3- 4 hours)
Implementing the All of Us Framework: for senior practitioners to explore its practical application in their settings or services (full day 5 - 6 hours).
To find out more contact the Training team: [email protected] or come along to our regional seminars in the autumn and experience a taster session of the training.
Pick & Mix – new 3rd edition
This popular KIDS publication by Di Murray on inclusive games and activities has now been revised to include updated appendices and a new Foreword by Sandra Melville, Chair of the Play England Council. The new edition is now
available so place your orders now! £20 (statutory) £10 (vol. orgs) plus p&p
As a SPECIAL OFFER we are offering the complete set of PIP publications (Pick & Mix, Inclusion by Design and
It doesn’t just happen at a reduced rate (with a FREE DVD of our Hayward Inclusive Adventure Playground worth
£5) of £50 (Statutory) or £25 (vol. orgs).
To order copies of Pick & Mix or the Briefing email: [email protected] or go to the newly re-designed KIDS
website at: www.kids.org.uk
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From The Good
Old Days (and still
with us)
Barbie firm awarded Bratz payout
PlayAction OnLine
Toymaker Mattel has been awarded multi-million dollar damages in a copyright case against the
maker of the popular Bratz dolls, MGA Entertainment.
A California jury made the award after a court ruled that the creator of Bratz dolls, Carter Bryant, came up with the
idea while he was working for Mattel.
The payout is thought to be at least $40m (£22m) but Mattel, which makes Barbie, had asked for about $2bn.
The large-headed, multi-ethnic, urban fashion dolls became a bestseller.
The dolls are estimated to be making profits of about $500m a year for MGA.
Settlement
Mattel, the world’s biggest toymaker, won the case in July after claiming that the name and design of Bratz dolls
were based on drawings by Carter Bryant made while he was under a contract that entitled Mattel to his designs.
MGA had argued that although Mr Bryant worked for Mattel between 1995 and April 1998 and then again from January 1999 to September 2000, the idea had come to him in the gap between his two stints.
Mr Bryant himself reached a confidential settlement with Mattel on the eve of the trial.
MGA had argued that the company had built the value of the doll with its own additions, branding and packaging.
The jurors had been told they could decide whether MGA should only be held responsible for profits from the first
four Bratz dolls - which came from Bryant’s drawings - or the gains from all subsequent dolls and related products.
Barbie has been losing market share since Bratz came on the market. Mattel’s three-monthly results, released on Friday, showed a further fall.
Barbie’s worldwide gross sales fell 6% between April and June 2008 as the company’s net profit fell 48% to $11.8m.
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Barbie, Bratz, and The
Morning After for
Bratz ....
Barbie sales in the US were down 21%.
PlayAction OnLine
Head to head
BARBIE
BRATZ
Born 1959 2001 Height 11.5” (29.2cm) 10” (25.4cm) Boyfriend Ken
Bratz Boyz include Cameron and Dylan
Latest film Barbie as the Island Princess (2007)
Bratz: the movie (2007)
Home Three-story dreamhouse with sizzling stove and flushing toilet
Bratz Mansion with dance floor that lights up
Inspiration Ruth Handler saw her daughter Barbara imagining her paper dolls in grown-up roles
Carter Bryant based drawings on children he saw walking from school, Steve Madden shoe adverts and the cover of a Dixie Chicks album [Source: BBC News]
Future of childcare scheme is unclear
By Alison Bennett and Ruth Smith
Children & Young People Now
13 August 2008
The government has remained tightlipped over the future of phase two of the London Childcare Affordability Programme - despite pledging extra cash for phase one.
Affordable childcare in London
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The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has vowed to extend funding for phase one of the programme, although it has not said how much it will commit. However, it has failed to shed any light on whether the
second phase of the programme, which is already under way, will receive funding.
The first phase, run by the London Development Agency (LDA), involved subsidising the cost of full daycare and flexible care in all 33 boroughs. The pilot was due to finish in December but has now been extended to March 2009. But
the DCSF has revealed revised funding arrangements will be in place by April 2009, with further information available
in autumn.
The second phase involved boroughs bidding for funding to pay for specific local projects. The DCSF has not yet said
what will happen to these projects when funding ends in December.
Denise Burke, head of childcare and family services at the LDA, said phase two pilots were being examined to make
sure there was no duplication with other funding streams.
“It’s not that we’re pulling the rug on this - we’re making sure the money to pay for it comes from the wisest pot,”
she said. “Although no clear decision has been made, no family currently on the programme is going to lose out. In
some ways it’s irrelevant to parents what pot of money it comes out of.”
A spokesman for London Councils, the umbrella body for the capital’s 33 councils, said: “Discussions are continuing
with the government. But we are relatively confident that funding will continue in some form.”
A DCSF spokeswoman said: “The next phase will be based on lessons learned from the current pilots and will continue to test new ways of paying for childcare and supporting parents to overcome the barriers they face in London
that prevent them from entering and sustaining work.”
Childcare in London is 25 per cent more expensive than in other parts of England. Launched in 2005, the Childcare
Affordability Programme is designed to enable low-income parents to continue or start work.
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A spokesman for
London Councils,
the umbrella body
for the capital’s 33
councils, said:
“Discussions are
continuing with
the government.
But we are relatively confident
that funding will
continue in some
form.”
PlayAction OnLine
WHY SAFE KIDS ARE BECOMING FAT KIDS
WALL STREET JOURNAL OPINION: Why Safe Kids Are Becoming Fat Kids By PHILIP K. HOWARD (Mr. Howard, a
lawyer and writer, is chairman of Common Good, a nonprofit, nonpartisan legal reform coalition.)
Just when we thought playgrounds were accident-proof -- no more merry-go-rounds, high slides, jungle gyms, seesaws or pretty much anything that's fun -- it turns out that safety itself can be dangerous. A recent heat wave in
New York exposed a new playground risk: The ubiquitous rubber safety matting gets hot, not as hot as McDonald's
coffee, but hot enough to scald tender feet.
The outrage was immediate. "Playgrounds should be designed with canopies," one park- safety advocate declared.
"How many burn cases will it take," Betsy Gotbaum, the city's public advocate asked, "before the city wakes up and
acts?"
The headlong drive for safety has indeed created dangers, but not those identified by the safety zealots. Risk is important in child development. Allowing children to test their limits in unstructured play, according to the American
Association of Pediatrics, "develop[s] their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength."
Scrapes and bruises are how children learn their limits, and the need to take personal responsibility.
The harmful effects of our national safety obsession ripple outward into society. One in six children in America is
obese, and many of them will face a lifetime of chronic illness. According to the Center for Disease Control, this
problem would basically cure itself if children engaged in the informal outdoor activities that used to be normal. But
how do we lure children off the sofa? One key attraction is risk.
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PlayAction OnLine
Risk is fun, at least the moderate risks that were common in prior generations. An informal survey of children by the
University of Toronto's Institute of Child Studies found that "merry-go-rounds . . . anecdotally the most hated piece
of playground equipment in hospital emergency rooms -- topped the list of most desired bits of playground equipment." Those of us of a certain age can remember sprinting to get the contraption really moving. That was fun. And
a lot of exercise.
America unfortunately is going in the opposite direction. There is nothing left in playgrounds that would attract the
interest of a child over the age of four. Exercise in schools is carefully programmed, when it exists at all. Some
schools have banned tag. Broward County, Fla., banned running at recess. (How else can we guard against a child
falling down?) Little Leagues forbid sliding into base. Some towns ban sledding.
High diving boards are history, and it's only a matter of time before all diving boards disappear.
Safety is meaningful only in the context of other benefits and risks. Safety always involves trade-offs -- of opportunities, of scarce resources and, especially in the case of children's play, of learning to manage risk. The question is
whether the trade-off makes sense. Soft rubber matting will cushion any fall. This is probably a good thing, at least
in situations where children may fall on their heads. But rubber matting also gets hot.
There's only one solution. Someone on behalf of society must be authorized to make these choices. Courts must
honor those decisions. Otherwise, the pious accusations of safety fanatics, empowered by the nearly universal fear
of being sued, will guarantee a cultural spiral downwards toward the lowest common denominator.
For America's children today, that means spending more than six hours per day staring at a screen. Is that the way
we want our children to grow up?
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fairplayforchildren.org
PlayAction OnLine
"A little common sense goes a long way," observed Adrian Benepe, New York City's parks commissioner. "Children
should wear shoes. They're foolproof protection against hot surfaces." Shoes have undeniable virtues in an urban
setting -- a small but useful lesson for young children.
I have an additional idea as well. Why not replant a few of the trees that were cut down, or radically pruned, in an
effort to create a controlled play environment? The shade from the trees would keep the rubber matting a little
cooler. Who knows, maybe we would even allow children to climb them.
4Children says scrap curfews and provide more activities
By Lauren Higgs
13 August 2008
Curfews should be scrapped and young people should have access to dedicated “children’s zones”, under proposals
put forward by 4Children.
Geethika Jayatilaka, deputy chief executive of the children’s charity, said every local area should have a designated
zone where children and young people have access to activities ranging from sport to music.
She said: “It’s about joining up activities to make them easy to get to. We want local authorities to build on the extended services model but link in youth services and summer holiday activities.”
The charity has also called for local authorities to employ play rangers to oversee outdoor spaces and deter gangs
and disaffected young people from making trouble in community areas.
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However, Sergeant Jason Adams, neighbourhood team leader in charge of a voluntary curfew scheme in Redruth,
Cornwall, said: “I can understand why people are calling for an end to curfews because of human rights. But we’re
responding to what the community wants.”
Congress sends Bush bill banning lead in toys
By JIM ABRAMS 07.31.08 Associated Press
WASHINGTON -
The Senate on Thursday passed and sent to the White House legislation that bans lead from children’s toys and
seeks to ensure that chemicals posing possible health problems will not end up on toys and articles that kids chew
on and play with.
The Senate, stymied by partisan differences over the energy crisis, put aside those differences momentarily to vote
89-3 for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The House passed the bill Wednesday by 424-1, a reflection of the national outcry over a rash of recalls last years of toys and children’s products contaminated by lead and
other dangerous elements.
“We are going to make a big, big difference in the American marketplace,” said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., a sponsor of
the bill.
The administration has objected to parts of the bill, but White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Thursday that
President Bush would sign it. “We are ensuring that the products that come into America are safe for consumers and
that the regulating agencies have what they need to do their job,” she said.
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The bill would impose the toughest lead standards in the world, banning lead beyond minute levels in products for
children 12 or younger. Lead paint was a major factor in the recall of 45 million toys and children’s items last year, including Cookie Monster toys and Tommy the Tank Engines. Many came from China.
It also bans, either permanently or pending further study, children’s goods containing six types of a chemical called
phthalates that are widely used to make plastic products softer and more flexible. The chemical industry insisted that
phthalates have been used for decades and there is no evidence they pose health risks to humans.
But consumer advocacy groups pointed out that the European Union has banned the six phthalates and that tests on
rats have revealed possible reproductive problems and cancer. “Toxic chemicals like lead and phthalates have no
business in our children’s toys,” said U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Elizabeth Hitchcock.
Some major retailers, including Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Toys-R-Us, have already taken steps to
phase out phthalates.
The legislation bolsters the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a 400-staffer agency that took the brunt of criticism last
year over the massive recalls and the failure of the government to better test and monitor toy imports before they
reach store shelves.
The bill would double the agency’s budget, to $136 million by 2014, and give it new authority to oversee testing procedures and impose civil penalties on violators.
Another key provision requires pre-market testing by certified third-party laboratories of children’s products for lead
and for compliance with safety standards.
The bill also:
_Provides whistle-blower protections to employees who report consumer product hazards. The provision was championed by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
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_Requires the CPSC to set up a user-friendly database where consumers, government agencies, child care providers
or doctors could report incidents of injury, illness, death or risk related to products.
_Makes more products now covered by voluntary industry standards subject to mandatory standards. With that,
more toy hazards, including goods containing small magnets that were included in products recalled last year, would
be subject to third-party testing requirements.
_Bans three-wheel all-terrain vehicles and strengthens regulation of other ATVs.
The three senators opposing the bill were Republicans Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Jon
Kyl of Arizona. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was the lone House member voting against the measure.
The bill is H.R. 4040
Cash for Southampton street sports
13 August 2008
Young people in Southampton will be able to try out street sports thanks to a £8,000 cash injection from the city’s
primary care trust.
The Street Sport programme, run by the city council’s sports development unit, will offer activities to 11-16-year-olds
in places they are already gathering.
Activities will be decided upon with the young people but will include BMX-ing, skateboarding, street football, street
hockey and table tennis.
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The project, to begin in October, will involve two sessions a week lasting up to an hour and a half.
Jayne Ludden, sport and recreation manager at Southampton City Council, said: “We are excited by the prospect of
delivering regular street sport sessions to young people across the city.”
Local residents decided they wanted to fund the project out of a pot of £50,000 from the health trust to invest in
health and wellbeing.
Whitehawk to miss fun in the park
A free play scheme which will tour Brighton and Hove will not visit one of the city’s most deprived estates.
Critics say the organisers of Entertainment in the Park are ignoring the people who would most benefit from it.
The publicly funded play scheme will visit Bevendean, Hangleton, Hove Lawns, East Hill Park and Queen’s Park over
the next three weeks.
At each venue, children’s workers will run activities including music, art, face painting and live performances for local
youngsters.
But they will not stop in Whitehawk.
Source (The Evening Argus)
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/3551198.Whitehawk_to_miss_fun_in_the_park/
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Playground celebrates 30 years
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ONE of the oldest adventure playgrounds in the UK, the Venture in Wrexham, recently celebrated its 30th birthday..
There were balloons, games, cake, and a host of fun for anyone helping the Venture celebrate its landmark anniversary.
Established in 1978, The Venture, in Caia Park, has been adopted by the Welsh Assembly Government as the model
for its flagship programme of Integrated Children’s Centres, now spread across every local authority in Wales.
Source (Daily Post)
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/08/02/playground-celebrates-30-years-55578-21452189/
Tributes to youth work ‘pioneer’
THE founder of one of the first adventure playgrounds in London died at the Marie Curie Hospice after a year-long
battle with cancer, an inquest heard recently. Former senior school inspector, Michael Buckley, 71, underwent
chemotherapy and radiotherapy after he was diagnosed with the disease in April 2007.
But during a third operation to drain fluid from his abdomen pathologist Freddy Patel said a “therapeutic mishap”,
not the tumour itself, caused him to suffer a cardiac arrest.
He died in May at the cancer care hospice in Lyndhurst Gardens, Hampstead, the court was told.
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Mr Buckley worked as a teacher in Birmingham before moving to Gospel Oak to work for Camden Council’s social
services, where he was promoted to head of play services.
He was responsible for setting up Parkhill Adventure Playground (now Three Acres) in Parkhill Road, Belsize Park,
and Plot Ten Community Play Project in Chalton Street, Somers Town, in the 1960s.
Source (Camden New Journal)
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/camden/2008/073108/news073108_12.html
New lease of life for playbus
A LAST-MINUTE financial package has been put in place to save a playbus scheme which has been serving a rural
area for 27 years.
The committee running the Pyramids Playbus, based in the mid Suffolk area, had reluctantly decided to wind up the
scheme because of the increased maintenance, fuel and running costs of the vehicle and more competition from alternative play and childcare schemes.
Annual costs had grown to £40,000 and there was a £20,000 deficit.
However, with the help of Suffolk County Council’s childcare business development officer more grants have now
been negotiated and the scheme has been partly refocused to link up with pre-school groups.
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Michael Buckley
working at Parkhill
Adventure Playground, Belsize Park,
in 1968
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Source (Evening Star 24)
http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=New
s&itemid=IPED30%20Jul%202008%2006%3A38%3A10%3A423
Playbus revs up for appeal
A mobile charity has set the wheels in motion for a £300,000 fundraising drive to get back on the road.
Oxfordshire Playbus needs a new ‘sensory bus’ to visit children with special needs - and elderly people with
Alzheimer’s or dementia - after its trusty double-decker broke down.
The specially adapted coach, which was nearly 30 years old, is no longer roadworthy after grinding to a halt earlier
this month. The charity needs £150,000 for a replacement and another £150,000 for its upkeep.
Source (Oxford Mail)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2417089.0.playbus_revs_up_for_appeal.php
Grant for adventure playgrounds
TWO youth groups are enjoying the fruits of nearly £75,000 worth of funding, granted to improve the facilities at
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two of Watford’s most popular adventure playgrounds.
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The group based at the Harwoods Adventure Playground, called Imagination, were awarded £30,000 to re-vamp the
skateboard ramp and build a new bike track to challenge riders.
The fencing at the Vicarage Road playground will also be improved, as will the football goals and pitch markings.
A second grant, awarded to a group at Harebreaks adventure playground, known as Harebreaks Massive, will pay for
a new multi-sports pitch.
The £44,000 funding will also go towards a series of improvements to a woodwork area, as well as to the fencing,
football nets, seating areas and paid for better security system.
Source (Watford Observer)
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/3573745.Grant_for_adventure_playgrounds/
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Vulnerable children failed by notification scheme and ‘private
fostering’
Rosemary Bennett
Thousands of young children are at risk of neglect or abuse because the system set up to protect them in the wake
of the death of Victoria Climbié is failing.
Figures for this year show 1,330 children registered as living with distant relatives or friends in what are known as
“private fostering” arrangements — a fraction of the estimated 10,000 to 20,000.
The notification scheme was set up to try to protect children who are often living thousands of miles away from their
parents. Under the scheme anyone other than a close blood relative, such as a grandparent or aunt, who is caring
for a child must inform their local authority.
However, the figures show that families are not coming forward, so privately fostered children remain invisible and
outside the child protection system. Private fostering was called “a honeypot for abusers” in the 1997 Utting report
into child safety. The notification system was set up in the 2004 Children Act and has been in place since 2005.
There were considerable doubts expressed at the time of its inception by children’s charities, which wanted a more
rigorous compulsory registration to cover private fostering arrangements.
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Child
Protection
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To placate its critics, the Government inserted a clause in the Bill, saying that it would give the notification system
three years to see if it worked and bring in compulsory registration if it did not. Yet, despite the lack of success,
ministers have decided to persevere and intend to extend the trial period until 2011, using the Children and Young
Persons Bill which is currently going through Parliament.
The figures are also of concern because they are thought not to capture particularly vulnerable groups of privately
fostered children. Thousands are believed to be very young and, like Victoria Climbié, of West African origin. Of the
1,330 children known to local authorities, the majority are between 10 and 15 years old and only 6 per cent were
born in Africa. The overwhelming majority are British-born.
Research conducted by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering found that only 18 per cent of people working directly with children understood private fostering. So concerned was the BAAF over its findings that it is planning a campaign aimed at those working in the childcare and adoption sectors.
“We really have to explain what we mean by private fostering. People are confusing it with fostering in the care system,” said David Holmes, chief executive of BAAF. He supports sticking with the notification system for the time
being.
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families also defended the Government’s decision to stick
with the current system.
“The latest figures show an almost threefold increase in notifications of private fostering arrangements since 2004.
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CHECKING THE
FACTS
Following recent
tabloid headlines
about the mother required by her local authority because she
travelled with her disabled son to school,
Fair Play contacted
CRB for explanation.
The rules governing
CRB (laid down in The
Police Act 1998) are
clear, that enhanced
checks may only be
carried out by an employer on someone
employed (paid or unpaid) and working with
children.
CRB confirmed this is
the case, and explained that they had
contacted the local authority concerned
when they were made
aware of the story.
PlayAction OnLine
There are sound arguments for and against voluntary notification but the evidence base for a decision is still inadequate,” the spokesperson said.
(Source: The Times)
Sporting chance for the helpers?
Published Date: 20
August 2008 By ADAM MORRIS
[Source: The Independent]
THERE are lots of people willing to give up their time to ensure today’s youngsters enjoy the same sporting and social opportunities they did. But volunteer sports coaches and helpers at youth clubs are being made to adhere to
stricter regulations about disclosure.
Before they can even lay down cones for kids to dribble a football round, or offer to take four children in their car for
an away rugby match, adults have to undergo thorough checks to ensure maximum protection for youngsters.
There are obvious reasons for these measures, not least to stop sex offenders and others with criminal pasts working with children. At present there are more than 3500 adults on the Sex Offenders Register in Scotland and vetting
is required to ensure that none is allowed access to children.
But a recent report by sportscotland – a government body set up to oversee sport and its development in Scotland –
found the vast majority of those subject to the checks did not mind being vetted, contrary to anecdotal evidence
that suggests many are put off by filling out long and complex forms.
The agency says there is a widespread feeling that would-be helpers are discouraged from getting involved. Its report reads: “We often hear that increased requirements to child protection and increased awareness of child protec-
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The council explained
to CRB that in this
case the mother had
agreed that, if asked,
she alos would volunteer to have other children in the taxi with
her son and herself,
and she also undertook activities within
the school which
would require a Disclosure.
It is a pity, isn’t it, that
in their zeal to undermine CRB, some
newspaper editors didn’t bother to check with
CRB as Fair Play did.
They would have
saved an inaccurate
story. But, of course,
in the scramble to
“dish the dirt” on almost anything, maybe
such an inconvenience
didn’t occur to them.
Child Protection is far
too serious an issue
for punditry.
PlayAction OnLine
tion issues has a detrimental effect on attracting, retaining and organising volunteers in sport. However, this has
tended to be based on assumption rather than fact.”
Without doubt those wishing to volunteer with larger organisations have administrative back up but smaller groups
are often put off by the paperwork.
There is also the cost to be considered. There is the initial £150 to register with Disclosure Scotland, and an additional £10 for each person they want to be a “signatory“ for the scheme. On top of that it costs £20 to have each
form processed.
Despite these obstacles, research carried out in conjunction with Edinburgh-based charity Children 1st found 90 per
cent of club representatives agreed checks were necessary for the protection of children, and more than half of all
sports clubs in Scotland had some kind of written code of conduct relating to child protection.
The research goes on to highlight other findings that show that almost all clubs had sufficient information about the
issue at their disposal, and that 91 per cent of volunteers were aware of what child protection involved.
Kathleen McInulty, manager of the Child Protection in Sport Service, run jointly by sportscotland and Children 1st,
said: “Children and young people enjoying their chosen sport, whether it is a kick-about in the park, an after-school
club, or something more competitive, is something that should be encouraged.
“The findings reveal that most adults can see how various measures like disclosure checks or child protection policies
play a real part in keeping children safe. Sport is something that children and adults can enjoy together, and we are
delighted adults are not being put off.”
The report quotes one sports club volunteer who says: “I think it’s right that we have things in place which make
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“The findings reveal that most
adults can see
how various
measures like disclosure checks or
child protection
policies play a real
part in keeping
children safe.
Sport is something that children
and adults can
enjoy together,
and we are delighted adults are
not being put off.
PlayAction OnLine
sport safe and fun for everyone. Sometimes it means a bit more paperwork but that isn’t much when you consider
the benefits.
“At our club the coaches, volunteers, parents and – most importantly – the children, understand that the welfare of
our youngsters is the priority.”
The study was carried out to see how improved information could be circulated to clubs and potential volunteers.
And while the measures in place benefit children who may have been at risk without them, there is a huge proportion of helpers below the top brass in sports clubs who are harmed by it.
Those who give up a couple of hours a week to help out, either because they want to retain an involvement in the
sport they love, or because they have a child or a younger sibling involved, are the ones being pushed out.
It is this body of undervalued and rarely appreciated volunteers that sport in Scotland is losing, according the Capital-based Scottish Parent Teacher Council.
It is calling for child protection measures to be relaxed around those who come together to form the backbone of
grassroots sport.
“What it does not do is distinguish between those in key positions at the head of organisations and those who just
come along to help out,” said the SPTC’s development manager Judith Gillespie.
“By and large, people who are very central to clubs and spend a lot of time there do not mind filling these forms out
and getting the required disclosure. If anything it protects them as much as it does the children because it guards
them against accusations and so forth.
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Post vacancy : Full time post
Toffee Park Adventure Playground Deputy Manager .
Toffee Park Adventure Playground is an independent well
established voluntary run organisation and Charity it is
also registered with Islington
Children and Young People’s
Services and has a small number of Trustees responsible to
staff and parents and carers
children and young people
who use the site. The range of
service delivery is diverse, reflecting the many different cultural and special needs, which
exist in a densely populated
inner city and multi-racial
area. The playground is a very
busy playground with high
levels of attendance for example average attendance in the
summer could be catering for
up to 60 -70 children a session.
Salary: £18,000- £20,000, per
annum depending on qualifications and experience.
Working hours: 10.30 am6.30pm.Term time /9am-5pm
School holiday times.
Applicants will need to have a
level three qualification in
play/youth work and have at
least three years experience as
an established playworker.
This exciting role involves:
Supporting the Senior and
managing the site and team in
their absence
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“The report reflects that, but what it doesn’t do is speak to the people below them, because when the research was
being carried out those people who would help out but don’t have time to fill out the paperwork weren’t there. It
can be the difference between someone giving up their time and not doing it.
“We don’t feel it is necessary for people with that level of involvement to be subject to these checks because they
very often work in groups and in fact don’t have that much control or responsibility over the children in any case.
Despite that, the heads of sports clubs are very reliant on the lower tier of volunteers and without them a lot of
things would simply not be possible.”
Pedophile-Proof Chat Rooms?
Can Lancaster University’s Isis Project keep children safe online without invading our
privacy?
By Brendan Borrell
[Source: Scientific American 18-08-2008]
Czech police nab a man suspected of raping 12-year-old girls after offering them car rides via an Internet Web site. In
Ohio, a 400-pound man, likewise, uses a Web site to impersonate a 15-year-old boy in order to convince a 12-year-old
girl to send photographs and videotapes of herself naked. A sting operation in the U.K. shuts down a pedophile chat
room Web site, and the site’s leader is caught with over 75,000 pornographic images.
Social networking over the Web has helped connect millions of Internet users, but all of this online interaction can
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Building and maintaining adventure playground structures
Working evenings and weekends.
The post requires development
of adventure play work and
after school/day care provision
within a programme which
needs to be delivered within a
quality framework to children
and their families in Toffee
Park Adventure Playground.
Toffee Park Adventure Playground is committed to safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children and young
people and expects all staff and
volunteers to share this commitment. We welcome applications from all sections of the
community, regardless of gender, race, religion, disability,
sexual orientation or age.
send a full C.V. with at least
two referees who can be contacted if shortlisted.
The closing date for receipt of
applications will be the
15/9/08.
You can email CVs to : tof-
[email protected]
Or post to
Toffee Park Adventure
Playground.
30 Ironmonger Row
London EC1VQN.
PlayAction OnLine
also have a serious downside: a proliferation of pedophiles who use code words to trade in child pornography or
prowl chat rooms and befriend underage victims, peppering their messages with words like “kewl” and other youthful
colloquialisms.
In a move that pits technology against criminals (and, some fear, privacy), a group of researchers at Lancaster University in England and law-enforcement officials at the United Kingdom’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center
(CEOP) is developing software that tracks the Web’s evolving child pornography lexicon as well as predators’ chat
strategies to help law-enforcement agencies catch the most secretive of these criminals before they strike.
“There’s a list of about 50 key words that are very indicative of child pornography,” says Skinner, who sometimes coordinates with CEOP as part of the Global Virtual Task Force. But, he says, “The terms do change.”
That’s why Awais Rashid, a Lancaster University computer science professor, has launched the three-year Isis Project,
which uses linguistic analysis to keep tabs on these Internet-savvy pedophiles. “There’s so much activity it’s virtually
impossible to police,” he says. Currently, investigators at ICE (U.S. Department of Homeland Security) and CEOP are
left waiting for a potential victim to report suspicious activity, but by then, it is often too late.
Rashid’s strategy is to create automated monitoring tools that operators of chat rooms, social networks, and filesharing networks would install on their sites. This will provide law-enforcement officials with an automatically updating dictionary of these code words, along with an alert system which will inform them when users are detected
masquerading as children.
In preparation to write the software module for file-sharing networks (a prototype by the end of the year), the team
sifted through an entire month of search traffic on the number one peer-to-peer file-sharing network, Gnutella, between February 27th and March 27th 2005. Because each peer participates in routing network messages to and
from other peers, Rashid’s team could set up a specialized client to intercept and log these queries throughout large
segments of the network. Then, two specialists at CEOP analyzed 10,000 keyword searches from three separate
days to determine whether they contained references to child pornography. About one in every 100 searches was for
such material, and about 1.6 percent of search results received contained such material. Because of the size of the
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Fair Play for
Children offers a
CRB Disclosure
Service.
We have been active
in this work since before CRB, we are
geared towards the
needs of those working with children and
young people.
We have undertaken
over 12,000 CRB
and similar checks
since 1994.
Working with Members using the service, together we have
provided real protection for children.
More details from our
website:
PlayAction OnLine
Gnutella network, which had a population of 1.81 million users that year, thousands of child-pornography related
searches are being conducted every minute. For comparison, ICE arrests about 2,500 child predators in the U.S. per
year.
Even the experts were puzzled by the ciphers in some of these searches. About 53 percent of search terms and 88
percent of the search results contained code words that had not been tallied by CEOP. The agency may have eventually discovered them during the course of their investigations, but Rashid’s team realized they could stay ahead of
this “cat-and-mouse game” with the help of a computerized strategy.
As a proof-of-concept, human volunteers unversed in the child-pornography lexicon were given 10 popular Gnutella
code words, such as “ITA” (Italy) or “PTHC” (Preteen Hardcore) and then asked to guess which were related to child
pornography. The volunteers succeeded less than half of the time. But after these same volunteers had a chance to
look at the entire search query in which these key words were nested, their success rocketed to 94%.
Rashid now needs to use this principle, termed collocation, in a module that will provide law enforcement with an
evolving “dictionary” of the code words. The second phase of Isis, for monitoring chat rooms, is still in its infancy but
will require analyzing not just code words but word frequency and sentence patterning.
Other technological efforts have focused on developing image analysis software for the National Child Victim Identification
and in developing surveillance systems. For example, the FBI’s now-retired Carnivore, which did not
use linguistic analysis, but could “sniff” email traffic and monitor keywords.
Program database
Some experts have reservations about the Isis plan, particularly if it allows law-enforcement agencies to amass
dossiers on specific individuals outside of a criminal investigation. “If this is something that any government is mandating a social-networking service do,” says John Morris, general counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology, “then that raises enormous challenges.” He says he would have no problem with social networks voluntarily
cooperating with law-enforcement agencies and disclosing their privacy practices to customers—as they do now—but
a government mandate would place an enormous burden on sites that play no role in the distribution of child
pornography and threaten the privacy of law-abiding citizens. “A huge problem with any sort of mandate is it is very
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hard to define what a social-network site is without sweeping in every blog in this country and Ebay and Amazon, all
of which allow you to have profiles about yourself.”
Anthony Finkelstein, a computer scientist at University College London who has worked on privacy tools to help agencies share data about child welfare cases, simply feels like the Isis Project’s blanket monitoring strategy is misguided.
“Do I regard this as being a critical issue? On balance, I’m not 100% convinced, but I think it’s worth some further
investigation.” His biggest concern is that Isis, like a neighbor’s infuriating home alarm, is bound to produce a lot of
false positives that need to be investigated by law-enforcement officials. “Even if you are able to identify those false
positives,” he says, “it takes effort to do so, and that’s effort that’s not devoted to something else.”
Finkelstein believes investigators should stick to traditional intelligence-gathering efforts rather than a blanket monitoring scheme and that improved funding of social programs for teenagers could prevent them from falling victim to
online pedophiles. Indeed, one recent study of online crimes against children estimates that deception took place in only 5
percent of these cases, and most illicit activity involved teenagers who were aware they were meeting an adult who
was looking for sex.
“I think this is an important area to research, undertaken by competent and well-motivated people,” he says, however, “At the end of the day there are a difficult set of choices to be made as to whether or not this is the right type
of technology to implement.”
Social network sites ‘flout their own ban on underage users’
Oliver McArthur, 13, on Facebook. Children of 8 are said to have used the site
Rosemary Bennett, Social Affairs Correspondent
Hundreds of thousands of children aged between 8 and 12 are using Facebook, Bebo and other social networking
sites in clear breach of their age-restriction policies.
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PlayAction OnLine
Facebook and Bebo have a minimum age requirement of 13 and MySpace of 14, but a study by an internet security
company suggests that the sites are unable to enforce their own rules.
Almost a quarter of children aged between 8 and 12 say that they are regular users of one of the big three sites,
which suggests that they could have as many as 750,000 underage users between them.
Experts say that parents are not to blame if they are unaware of the age limits. The sites do not promote the age restrictions sufficiently and could tackle underage use easily, they say.
Age restrictions are not enshrined in law, but are part of the self-regulation that largely governs the industry. The
Government is considering tighter legal restrictions if it concludes that the industry is not properly protecting young
people.
Tom Ilube, chief executive of Garlik, which conducted the research, said that the social networking sites could do
more to enforce their own rules.
“Facebook, MySpace and Bebo need to take their age restriction policies far more seriously. They know they need to
be on the site somewhere, but do not want to stop younger people signing up, so they generally put them into the
terms and conditions,” he said. “If a warning flashed up on the homepage stating clearly that it can only be used by
those aged 13 and over, you would see an immediate change.”
Facebook asks for a date of birth during its registration process and rejects applications from anyone who admits to
being under 13. The age restriction itself is in the terms and conditions.
Bebo declined to comment on the research and accusations that it was not taking its own rules seriously.
A spokesman for Facebook rejected the criticism and said that it had a process for checking the ages of users by
contacting their online friends.
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“Facebook leads the industry in designing for safety through our privacy controls, which includes the prevention of
under-13 sign-up and stringent default settings for 13 to 18-year-olds,” the spokesman said.
Gillian McArthur, 48, was shocked when she found that Bebo and Facebook had age restrictions. Her son Oliver, 13,
had been on Bebo for three years and on Facebook a year by the time she found out that he should not have been
on either.
“I was astonished and slightly annoyed. How could Oliver and all his friends have been on there all this time and it is
not being policed?” she said.
As a user of Facebook herself, Ms McArthur, an architect from Norwich, said she was concerned that she had not noticed the age restriction when she joined. “It is very much in the small print. I ticked the terms and conditions box
but like most other people I didn’t go through them.”
She said if she had found out before Oliver had turned 13 she would have been in a dilemma and would not necessarily have ordered him to take down his profile.
“All his friends are on there so I would not have immediately ordered him to get off. These are the moral judgments
parents are having to make these days. It might make life easier if the sites were policed more robustly,” she said.
Abuse ‘librarian’ pleads guilty
The so-called “librarian” of a global internet child abuse ring has admitted a range of paedophile offences.
Philip Anthony Thompson, of Stockton-on-Tees, pleaded guilty to 27 charges, including 16 counts of making indecent
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photographs of children.
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He also admitted inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Unemployed Thompson was one of the men behind an internet-based child abuse ring that had members in 33
countries, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Harry Hadfield told the court police raided Thompson’s home in February this year and recovered two
desk top computers and a laptop, as well as a selection of other computer paraphernalia.
“Forensic analysis by computer experts established that the defendant had 241,000 indecent photographs of children, being one of the largest seizures of indecent photographs in the UK,” he said.
Double life of child abuse ‘librarian’
By Mark Simpson
BBC News North of England correspondent
A British man has been jailed for his role in an international paedophile ring. Outwardly respectable,
Philip Thompson used his self-taught computer skills to gratify his habit.
He was uncovered by a UK police investigation that has, so far, led to 360 suspects worldwide.
From his bedroom in a house in a quiet corner of the north-east of England, Philip Thompson spread pictures of child
abuse around the world.
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A self-taught computer expert, he used his technical skills to feed his depraved hobby.
Thompson did not make any money out of it, he did it simply for self-gratification.
Computer skills
What struck detectives who interviewed him was how intelligent he was.
He could have had a successful career in computers but chose instead to use those skills in the sickening underworld
of internet paedophilia.
What his family did not realise was that he was secretly helping to run an international paedophile
network from his bedroom
Global abuse network unearthed
The unemployed 27-year-old was part of a global operation, which stretched as far as Canada, America and Australia.
According to Det Chief Supt Mark Braithwaite of Cleveland Police, Thompson was a key figure.
“He was a critical piece of this jigsaw network. He was the librarian/warehouseman for a myriad of images that were
distributed to like-minded individuals.”
Thompson led a double-life. Outwardly respectable and well dressed, he lived with his mother in Stockton-on-Tees.
What his family did not realise was that he was secretly helping to run an international paedophile network from his
bedroom.
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On a computer hard-drive in the room, detectives found nearly 250,000 images of children - one of the largest collections of child abuse pictures found in the UK.
When police raided the house, the computer was on.
They had to move fast. They knew that internet paedophiles are so good at covering their tracks, a few clicks of a
mouse could destroy key evidence.
Police wanted to ensure that by the time they got to Thompson, he had not been able to hide his stockpile of images.
Levels of abuse
Over the course of 10 police interviews, he later confessed to what he had been doing.
One police source suggested that he seemed almost relieved that his double-life was now over. But it was too late
for his victims.
And not only did Thompson spread indecent images of children, he was involved in making them too. One of the
charges against him was causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
For a number of years, the young man from Stockton-on-Tees was a significant figure in the internet underworld.
The pictures he distributed were of the worst kind. Under sentencing advisory guidelines, child abuse images are
classified from level one to five, depending on how explicit they are. Many of Thompson’s images were at the highest end of the scale.
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He was arrested in February, but the charges go back three years to 2005.
During that time he was part of an internet forum which posted images of children on the web. Although these pictures were offensive, they were not, strictly speaking, illegal.
Yet this was just a front.
The forum was acting as a covert gateway to more explicit images.
It was only when police began an undercover operation - presumably with officers posing as online paedophiles that they discovered exactly what Thompson and others across the world were doing.
For a number of years, the young man from Stockton-on-Tees was a significant figure in the internet underworld.
The authorities are relieved that he is now behind bars.
What they don’t know is how many other ‘Philip Thompsons’ have yet to be caught.
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Lost, stolen or strayed
Why do the authorities have more data on missing cars than on runaway children?
Last August, following an argument, 15-year-old Paige Chivers packed a suitcase and left the family home in Blackpool. She returned a few days later, filled a couple of plastic bags with her belongings and went. Her family haven’t
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“You can’t help thinking: is she still alive?” says her sister, Maddison Houghton. “Is she living on the streets? How is
she feeding and clothing herself? How is she getting money? You hear so many horror stories.”
Paige is one of around 100,000 children reported missing each year. Most are runaways, from family homes and care
settings. A much smaller proportion are lost or abducted. Despite the scale of the problem, there are no national
data on missing children in the UK. Helen Southworth, MP for Warrington South, says: “We have more data on missing cars than we have on missing children.”
Source (The Guardian Society)
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Illegal checks jeopardising jobs
Bosses in England and Wales are making illegal criminal record checks on staff, learning about spent
convictions that should not be disclosed.
Sensitive work, such as with children or vulnerable adults, is eligible for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks.
But BBC Radio 4’s Face the Facts has found requests to CRB for jobs such as train driver, gardener and bricklayer.
CRB says employers know best whether a check is necessary, but charity Nacro says CRB should monitor applications.
The Criminal Records Bureau argues employers are best placed to know whether a check is necessary.
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But the crime reduction charity Nacro believes the CRB should be monitoring the applications it receives to ensure it
grants only lawful requests for information.
CRB checks perform a vital role - having stopped more than 20,000 unsuitable people last year
from gaining access to children and vulnerable adults
Home Office
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, non-custodial offences and those involving a prison sentence of less
than 30 months become spent after set periods of time free from any further convictions.
It means after that rehabilitation period has passed, reformed offenders no longer have to disclose those spent convictions when applying for most types of jobs.
The aim of the law was to help get ex-offenders back into work and break the cycle of crime, but Nacro believes unnecessary criminal records checks are now undermining that law and too often leading to workers being suspended
or sacked.
The government estimates one in four adults of working age has some sort of criminal record.
‘Second chance’
“Most of us know someone who has a criminal record,” says Nacro’s Ruth Parker. “I don’t think any of us can say
they no longer deserve a place in society. People deserve a second chance.”
In 2006, Derek Howman took on a job as a gardener in Mobberley, Cheshire. But when a CRB check revealed to his
employers that he had two spent convictions from a decade earlier - for drink-driving and theft of a lawnmower - he
was dismissed.
“I thought, ‘Here we go again’,” says Mr Howman. “I try to get back on my feet and someone knocks you back down
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When you subscribe
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His employers insist they did not break the law. They argue that because “vulnerable adults in receipt of care services” live on the estate where Mr Howman was working, they were right to request a CRB check.
‘Vital role’
Anthony Scrivener QC, a former chair of the Bar, says the purpose of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act was to “take
the onus away from people like employers”. He thinks the law ought to be reviewed.
“You really can’t rely on the goodwill of an employer if he’s given this information. He may be entitled to have it but
he should still exercise his discretion and say ‘well if that was me would I want that disclosed. Is it really relevant?’“
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There are no figures available on the number of illegal CRB checks that are requested each year.
The Home Office said: “CRB checks perform a vital role - having stopped more than 20,000 unsuitable people last
year from gaining access to children and vulnerable adults.”
Information Abuse
Claims the legal right to move on from past mistakes is being undermined by misuse of CRB data.Transcript : Face
the Facts - 08 August 2008
Fundraising for Fair
Play for Children
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THIS TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF
THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS THE
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FACE THE FACTS: Information Abuse
Presenter: John Waite
TRANSMISSION: FRIDAY 8TH AUGUST 2008 1230-1300 BBC RADIO 4
—————————————————————-——————
Waite
In 1974 an important new law came into being aimed at helping criminals to break the cycle of crime. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act was designed to allow minor offenders - in time - a clean slate, and the chance to build up
new lives without the fear of their past catching up with them. Anthony Scrivener QC is a former chair of the Bar.
Scrivener
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act said that a person who has made a sincere and successful attempt to live down a
conviction and go straight and in that sort of case common justice demands that his efforts should not be prejudiced
by the unwarranted disclosure of the earlier convictions. All other jurisdictions seem to have such a piece of legislation, even in the USSR, Japan and the USA.
Waite
And the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act remains on the Statute Book to this very day. Yet, despite that, we’ll hear
from men and women for whom this fundamental law might just as well never have been passed. People who have
never been to prison, people whose minor offences go back decades, sometimes to their childhood, and who’ve lived
perfectly normally since, with no further brushes with the law. Perfectly normally that is, until, one day, a new employer, sometimes with no good reason, and quite possibly illegally, has requested details of their criminal record,
discovered an ancient offence and suspended them from work, or even sacked them.
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The 2008 Budget reduction in the basic
rate of tax from 22%
to 20% leaves charities
(and others entitled to
benefit from
Gift Aid such as community amateur sports
clubs) only able to reclaim tax on Gift Aid
donations at 20% from
6th April 2008. T h e G
o v e r nme n t h a s
announced a two per
cent transitional relief
until the end of the
2010/2011 tax year
enabling Gift Aid to
continue to be claimed
at existing rates.
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Vox pops
You’re guilty until proven innocent and there’s so much paranoia now.
It was more or less as though they was accusing me that I was a sex offender, a paedophile - it was gut wrenching.
I was sick to the stomach.
Two and a half years of hell and financial hardship and stress and everything else.
Where we’re heading with all this is just craziness frankly. There’s no commonsense anymore, there’s just no commonsense.
Waite
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act allows an offence to be ignored once a stipulated period of time has passed free
of any further convictions. Once the offence is “spent” it no longer has to be declared when applying for most types
of jobs or when obtaining insurance. For adults, the rehabilitation period is five years for most non-custodial sentences; seven years for prison sentences up to six months and ten years for sentences up to 30 months. After that
time has elapsed, you don’t have to declare your past.
Lawnmower starting up
Waite
Cutting grass has - for many years - been the way Derek Howman has made a living.
For four years between 2001 and 2005 he worked as a gardener for a firm based in Cheshire. Darrel Williams was
the foreman.
Williams
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Oh he’s a great guy, you know, he’ll do anything for you, he’s not frightened of work. With grounds maintenance
there was some very horrible jobs to do at times but he never moaned it just got stuck straight in. A good hardworking sort of a guy.
Waite
In 2006, Mr Howman took on a new gardening post. This time with Peverel Management Services Limited, tending
lawns and borders at a residential estate at Mobberley in Cheshire.
Howman
The job I liked very much, there was only one other person there in the garden side, he was the manager role side
of it. So we did the jobs, he had to leave me alone and I can go anyway I want and he knew he could trust me and
it was so brilliant, it was just like you were self employed again and enjoyed it, really did.
Waite
According to its website, Peverel provides:
“A comprehensive and professional property management service to private retirement accommodation.”
But Mr Howman’s enjoyment of his new role wasn’t to last. Two old spent convictions had appeared in a report from
the Criminal Records Bureau ordered up by his employers. And they suspended him.
Howman
When I came home to tell my wife I was getting suspended she said why. So I told her what happened and she
couldn’t believe it either, we thought oh here we go again, you know, try and get back on me feet and someone
knocks you right down again, this is unbelievable.
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Waite
Since 2002, the CRB has been issuing disclosures - or criminal record checks - to the public, private and voluntary
sectors in England and Wales. To help them make “safer recruitment decisions” by identifying candidates who may
be unsuitable for certain work, especially that involving contact with children or vulnerable adults.
In Mr Howman’s case, his CRB check had disclosed a drink driving offence in 1996 for which he was fined and
banned from driving for 12 months. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, that offence became spent in 2001.
The second offence involved a stolen lawnmower for which he received a conditional discharge. That happened in
1997 and under the Rehabilitation Act was spent in 1999. Nevertheless Mr Howman’s employers spotted those offences and he was sacked from his job.
Now when you applied for this job were you at all worried that your past may be an issue?
Howman
No, I didn’t have no worries whatsoever because I knew it was all spent.
Waite
So when you’re talking about spent you mean these two relatively minor convictions - you didn’t serve any prison
sentence or anything like that - they were some years in the past?
Howman
Yes, over nine years and 10 years.
Waite
So did it never occur to you when you filled in that application form I’d better put down these two old convictions?
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John Waite
BBC Face The Facts
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Howman
No because I’ve had proper advice over this so I made sure before I put it down on the application form.
Waite
Did you not tell your employers - look I’ve taken advice on this I do not need to list these spent convictions?
Howman
Yes I did and they turned round and said it doesn’t matter, our policy states that you should have put it down on the
application form.
Waite
Any prison sentence over two and a half years will never become spent and will always have to be declared. And
there are some jobs for which employers are entitled to take into account long-standing “spent” criminal convictions.
Positions which are regarded as sensitive in some way. Conrad Murray, a lawyer with the internet legal advice firm,
Lawanswers, talked us through some of those on the list.
Murray
It covers basically professions, official government positions, protection of vulnerable individuals be that children,
people in mental health institutions, for example, hospitals, etc. etc. And there are also others included such as
firearms dealers who perhaps you wouldn’t want to have a criminal record; taxi drivers and mini cab drivers as well.
Waite
Other professions exempt from the Rehabilitation Act include teachers, social workers, solicitors, police officers, court
clerks, prison and probation staff, traffic wardens, doctors, dentists, chemists, nurses and accountants. It’s only jobs
such as these on which employers are legally entitled to conduct CRB checks. And as the list shows, there’s no obvi-
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ous mention of gardeners. For Derek Howman, losing his job meant his insurance company refused to cover his
mortgage payments. And he had to take out a sizeable loan to tide him over. It was he says:
Howman
Two and a half years of hell and financial hardship and stress and everything else.
Actuality NACRO offices
Okay and what job do you do?
Waite
Concerns like Derek Howman’s often come in to the offices of NACRO - the crime reduction charity.
Why are they doing a CRB check then?
Waite
Employees ask for advice from Ruth Parker and her colleagues on the helpline.
Parker
We’re getting lots of calls everyday about CRB checks and quite specifically we’re getting probably two or three calls
a day that refer to checks that should not be going ahead and that are illegal. So we are hearing about it all the
time.
Waite
When I was there a call came in from a street cleaner.
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COMMENT
Fair Play for Children believes that
the current CRB
system is probably the most thorough of its kind in
the world. The
Soham murders
demonstrated that
the best system is
undermined by
mis- and non-use.
The Bichard Inquiry has led to
the creation of
the Vetting & Barring Scheme,
overseen by the
Independent
Safeguarding Authority. We welcome this, and we
also want to see
the development
of a Euro-wide
system like this.
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Right they can’t do CRB checks on a job like that, you have to be either working in a specific place so either in a
school or a hospital or something like that or you have to be supervising, training or in sole charge of children. So ...
Parker
Getting people back into employment when they’ve had some previous offending is essential to the plan of not re-offending. If someone has a job they’re around a half to a third less likely to re-offend, so it is absolutely essential. If
that person’s record is not relevant, not serious and perhaps a long time ago it certainly should not stop someone
from getting a job.
Waite
And what about those people - and they’ll be a good number of them I’m sure - who believe it ought to be the part
of the stigma of doing something wrong and falling foul of the law and ending up with a conviction is that you live
with it and perhaps suffer from it for the rest of your life?
Parker
Well I would say that people always deserve a second chance and people who have a criminal record can be just like
you and me and you probably know a lot of people who have a criminal record and I don’t think any of us could say
that those people deserve to have no place in society from that moment on. If employers are carrying out checks
that they’re not allowed to do and gaining information about old records it’s very much contrary to the spirit of the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act which allows people to move on from their past mistakes.
Waite
So why is it happening?
Parker
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We think that employers mistakenly think that they’re allowed to do these checks, they may misinterpret the law and
think that they are allowed to carry out a CRB check. And the Criminal Records Bureau do, at the moment, leave it
up to employers to decide whether a check is necessary or not. We do hear of a lot of cases where a broader interpretation is put on terms like vulnerable adults and even when working with children there’s very strict guidelines of
the definition of those terms.
Waite
What is then a vulnerable adult?
Parker
Well in terms of doing a CRB check it has to be somebody who a. is receiving care services because of a vulnerability
and then b. has a specific type of vulnerability which could be a mental or physical disability, or needing some support to live independently in their own home.
Waite
So it’s not just about being elderly?
Parker
It’s absolutely not no.
Waite
So was Peverel Management Services Ltd, Derek Howman’s former employer, right to do a CRB check on him for his
job as a gardener at a residential estate? Not according to a letter Derek showed us from the office of the Information Commissioner:
Information Commissioner statement
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Disclosures can be
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“My assessment is that Peverel are unlikely to have complied with the Data Protection Act 1998 because they submitted a CRB disclosure check that it appears they should not have done for the position that you applied for and
then used the information they had obtained.”
Waite
And, the letter went on, the Information Commissioner’s Office had warned Mr Howman’s former employers:
“To make sure they conduct any future checks in line with the law.”
But, the letter concluded, the commissioner has no powers to punish an organisation in such circumstances. And
that’s a source of frustration for Derek’s MP, Mike Hall. He took up the case and, believing the law may have been
broken by Derek’s employers, contacted the Criminal Records Bureau.
Hall
And I said well what are you going to do about the company, they said well there are very severe consequences.
When I asked them what the consequences were of course the consequences are not severe. The only penalty that I
can see is that that company in future could be disbarred from accessing CRB and asking them to do clearance
checks on future employees. That’s not happened in this case. So Derek didn’t have anywhere else to go. Other
companies could carry on carrying on like this particular company and having no recourse against them.
Waite
In a statement to us, Peverel Management Services Limited does not accept that it has broken the law. It argues
that “vulnerable adults in receipt of care services” live on the site where Mr Howman was gardening, and so he was
not protected by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. It says it was fully entitled to request a CRB check on him.
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Clearing up which positions require a criminal records check is important though because, potentially, many people
stand to suffer if the wrong decisions are made. The government estimates that over a quarter of the UK’s population of working age has some sort of criminal record. But, as we’ve heard, confusion over when a CRB check is appropriate or indeed lawful seems widespread.
And that might explain the actions of Ashfield Homes Limited - a company set up by Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire to maintain and improve its housing stock. It was its tenants’ security it had in mind when, in 2006, it
sought CRB checks on its employees. But it was the fact it seemed to be doing them on everyone that caught the
eye of a local law student Paolo Nurkos.
Nurkos
Well part of my law course was to write an article on a wrongdoing of some sort. The Ashfield Homes Company were
advertising for positions that didn’t qualify for criminal record checks. When I approached them I was basically
brushed off, so I took it further.
Waite
To the police, the local newspaper and the Criminal Records Bureau in fact. Ashfield Homes also sought advice from
the CRB following the complaint. Which resulted in CRB staff being sent in to do an audit of the company’s procedures. And in the event, raising concerns about the wide variety of posts for which Ashfield Homes had requested and received - disclosures.
Remember - to be eligible for such checks, these are generally positions of trust working with children and vulnerable adults. But on Ashfield’s list of those to be checked was administration assistant, plumber - even a bricklayer.
Nurkos
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They immediately changed their policy on ex-offenders which they didn’t have a satisfactory policy on employing exoffenders. They also changed the way they apply for disclosures by making sure that the profile and the job description did match the requirements to make a disclosure eligible.
Waite
But I mean don’t you accept the company’s actions were well intentioned, presumably well intentioned, maybe over
well intentioned, but it wanted to protect its tenants from any potentially unscrupulous employees?
Nurkos
Yeah you’re absolutely right but what they did was step over the mark by getting these disclosures where they
weren’t eligible and was still not right.
Waite
Do you think the public really cares and do you think they would think it really matters - better to be safe, they
might say, than sorry?
Nurkos
If I was in the same position as a potential employee I would be very wary on actually applying for the job in the
first place because having served my time of rehabilitation it would be a factor of embarrassment if any previous
convictions were to come out, especially if I didn’t need to disclose those. They have been given a second chance
within the law, nobody has the right to interfere with that.
Waite
Ashfield Homes told us that its original policy on CRB checks was based on the fact that its employees will come into
contact with a wide range of service users, particularly vulnerable people, either personally or through records held
by the company. It accepts its previous interpretation of the rules was not accurate. The company says it’s now fully
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compliant and it never intended to discriminate against any ex-offender, only to ensure the continued safety of its
customers. No police action was taken against it.
There’s no doubt that, since its inception, the Criminal Records Bureau has done an important job, and one for
which, according to lawyer Conrad Murray, there was an important need.
Murray
Government felt that there was a need for an institution because what had happened was there’d been a lot of
deregulation of service and a lot of private providers had come into the market and these wouldn’t have had automatic access to information or certainly no easy route to it. The whole care home industry has essentially moved into
the private sector and so there were people getting into that that weren’t actually being checked at all. The CRB was
set up to meet that need.
Waite
In fact, the CRB has issued over 15 million “checks”. Most, no doubt, have been used correctly, and the bureau says
80,000 ‘unsuitable’ candidates have been weeded out. But, it’s down to employers to decide who is unsuitable. Fine
if they stick to the CRB’s code of practice designed to ensure any information released is used fairly. But having
learnt a new recruit has a black mark against their name - however trivial or historic - the treatment meted out by
some employers seems far from fair.
Karen
I work with excluded teenagers, the difficult end of the market that no one wants to teach basically.
Waite
Meet ‘Karen’ - to protect her identity not her real name. She’s been teaching for around a decade, working in state
education in a variety of roles but lately she’s concentrated on being a freelance tutor. Her previous CRB checks have
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always come back clear, she says, but recently she signed up with a new supply agency and now she’s no longer
teaching. The reason? A letter from the CRB. Contained within it no great revelation that Karen had done anything
wrong - simply a suggestion that her record seemed similar to someone who had.
Karen
I got this alarming letter from the CRB, basically saying that my details matched or very similar or were the details of
someone with a criminal record and I would have to submit photographs, fill in a consent form and then go to a police station to have my fingerprints done. It completely freaked the agency I was working with - I went in on the
Monday and basically they rang me and said that they didn’t want me to come back from there. I have to explain
the sort of kids that I teach - a lot of them are in care situations, they’ve been abandoned quite a lot - so it’s really
actually - it’s not a very good thing to suddenly be there and suddenly not.
Waite
The only explanation Karen can think of is a minor marijuana offence dating back 25 years, which she says has
never been flagged up before. Nevertheless, her employers didn’t wait for any explanation before getting rid of her.
Karen
I felt really embarrassed, I felt really humiliated, I was very angry with the CRB anyway because I’m not a criminal, I
am somebody who does a very, very difficult job actually and I think that it should be made a little bit easier for me
not more difficult. I don’t think they understand the implications of the inference of some sort of guilt you know and
I don’t think they understand when they send these sort of letters what real impact that’s going to have on people,
their lives and their livelihood. I haven’t been able to work as a teacher since, I’m in a very low paid job at the moment because it’s all I can get. It’s ridiculous. I just think everybody is very paranoid and very fearful and don’t want
to have the finger pointed at them. So yes it was an extreme reaction and where we’re heading with all this is just
craziness frankly. There’s no commonsense anymore, there’s just no commonsense.
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Waite
Karen should be protected by the CRB’s code of practice and guidance notes which state:
“It is crucially important that people who have been convicted are treated fairly and are given every opportunity to
establish their suitability for positions.”
It also says employers should take into account a number of factors before reaching a recruitment decision, including:
Whether the conviction is relevant to the position in question
The seriousness of any offence revealed
The length of time since the offence occurred
Whether the applicant’s circumstances have changed since offending
And the explanation offered by the convicted person.
Waite
Yet in Karen’s case, her employers didn’t wait to find out whether she even has a criminal record before making their
“recruitment decision” to dismiss her. So in cases of unfair treatment what protection does the code actually offer? A
question I put to NACRO’s Ruth Parker.
Parker
In practice there’s very little that can be done against an employer if they breach the code. It is actually enshrined in
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the Police Act 1997, so it is legally binding, but in reality we hear of employers breaching the code daily, I expect,
and unfortunately there’s very little that can be done against them.
Waite
At the age of 56, ‘Jeff’ - as we’ll call him - took on a job driving a bus for autistic children and senior citizens.
Jeff
Loved it, really did. Humbled in fact. I felt I was doing something for the community.
Waite
Jeff’s employers were entitled to conduct a CRB check on him because of the nature of the job. A job which meant
he should have disclosed his two minor, spent convictions but he didn’t because they were so far in the past he
thought they were irrelevant. His employers took a different view and when the CRB check came back they suspended him.
Jeff
Well on that day in question when I was told this I was hoping that the floor would open up and swallow me. It was
gut wrenching. I was sick to the stomach. It was more or less as though they was accusing me that I was a sex offender, a paedophile, pervert and you can imagine I a married man, two grown up children, grandchildren and I’ve
worked with children and the public most of my working life. It did make me ill and I had to go to see the doctor
who gave me some tablets to calm me down and also found out then me blood pressure went through the roof.
Waite
You know Jeff for your employer to be so troubled by this surely there must have been more to it than two minor
charges dating back nearly half a century, was there more to it?
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Jeff
No, in actual fact in the employer’s report it said I was an excellent worker and that they was glad to have me.
Waite
So Jeff - now in his late fifties - was under suspicion partly because of a theft conviction dating back over 40 years to
when he was just 13, for which he was fined £10. But it was the second offence - of indecent exposure and threatening behaviour for which he was fined £35 in 1974 - that really caused the concern. Jeff says that on the way home
from a nightclub, he was caught urinating down a drain by a woman with whom he argued, loudly. He was aged 23.
More than 30 years on, however, that led to a three month suspension from his job. And he was only reinstated, he
says, when the importance of the CRB’s code of practice was pressed home on his employers.
Jeff
I can accept the concern, yes, I fully understand that they’ve got to be more than careful. They went too far, it was
against all procedures laid down by the Criminal Records Bureau.
Waite
The Criminal Records Bureau, an executive agency of the Home Office, charges upwards of £30 for each disclosure,
although for the voluntary sector they’re free. Last year, the CRB had a £10 million surplus. But its critics, like Ruth
Parker of NACRO, argue that it isn’t good enough for the bureau simply to supply record checks on demand; it
should at least monitor whether the jobs involved are legally entitled to such checks. And not rely simply on the
judgment of employers.
Parker
The only information it requests on the CRB form is the job title that the person would be doing and the organisation
they would be working for. Now in a lot of cases you could easily see that that check is legal - if it said nurse for example - but there’s also many cases where it could be questionable ...
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Waite
And I suppose chef, for example, if it was in a restaurant one thing, if it’s in a school another.
Parker
Yes absolutely, there’s all of those examples where it needs a bit further investigation. When we hear of train drivers,
bus ticket inspector, car park attendant being allowed to have CRB checks it’s absolutely astounding.
Waite
We don’t know how many inappropriate checks are carried out or how often employers use legitimate disclosures
unfairly. But the government estimates that less than 1% of all disclosures resulted in a job offer being withdrawn
last year.
When we approached the Criminal Records Bureau and the Home Office, no one was available for interview. Instead,
in a statement we were told:
Statement
“CRB checks perform a vital role protecting vulnerable groups - having stopped more than 20,000 unsuitable people
last year from gaining access to children and vulnerable adults. The CRB cannot get involved in making employment
decisions; these are solely a matter for employers.”
The Home Office’s argument that employers are best placed to know whether the demands of a particular job mean
a CRB check is necessary isn’t good enough, however, for the former chair of the Bar, QC Anthony Scrivener. As a
barrister, he told us, he is shocked that a government agency is handing out the most sensitive of data without
knowing if it is appropriate to do so. It threatens the whole basis of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, he believes,
because it permits employers to interpret the law as they please rather than the way it was intended.
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Scrivener
What all this shows is that you really can’t rely on the goodwill of an employer if he’s given this information. He may
legitimately wish to have this information, maybe even be allowed to have it but he should still exercise his discretion and say if that was me would I want that disclosed, is it really relevant. But really the purpose of this legislation
was to take the onus away from people like employers so I think parliament needs to look at this legislation again
and I think it should add higher penalties for disclosure and should make it perfectly clear what the ‘74 act was intended to deal with.
McCanns probe paedophile ring lead
Press Association
, Thursday August 7 2008
Police intelligence suggesting Madeleine McCann may have been snatched to order for a Belgian paedophile ring is
being urgently investigated by private detectives for the little girl’s parents.
Scotland Yard passed on a report from an informant who said a photograph of the child on holiday in Portugal was
taken and passed to a “purchaser” in Belgium days before she vanished, official case files have revealed.
The information was contained in an email from the Metropolitan Police’s CO14 clubs and vice intelligence unit included in a massive dossier of evidence made public this week.
Portuguese police pursued the lead with Interpol, which gathered further reports from Belgium, the UK, Finland and
Germany.
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But detective Paulo Rebelo, head of the Madeleine inquiry, ruled that all but the German intelligence showed “lack of
credibility” and ordered that the Scotland Yard tip-off should be filed.
The Metropolitan Police email read: “Intelligence suggests that a paedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a
young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken.
“Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent it to Belgium. The purchaser
agreed that the girl was suitable and Maddie was taken.”
The source of the information was anonymous and it is unclear how reliable it is. The files show the email was sent
to Leicestershire Police on March 4 this year - but it was apparently not forwarded to Portuguese detectives until
April 21.
Belgium has something of a reputation for paedophilia after unemployed electrician Marc Dutroux, 47, was jailed for
life in 2004 after being convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering young girls.
A friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, both 40, from Rothley, Leicestershire, said the couple’s private detectives were
taking the possible involvement of Belgian paedophiles very seriously.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2008, All Rights Reserved.
Call for apology over sex abuse cases in Ireland
Ireland’s Catholic bishops and clergy were urged to follow Pope Benedict XVI’s lead and publicly apologise to victims
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of clerical abuse. The abuse survivors’ group One-in-Four said the Pope’s strong words in Australia were not
matched by the church’s hierarchy in Ireland.
The Pope had used his visit to Australia to issue an apology for past crimes against children carried out by Catholic
clerics. He told a gathering of Australian bishops and student priests that he was deeply sorry for clerical abuse and
that those responsible must be brought to justice. But One-in-Four, which has worked with hundreds of those who
have suffered, added that victims found it hard to accept that the Pope, and the clergy, shared in their suffering.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/20/ireland.catholicism
UK fails to bar internet access to child porn
Almost a million UK households could access websites known to host images of child sex abuse despite a government pledge made two years ago to stop access to paedophile sites.
A coalition of leading children’s charities, including Barnardo’s, the NSPCC and National Children’s Homes, described
the situation as ‘completely unacceptable’. They have written to the Home Office minister in charge of crime reduction, Vernon Coaker, urging him to take immediate steps to ensure all telecom companies offering internet access
block customers from being able to see images that in some cases show children as young as a year old being sexually abused.
Around 5 per cent of consumer broadband connections can access the images because their internet service
providers (ISPs) chose not to subscribe to a scheme introduced by the Internet Watch Foundation to bar known paedophile websites.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/20/childprotection.censorship
Childcare workers in Perth charged with assault
Two women at a Perth childcare centre threatened a four-year-old boy with a knife and one of the women had
swung him into a wall as part of his discipline, police say.
The WA Child Protection Squad has charged two women after an investigation into alleged assaults on a boy at a
Kelmscott childcare centre, in Perth’s south-east.
Police say a 60-year-old assistant childcare worker had threatened a four-year-old boy with a kitchen knife four times
between November and April.
While disciplining him on one occasion, she allegedly had grabbed the child’s hand and swung him into a wall at the
centre.
Source (The Sydney Morning Herald)
http://news.smh.com.au/national/childcare-workers-charged-with-assault-20080801-3oij.html
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Child protection proposals spark fears
Industrial action looms as Edinburgh social workers say council plans to shed staff will add to caseload burden
Child protection cases could be left unallocated and the service go into meltdown if proposed cuts in management
staffing are implemented, warn front-line social workers in Edinburgh.
Members of Unison have said industrial action is inevitable if staff and their clients are not protected from an increased workload which could put vulnerable families at risk.
Edinburgh City Council’s child protection service was heavily criticised by the O’Brien Inquiry following the case of
11-week-old Caleb Ness, who was shaken to death by his brain-damaged father in 2001 after social workers sent
him home with his recovering drug-addict mother. That led to a major shake-up of the social work department. The
progress made since in reducing caseloads is now in jeopardy, warned Tom Connolly, service conditions officer with
Unison.
Source (Times Educational Supplement)
http://www.tes.co.uk/2651004
July 18, 2008 9:04 AM PDT
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Cable giants bullied into new child porn censorship deal
Posted by Chris Soghoian 15 comments
The major national cable providers are all to sign a troubling yet major censorship deal with a private anti-child porn
organization. The deal would give the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) carte blanche
power to issue a takedown of any customer’s content hosted on a cable provider’s servers.
The group will provide each cable company with a list of Web site addresses that they believe contain child porn.
The cable companies will then, per the agreement, scrub the content from their servers.
A press release describing the agreement states that:
The cable operators that have agreed to execute the (memo of understanding) within 30 days include: Comcast Corporation; Cox Communications; Charter Communications; Cablevision Systems Corporation...Time Warner Cable has
already signed the MOU.
It is unclear what, if any, notification cable customers will receive before their Web sites are deleted, or what legal
rights they will have to appeal the classification of their content as illegal child pornography.
The memo of understanding states that the private group will provide cable companies with a list of kiddie porn
URLs, that “in NCMEC’s good faith” appears to meet the federal definition of child pornography.
According to Cynthia Brumfield, the industry watcher who first broke the story:
“The identified URLs and content will be deleted (by the cable company) and the operator will provide NCMEC
the customer’s name and address in those instances where that information is available. NCMEC will then work
with law enforcement authorities.”
Thus, we have a private third-party group, who will be given the power to force the takedown of content, who will
be given the names and addresses of the “violators.” Is there anything else?
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Oh yes—NCMEC wants its participation in the takedown to be kept secret. Brumfield cites the memo of understanding (which is not public)—which she said states that cable companies will:
“remove or limit the availability of apparent child pornography images or other content based on the List, and in taking such action replaces the offending page with a notice, such notice shall contain no reference to NCMEC.”
I hope i am not the only one who is extremely troubled by this deal. Kiddie porn used to be one of the three major
trump cards justifying censorship, invasion of privacy, and the general evisceration of civil liberties (the other two
trump cards being illegal drugs and terrorism). However, with this deal and the recently successful child porn justified efforts of the NY AG to eradicate Usenet discussion groups, child porn seems to have outgrown its two fellow trump
cards.
The threat of kiddie porn now seems to be capable of justifying any amount of censorship—something that no CEO
accountable to his shareholders will dare stand up to.
This kind of takedown power should not be given to a private, unaccountable group. Both the FBI and DHS/US Customs already manage databases of enabling their agents to digitally fingerprint such content. As much as I dislike
the FBI, they are at least (occasionally) held accountable. Journalists can submit Freedom Of Information Act requests, and the heads of the agency can be hauled in front of a congressional committee. NCMEC, on the other
hand, is not subject to an FOIA request.
Public challenge
And so, I issue the following public challenge:
Comcast’s anti-BitTorrent efforts were undone once the Associated Press was able to prove that the cable giant
slowed down the file-sharing of a copy of the King James Bible.
Thus, I promise a bounty of 100 U.S. dollars to anyone who can somehow trick a cable company into taking down a
copy of the King James Bible, under the mistaken belief that it’s actually kiddie porn.
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You may either work to trick the cable company directly, or instead go after the shadowy National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children. It is highly unlikely that cable companies will verify the URLs given to them by NCMEC, and
so this may actually prove to be easier.
I am not encouraging anyone to break the law. I am sure this can be done with social engineering, and a bit of
smarts. Finally, if you opt to donate your $100 award to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, I will match it 100 percent.
Disclaimer: This challenge is made by a private individual, and does not reflect the policy of CNET.
Child abuse cases double - Jersey
THE number of child abuse and neglect cases being referred to the States police has more than doubled over the
past year.
Figures released by the force today in its six-month performance report reveal that its child protection team received
173 referrals in the first six months of this year. Between January and June last year there were 65 referrals.
The figures do not include cases connected with the continuing major historic abuse inquiry which has centred on
Haut de la Garenne, but 36 are ‘historical’ cases. The rest result from allegations of recent neglect and sexual or
physical abuse.
Source (Jersey Evening Post)
http://www.thisisjersey.com/2008/07/31/child-abuse-cases-double/
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We can cope with child abuse inquiry, says Jersey law boss
Jersey’s attorney general has hit back at claims the island’s judicial system is unable to cope with the scale and intricacy of the child abuse investigation over the Haut de la Garenne care home.
Critics claim conflicts of interest are rife in an island with a population as small as Jersey’s. They want prosecutions
to take place in the UK to avoid political interference.
But William Bailhache said he was confident the island’s legal system could deliver justice.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/01/ukcrime.jerseyisland
Jersey – As The Enquiries Continue ....
A series of articles about the ongoing investigations into the Jersey Children’s Home abuse investigation.
House of horrors
Jersey police were criticised when they began digging for bodies at Haut de la Garenne.
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Now human remains have been uncovered, but are we any closer to the truth?
Helen Pidd
The Guardian,
Saturday August 2 2008
It is now more than five months since Lenny Harper, Jersey’s deputy chief police officer, opened the press conference that would arguably change his life - and Jersey - forever. Standing outside Haut de la Garenne, the now notorious former children’s home in the St Martin area of the island, Harper revealed that his team had found “what
appears to be potential remains of a child” underneath the building.
On that bleak February afternoon, Harper, a 56-year-old Ulster man, said he was dealing with a “potential major
crime inquiry concerning a possible homicide” and that detectives believed they might find more human remains.
The find had come to light as a result of a sweeping investigation into historical child abuse on the island; we were
later told abuse victims had claimed children in the home had been “dragged from their beds screaming and disappeared”.
It was a huge story, which only got bigger the following day when bleary-eyed journalists from the mainland turned
up. I was among them, and have followed the story since, as it has grown and shrunk and been shot down and
sexed up, as the body count fluctuated almost as widely as the tally of the abused and the abusers. I have listened
to the complaints of Jersey politicians, heard the frustrations of police officers who believed their investigation was
being obstructed by the authorities, and have interviewed an abuse victim who has needed psychiatric care all his
life because of what happened to him at Haut de la Garenne.
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Where else in the United
Kingdon could such a procedure be allowed? The archaic constitutional status
of this island may be all
very well for those able and
permitted to live there, but
if it permits an outmoded
and non-accountable system to end up with the
abuse, even deaths, of children in care, then nothing
should stand in the way of
bringing those accountable
to justice. What is appalling
is the view of the Police that
they may not be able to investigate possible murder of
children in care. Fair Play
takes the view that if there
are such circumstances,
then the case cannot be
closed, and all possible
forensic and other methods
of inquiry and investigation
must be deployed - even if
the States of Jersey doesn’t
want it. Any part of the
United Kingdom must be
able to guarantee justice for
children abused in care.
The status of Jersey surely
must now come under
scrutiny unless and until its
political masters face up to
their responsibility to the
children in their care, past
present and future.
PlayAction OnLine
I have knocked on the doors of many of those accused, been harangued by locals horrified at Jersey being lazily
painted by outsiders as a sinister “island of secrets” and spoken to the tourism officials who spent a great deal of
time and money finding out whether Harper’s investigation would sour the island’s reputation as a holiday resort (or
investment destination) forever. And still I am not sure what the truth is. But then again, I don’t think anyone is.
Lenny Harper has his theory, but knows he probably can’t prove it.
Next Thursday will be Harper’s last day in the job. He is retiring and moving to England to be near his daughter,
whose husband was killed in Iraq four years ago. This week he gave one of his final press conferences, in which he
told reporters he believed his team had unearthed the remains of up to five children, including 65 teeth and fragments of bone. He said the tally of abuse victims had dropped, from more than 200 several months ago, to between
70 and 80, who had made allegations against more than 100 suspects. Of these, 18 were being treated as prime
suspects.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday he was disappointed the inquiry had resulted in so few arrests. Six
people have been arrested and three, including a former warden, have been charged with child abuse offences and
appeared in court. Three others have been released on bail pending further inquiries - to the immense frustration of
the police, who were confident there was enough evidence to charge them.
Harper also admitted that because of difficulties in accurately dating the remains, it may never be possible to open a
murder inquiry.
On February 24, the day after Harper’s press conference, I, along with the three other journalists who arrived in Jersey first, wrote stories which said there were fears six “or more” dead children were buried beneath Haut de la
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Haut de la Garenne
PlayAction OnLine
Garenne. The line, followed up throughout the world, came from an off-camera briefing with Harper. We had asked
him about six “hotspots” found in and around the home which had been identified by Eddie, the sniffer dog who had
been credited with leading detectives to those initial “remains”. Does this mean there could be six bodies, I asked.
Potentially yes, said Harper - “or more”.
Several months later I worried the whole thing had been a cock-up in which I had played a part, when forensic
analysis cast doubt on those initial “remains”, with experts claiming them to be nothing more than a piece of wood
or coconut shell.
The claims of institutionalised physical and sexual abuse were shocking enough, but by this point the investigation
had gone quiet, and with it the press coverage, and Jersey was trying to get back to normal. Many locals blamed
Harper for bringing shame on the island by blabbing prematurely about what he had found. Some went as far as
threatening to burn down his house and firebomb his car. By May, he had received more than 140 poison-pen letters.
In the States of Jersey, the island’s parliament, on April 29, one senator (the Jersey equivalent of an MP), Sean
Power, accused Harper of misrepresenting the facts. Harper telling the media on February 23 that he had found the
partial remains of a child was an “inappropriate summary of the situation at the time”, Power said.
But to me, and others from the mainland, it was obvious why Harper had made the decision to go public, so early
on. As an outspoken critic of what he sees as the island’s tendency to brush awkward problems under the carpet (he
first came to Jersey in 2002 to investigate police corruption), and as an outsider, Harper wanted as many foreign
eyes as possible on his inquiry. The more press interest in the story, the more difficult it would be for the Jersey establishment to pretend there was nothing going on. That’s why he gave candid press briefings daily for the first
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“But to me, and
others from the
mainland, it was
obvious why
Harper had made
the decision to go
public, so early
on. As an outspoken critic of what
he sees as the island’s tendency to
brush awkward
problems under
the carpet (he first
came to Jersey in
2002 to investigate police corruption), and as
an outsider,
Harper wanted as
many foreign eyes
as possible on his
inquiry.”
PlayAction OnLine
week or two of the excavations. Every journalist covering the story has his mobile number and he has always done
his best to answer our questions honestly - so long as his response won’t jeopardise the operation.
It was an unpopular policy with many on Jersey. In May the island’s bailiff Sir Philip Bailhache (who acts as the
speaker in parliament) complained in his annual Liberation Day speech that many journalists continued to write
about the island’s “so-called child abuse scandal. All child abuse ... is scandalous, but it is the unjustified and remorseless denigration of Jersey and her people that is the real scandal,” he said.
Sometimes, islanders seemed to go out of their way to counteract the negative with the positive. A few days after
the media descended on the island, the first victims started telling stories of their horrific abuse. In response, the
Jersey Evening Post - the island’s only daily newspaper - ran a double-page spread from former Haut de la Garenne
residents recalling what a lovely place it was to live.
Though the JEP covered the allegations, it periodically ran editorials raging against the UK press. On my fourth day
in Jersey, no national newspapers arrived in the shops. Apparently, it was because fog had grounded the plane, but
the UK press pack joked it was a conspiracy to keep the bad news out.
It is all too easy to make fun of Jersey’s parochialism. But I was surprised to see how many of the island’s most
powerful figures shared the same surname. For example, in the legal system, the two top jobs are taken by the Bailhache brothers. William is the attorney general and Sir Philip is bailiff. It is tempting to use the island’s tax-haven
status as a metaphor for the locals’ ability to keep even the shadowiest secrets - when the Haut de la Garenne dig
hit the headlines, the issue of Alistair Darling’s “non-dom” tax reform was also big news. But it is more relevant that
Jersey is a small, isolated island, which encourages a wariness of outsiders. The locals are particularly prickly about
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In May the island’s bailiff Sir
Philip Bailhache
(who acts as the
speaker in parliament) complained
in his annual Liberation Day
speech that many
journalists continued to write
about the island’s
“so-called child
abuse scandal. All
child abuse ... is
scandalous, but it
is the unjustified
and remorseless
denigration of Jersey and her people that is the real
scandal,” he said.
PlayAction OnLine
the Nazi occupation: during the second world war, many islanders collaborated with the Germans.
On May 1 I spoke to Frank Walker, Jersey’s chief minister. He told me how hurt he had been by the press coverage.
“Our reputation has been shredded ... [We] have almost been presented as being an island of paedophiles,” said
Walker, adding some stories were “pure fiction”. He seemed relieved that, at that point, Harper’s team appeared not
to have found any conclusive evidence of any children being killed at the home. He said while it was vital “no stone
be left unturned”, it was business as usual. He stressed that Jersey’s situation was “far from unique”.
Shortly after the spotlight was turned on the island, Jersey’s tourist office pulled all advertising. When the marketing
campaign resumed on April 11, some rather unfortunate slogans had been withdrawn - such as one which invited
holidaymakers to “discover hidden treasure”. Tourism officials then commissioned two telephone surveys. More than
1,000 people were asked whether they had heard anything about Jersey in the news recently. If yes, would it make
them more or less likely to want to visit? The results were inconclusive: the same number of people were put off as
those who were inspired to holiday in Jersey.
Over Easter, it seemed Jersey’s worst fears had been realised, when inquiries to the tourist office were down 10% on
2007. But tourism officials stressed that was not necessarily down to the inquiry. In any case, business soon picked
up. Yesterday a tourism spokeswoman told me bookings were up 3% year-on-year. A coincidence buoyed by the
strong euro? Or has the media coverage merely served to remind Britons that Jersey exists as a holiday destination?
Last weekend, the Jersey Care Leavers’ Association called a public meeting to discuss the inquiry. It was attended by
victims, many of whom are involved in the police investigation. Liz Davies, senior lecturer in children and families social work at London Metropolitan University, was invited, along with other specialists from the UK.
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Davies was given a tour around Haut de la Garenne by two former residents, who were both abused at the home.
“Images remain with me: the tree from which one care leaver saw his friend hanging [Michael Collins, a 14-year-old
boy, hung himself at the home in the 1960s], the small windows behind which they were detained for lengthy periods in solitary confinement, the fields of corn which they ran across barely clothed in their escape attempts, the
playing field they were never allowed to go on,” said Davies.
For many people, it is inconceivable the authorities do not have a proper record of children who went missing. But as
Davies says, it is far from a unique situation. “In the year up to March 2007, 160 children went missing from care institutions in the UK,“ she said.
What next for the inquiry? Many victims are fearful what will happen when Harper has left the island,
though police insist they will continue striving for prosecutions. Last week Labour backbencher Austin
Mitchell and Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, urged Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to step in to
ensure an independent inquiry into the abuse claims. But this seems unlikely. Jersey’s attorney general, William Bailhache QC, does not seem keen. The crown could step in, he said this week, but “it’s
not happened in 800 years - so why should it happen now?” [Source: The Guardian]
Remains of five children found at Jersey care home
Elizabeth Stewart
and agencies
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guardian.co.uk,
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Thursday July 31 2008 08:56 BST
Charred remains from at least five children have been discovered in the cellars of a former children’s home in Jersey,
but police say a murder inquiry is unlikely due to difficulties in dating the remains. The partial remains of the children, aged between four and 11, were found in a hidden dungeon described as “punishment rooms” in Haut de la
Garenne, the former children’s home that has been at the centre of a wide-ranging abuse probe on the island state
in the English Channel.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lenny Harper, the deputy chief officer of States of Jersey police, said:
“At the end of the day there may not be the evidence there to mount a homicide inquiry and an attempt to bring
anybody to justice for whatever crimes took place there.”
Police have evidence the bodies were burned and hidden in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Experts believe the 65
milk teeth that officers recovered from the cellars could only have come out after death because of their condition.
More than 100 human bone fragments were also found at the site. One piece was identified as coming from a child’s
leg and another from a child’s ear.
Tests showed some fragments were cut while others were burned, suggesting that murders had taken place and the
victims’ bodies had possibly been burned in a fireplace. But Harper said carbon dating techniques had not been able
to establish an exact time of death for the children’s remains. One bone produced contradictory readings which indicated that the individual could have died in either 1650 or 1960. “The indications are that if the results come back
the same way as they have now it is obvious there won’t be a homicide inquiry,” he said.
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PlayAction OnLine
As hopes fade for a murder inquiry, child protection campaigners have repeated their calls on the UK government to
intervene in the abuse scandal, which they suspect involves a cover-up by the island’s authorities. Senator Stuart
Syvret, Jersey’s former health minister, said the Jersey government had obstructed the police investigation and the
“only hope for justice” was for the UK government to send in an independent judiciary, prosecution and courts, with
no prior connection to Jersey.
Syvert, who alerted the media to the abuse scandal, has been criticised by the island’s chief minister, Frank Walker,
for politicising the matter and for tarnishing Jersey’s reputation.
The Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, whose organisation Justice for Families campaigns on child abuse cases,
said there was no doubt there had been “efforts to cover up” the allegations and urged the UK government to impose independent judicial control over the inquiry.
Montford Tadier, who organised a Remembrance Rally for the victims of abuse, said he was “not confident” the Jersey authorities would conduct a thorough investigation, for fear of “losing face”. “The authorities need to remember
the abuse victims and not think about how Jersey looks in this case,” he said.
Although a murder inquiry might not be possible, police say the search has unearthed valuable pieces of evidence
that corroborates accounts of abuse at the home. Police are looking into around 97 allegations of abuse on Jersey
dating back to the early 1960s and have said there are more than 100 suspects. Investigations started in February
after the discovery of what was initially believed to be part of a child’s skull. Tests later suggested it was more likely
to be wood or part of a coconut.
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Police are
looking into
around 97
allegations
of abuse on
Jersey
dating back
to the early
1960s and
have said
there are
more than
100
suspects.
PlayAction OnLine
Following the find, scores of people came forward claiming they were drugged, raped and beaten at the home. Police excavated four secret underground chambers at the site, referred to as “punishment rooms” by some victims,
and found shackles, a large bloodstained bath and children’s teeth.
In one cellar officers found the disturbing message “I’ve been bad for years and years” scrawled on a wooden post.
A member of the public told police he had been asked by staff to dig two holes near the boys’ dormitory and was
later told to fill them in.
Excavation of one of the pits, dug in the 1970s or 1980s, revealed a large amount of lime at the bottom, which can
be used to speed up the decomposition of a body and mask the stench. Six people have been arrested in the inquiry. Three have been charged with offences relating to the abuse of children. Three others have been released on
bail pending further inquiries.
[Source: The Guardian]
First Jersey Abuse Suspect In Court
By Sky News SkyNews - Tuesday, August 5 04:18 pm
The first man to be charged in connection with the alleged child abuse scandal at a Jersey children’s home has appeared in court. Gordon Claude Wateridge, 77, is charged with 16 counts of indecent assault against children and
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one of assault on a child. Wateridge is a former warden at the Haut de la Garenne children’s home on the island’s
east coast.
The crimes are alleged to have taken place there between 1970 and 1974. He did not enter a plea and the case has
now been referred to the island’s Royal Court. Wateridge was initially charged with three counts of indecent assault
against girls at the home.
These were today withdrawn and replaced by the 16 new charges. He is one of only three people to be charged in
connection with serious sexual assaults at the home between 1960 and 1986. Police say they have more than 100
suspects. Last week, police completed their search of the children’s home. They were led there in February following
allegations made in interviews with former residents. They have spoken to more than 100 alleged victims of abuse.
Over a period of six months they discovered 65 children’s milk teeth and more than 150 bone fragments believed to
be human. Analysis suggests that the teeth could not have come out naturally before death. Some of the bones also
appeared to have been burnt.
The police have acknowledged that it is increasingly unlikely that they will be launching a murder inquiry because accurate dating of the remains is proving difficult.
For a murder investigation to be launched, they would need to prove that the bones and teeth dated from the time
frame of their inquiry.
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Jersey and openness
PlayAction OnLine
The Guardian,
Monday August 4 2008
Article history
The hierarchy of the states of Jersey appears to misunderstand the reasons for international concern about the apparent events at Haut de la Garenne (House of Horrors, August 2).
The fact that it has allegedly been the scene of horrendous child abuse is something it shares with several communities in the UK and beyond, and for which it will receive empathy.
However, the wish of senior figures in the government to bury the issue to avoid perceived international denigration
or losing face is appalling. The criminal investigation needs full political and community cooperation, and subsequently a full, public and open inquiry needs to look at how this happened and guard against it being repeated.
Roy Grimwood
Market Drayton, Shropshire
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William Bailhache
PlayAction OnLine
Child matador banned from French bullrings
Michelito has fought over 50 bulls and has picked up scars on his face and right leg during his brief career as a
matador.
But because he is only 10, local authorities in France this weekend banned this child prodigy of the bullring from a
“becerrada”, a bullfight with young bulls that are not put to death.
Anti-bullfighters blocked the spectacle in Fontvielle and Arles on the grounds that his safety would be jeopardised
and his appearance would violate labour laws banning minors.
Claire Starozinski, president of the anti-bullfight alliance, welcomed the bans.
“Even if the aim is not to kill, there is a risk for a child of 30kg to be put face to face with an animal of 200kg,” she
said.
Michelito, whose full name is Michel Lagravere Peniche, said he was disappointed by the bans
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/03/france.mexico
Paedophile on ‘most wanted’ site
A convicted paedophile who went on the run has been featured on a child protection organisation’s “most wanted”
site.
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Fair Play for Children
32 Longford Road
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO21 1AG
Tel: 0845-330 7635
[email protected]
PlayAction OnLine
Joseph Millbank, 48, is thought to have escaped to Europe after going missing from the Perth area on Friday 27
June. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) Centre has posted his details on its most wanted website
to raise the profile of the hunt for him.
Police have urged holidaymakers to look out for the sex offender.
Millbank, who is said to pose a “significant risk” to children, was sentenced for three charges of lewd, indecent and
libidinous practices in January 2002 at the High Court in Aberdeen.
He abused young girls in towns and cities across Scotland, including Elgin and Aberdeen.
He was sentenced to 10 years in jail, with a 10-year extended period. A warrant was issued for his arrest when he
failed to comply with the conditions of his licence after being released from prison on 6 May this year.
Millbank is thought to have escaped to France
Source (BBC News Scotland)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7522816.stm
AMBER ALERTS ARE MORE THEATER THAN CHILD
PROTECTION
Since its birth 12 years ago after a fatal kidnapping in Arlington, the Amber Alert has quickly become one of the
best-known tools in the national (US) law-enforcement arsenal. The warnings are familiar to anyone who watches
cable TV news. Last year, 227 alerts were issued nationwide, each galvanizing interest in the local community and
flooding police with tips. While the particulars of state systems differ, the goal is the same: to disperse news of a
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kidnapping as widely and quickly as possible, in the hope that someone will spot the kidnapper before a child is
harmed.
The program’s champions say its successes have been dramatic:
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 400 children have been saved by
Amber Alerts.
All of the 17 children Massachusetts has issued alerts for since it created its system in 2003 have been safely returned.
These are encouraging statistics — but also deeply misleading — according to some of the only outside scholars to
examine the system in depth. In the first independent study of whether Amber Alerts work, a team led by University
of Nevada criminologist Timothy Griffin looked at hundreds of abduction cases between 2003 and 2006 and found
that Amber Alerts — for all their urgency and drama — actually accomplish little:
In most cases where they were issued, Griffin found, Amber Alerts played no role in the eventual return of abducted
children.
Their successes were generally in child-custody fights that didn’t pose a risk to the child.
#
And in those rare instances where kidnappers did intend to rape or kill the child, Amber Alerts usually failed to save
lives
Source (National Centre For Policy Analysis)
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=16875
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Child protection register shock
PlayAction OnLine
DONCASTER has double the national average of children on the child protection register and its social services’ performance is “unacceptable” in some areas, warns a report.
The council report to go before councillors today warns one in 200 youngsters in the borough aged under 18 is
deemed to be at risk of abuse or neglect. A total of 317 children are on the register.
Source (The Star)
http://www.thestar.co.uk/doncaster/Child-protection-register-shock.4366999.jp#
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PlayAction OnLine
Leader
Britain’s Shame: The Logical End of Pandering to Racism
Children’s Play
Risky play prepares kids for life
Children today are mollycoddled prisoners
Kids need the adventure of ‘risky’ play
All of Us – The Framework for Quality Inclusion
Barbie firm awarded Bratz payout
Future of childcare scheme is unclear
WHY SAFE KIDS ARE BECOMING FAT KIDS
4Children says scrap curfews and provide more activities
Congress sends Bush bill banning lead in toys
Cash for Southampton street sports
Whitehawk to miss fun in the park
Playground celebrates 30 years
Tributes to youth work ‘pioneer’
New lease of life for playbus
Playbus revs up for appeal
Grant for adventure playgrounds
Child Protection
Vulnerable children failed by notification scheme and ‘private fostering’
Sporting chance for the helpers?
Pedophile-Proof Chat Rooms?
Social network sites ‘flout their own ban on underage users’
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PlayAction OnLine
Abuse ‘librarian’ pleads guilty
Double life of child abuse ‘librarian’
Lost, stolen or strayed
Illegal checks jeopardising jobs
Information Abuse
McCanns probe paedophile ring lead
Call for apology over sex abuse cases in Ireland
UK fails to bar internet access to child porn
Childcare workers in Perth charged with assault
Child protection proposals spark fears
Cable giants bullied into new child porn censorship deal
Child abuse cases double – Jersey
We can cope with child abuse inquiry, says Jersey law boss
Jersey – As The Enquiries Continue .... Feature on the investigation
Child matador banned from French bullrings
Paedophile on ‘most wanted’ site
AMBER ALERTS ARE MORE THEATER THAN CHILD PROTECTION
Child protection register shock
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PlayAction OnLine - Fair Play For Children

Transcription

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