Social Services

rjsterry

Anyone else see the latest 'controversy' on the BBC this morning about the school head threatening to inform social services if a couple of parents continued to allow their 5 and 8 year old children to cycle to school unattended. Presenting 'both sides' were another head teacher - who didn't think it was a good idea - and Zoe Williams - Guardian columnist and keen cyclist, whose response could probably be summed up as 'FFS'.

The head teacher (who one suspected had had one too many parents trying to blame her for little Jonny's grazed knee) seemed to think that the school's responsibility stretched right up to parents' front doors, and just kept asking what would happen if there was an accident. To which Zoe Williams replied, that she hoped an adult would show a bit of common sense and help that child. Bizarrely, the head teacher also seemed to have a huge problem with small children (and adults) riding on the pavement. There was also a voxpop with lots of handwringing over whether an 8 year old could be shouldered with the responsibility of looking after the 5 year old.

The obvious answer is 'it depends' - on the children in question, their cycling skills, their route to school and so on.

Refreshing to see someone arguing that cycling was a good thing and that we should encourage our children to do it for exercise, reduction of traffic and to give them a bit of independence.

g00se

I saw that yesterday and like driving past a car-crash, I couldn't help but follow the link to the Daily Mail item and the comments...

I don't know why I do it - sort of a masochistic thing I guess 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

'Best' (?!?) post one the one that berated the paper for publishing the children's route as this would entice the pedos in the bushes to plan their attack...

Cafewanda

Good for the parents I say, although I couldn't help contrasting that story with the recent spate of stabbings. A kind of 'encouraging the younger ones to gain independence and street smarts' and 'locking up' the older set as they are a danger to themselves and others.

Anyway, back to work.............

Clarion

rjsterry wrote:

...The obvious answer is 'it depends' - on the children in question, their cycling skills, their route to school and so on...

Absolutely.

Refreshing to see someone arguing that cycling was a good thing and that we should encourage our children to do it for exercise, reduction of traffic and to give them a bit of independence.

Yup.

symo

g00se wrote:

I saw that yesterday and like driving past a car-crash, I couldn't help but follow the link to the Daily Mail item and the comments...

I don't know why I do it - sort of a masochistic thing I guess 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

'Best' (?!?) post one the one that berated the paper for publishing the children's route as this would entice the pedos in the bushes to plan their attack...

Is that one of those asylum seeking peado's with house price lowering hiv?

rjsterry

g00se wrote:

I saw that yesterday and like driving past a car-crash, I couldn't help but follow the link to the Daily Mail item and the comments...

I don't know why I do it - sort of a masochistic thing I guess 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

'Best' (?!?) post one the one that berated the paper for publishing the children's route as this would entice the pedos in the bushes to plan their attack...

The brilliance of that lateral thinking is quite astounding...




...or thoroughly depressing.

El Diego

I used to cycle to the shops for my Mum when I was 4. I was escorted back by a neighbour on one occasion, who was concerned for my welfare. My Mum said thanks but he's ok and sent me back. Some children are very independent others are neglected, its all a matter of perspective I suppose.

always_tyred

Cafewanda wrote:

Good for the parents I say, although I couldn't help contrasting that story with the recent spate of stabbings. A kind of 'encouraging the younger ones to gain independence and street smarts' and 'locking up' the older set as they are a danger to themselves and others.

Anyway, back to work.............

The salient question is surely, would the school have threatened social services if the children were WALKING to school. The answer is surely no, in which case the rediculous position of the school is that cycling is dangerous but walking is not, on a given route.

As my partner is a social worker, I have some insight as tothe attitude social services might take to this. They would be compelled to make some sort of investigation but would most likely be irritated beyond belief that some middle class do gooding teacher/idiot had wasted valuable resources which might otherwise have been spend preventing some other child from being subject to actual abuse.

rjsterry

Always Tyred wrote:

Cafewanda wrote:

Good for the parents I say, although I couldn't help contrasting that story with the recent spate of stabbings. A kind of 'encouraging the younger ones to gain independence and street smarts' and 'locking up' the older set as they are a danger to themselves and others.

Anyway, back to work.............

The salient question is surely, would the school have threatened social services if the children were WALKING to school. The answer is surely no, in which case the rediculous position of the school is that cycling is dangerous but walking is not, on a given route.

As my partner is a social worker, I have some insight as tothe attitude social services might take to this. They would be compelled to make some sort of investigation but would most likely be irritated beyond belief that some middle class do gooding teacher/idiot had wasted valuable resources which might otherwise have been spend preventing some other child from being subject to actual abuse.

That point did actually come up in the discussion, I can't remember exactly, but I think the head teacher did imply that cycling on the road for a 5 year old might be more dangerous than walking. I think a slightly incredulous Zoe Williams asked why they couldn't ride on the pavement.

BTW, here is the link to the somewhat less 'controversial' Guardian article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/poll/2010/jul/05/primary-schools-parents

Apparently it's a 1 mile route along pavements with one road crossing, assisted by a lollipop lady (or man, don't start; lollipop person sounds like someone with a very large head and a long thin body).

EDIT: Just noticed another detail. Well, that's private education for you <lights fuse and runs away>

davmaggs

A 15 minute walk up the road and you are into the areas that keep social workers busy. I'm not sure that cycling in Dulwich is (or should be) anywhere near the top of their to-do list.

Anyway the pavements on a lot of that route are wide and quiet.

A lot of the hoo hah seems to be caused by parents doing something that was acceptable only a few years ago, and now flagged as being odd or mad as the majority have changed what they do due to media inspired fear (the safety stats haven't changed).

Ian.B

I love the way the Mail's article is disingenuously illustrated (despite a caption saying the children ride on the footpath) showing two small children 'posed by models', riding in the road past parked cars and with a car overtaking them at close quarters

mickbrown

Looking past the cycling angle, which in my opinion is irrelevant here, as the parent of a 5 year old, there isn't a cat in hell's chance I'd let them loose with an 8 year old.

Not a chance.

tgotb

I have endless problems with people trying to stop my 10-year-old cycling on her own; here are a couple of depressing examples:

A while ago she was supposed to cycle ~1 mile home from school on her own (partly to solve a logistical issue, because I was WFH and couldn't get out to pick her up). She was looking forward to it, knew the route, had "practiced" the day before, with Mum etc. First of all I get a call from a concerned parent to check that I really had authorised this. Then, half an hour later, the doorbell goes, and it's my daughter accompanied by the concerned parent, who "really wasn't happy letting her go off on her own" and had given her a lift.

Second incident happened last week. I was supposed to be cycling to school with the same daughter, and because we wanted to take different routes (towpath is half the distance but not suitable for my road bike) I told her to wait at a prearranged location. I subsequently arrived there to find her being dragged off by another concerned parent from the same school, who "didn't like the idea of leaving her on her own".

I used to roam around half the Cotswolds at her age, with no hassles from helicopter parents or "preventative abductions". Maybe it's not the same everywhere, but I really do despair at the number of intrusive, over-protective parents...

lost_in_thought

Gawd TGOTB, that really is depressing.

Tell the overintrusive parents that if they kidnap your daughter again you'll call the police.

rjsterry

lost_in_thought wrote:

Gawd TGOTB, that really is depressing.

Tell the overintrusive parents that if they kidnap your daughter again you'll call the police.

Quite. I've got all this to look forward to. And Mrs RJS is already worrying about how she will cope with letting Little M walk to the shops on her own.

Little M is 1 year old in two weeks, so I'm bracing myself for near-sectionable level of paranoia by the time she is actually capable of walking to said shops.

davmaggs

TGOTB wrote:

I have endless problems with people trying to stop my 10-year-old cycling on her own; here are a couple of depressing examples..

Sounds like a case for laminating a permission letter (with expiry date so she can't use it when she's in her teens) explaining that you are happy that she is capable of making it a mile to her own home

tgotb

davmaggs wrote:

Sounds like a case for laminating a permission letter (with expiry date so she can't use it when she's in her teens) explaining that you are happy that she is capable of making it a mile to her own home

With the parents around us, I'm not sure that would work; they'd probably just confiscate it and send it to Social Services...