Friday, April 30, 2004
Toni-Ann, victim of a system that has failed for 30 years .
The above is the front page of my newspaper today. It gives details and photographs of another 12 victims over the past 30 years. I think it is a poor choice of a front page - lacking in perspective and fresh news.
I do not want a nanny state and there is a lot of criticism in the media at the moment of social workers and their alleged failings. The failings are of the parents and it is wrong to try to blame society and it's social workers. People live their own lives and make their own mistakes. Some parents are better parents than others but we do not need a super nanny state to rule the country. We should put this into perspective - 13 victims over 30 years. How many child road death fatalities over that period? Should motorists be accompanied by a social worker in case a child is killed by accident? All this blame being put on social workers is wrong. Yes, a few cases have slipped through the net but only a very small fraction indeed. The problem is bad parents not a bad welfare system. When you consider the huge number of parents bringing up vulnerable children the number that fail is tiny. There is more to worry about in the world today than a few bad parents who do not live up to our expectations. If these parents have acted criminally and neglected their duty of care then it is a Police and criminal matter rather than blame the social workers who are only trying to do their level best.
The above is the front page of my newspaper today. It gives details and photographs of another 12 victims over the past 30 years. I think it is a poor choice of a front page - lacking in perspective and fresh news.
I do not want a nanny state and there is a lot of criticism in the media at the moment of social workers and their alleged failings. The failings are of the parents and it is wrong to try to blame society and it's social workers. People live their own lives and make their own mistakes. Some parents are better parents than others but we do not need a super nanny state to rule the country. We should put this into perspective - 13 victims over 30 years. How many child road death fatalities over that period? Should motorists be accompanied by a social worker in case a child is killed by accident? All this blame being put on social workers is wrong. Yes, a few cases have slipped through the net but only a very small fraction indeed. The problem is bad parents not a bad welfare system. When you consider the huge number of parents bringing up vulnerable children the number that fail is tiny. There is more to worry about in the world today than a few bad parents who do not live up to our expectations. If these parents have acted criminally and neglected their duty of care then it is a Police and criminal matter rather than blame the social workers who are only trying to do their level best.
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