Authors boycott (UK) schools over sex-offence register

Source: The Independent

A group of respected British children's authors and illustrators will stop visiting schools from the start of the next academic year, in protest at a new government scheme that requires them to register on a database in case they pose a danger to children.

Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake all told The Independent that they object to having their names on the database – which is intended to protect children from paedophiles – and would not be visiting any schools as a consequence.

... The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) is being managed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, set up after the 2002 murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by Ian Huntley, a janitor at their school. All individuals who work with children from 12 October will be required to register with a national database for a fee of £64. The former Children's Laureate Anne Fine, the author of more than 50 books, said the scheme was "governmental idiocy" which would drive a wedge between children and adults.

... Anthony Horowitz, the author of the popular Alex Rider series of children's spy novels, said the £64 fee had "a nasty feeling of a stealth tax about it", and that, like Pullman and the others, the introduction of the database marked "the end of school visits" for him.

... A spokesman from the Home Office said: ... "The new scheme means every individual working in a field that requires more than a tiny amount of contact with children and/or vulnerable adults will have to be vetted. If they are passed, they will be placed on a register that says they are allowed to work in a regulated field. If they are barred, they will go on a separate register and it will be a criminal offence for them to try and obtain work in a regulated field, carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison. It will also be illegal for anyone to employ them."

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/authors-boycott-schools-over-sexoffence-register-1748267.html

children during school activities must be on a cleared list.

That includes my husband, who, in the course of his job, does tours for school children on field trips even though he doesn't set foot in the schools and the children are chaperoned on their field trips.

People who make regular deliveries to the schools, i.e. the people who deliver food stuffs to the cafeterias, have to be on that cleared list.

There is a fee for getting a background check which gets one on the cleared list. In most cases, the employers of those on the list pay that fee.

While it may seem extreme, one must remember that predators who prey on children gravitate to where children are gathered.

I don't know how much good it has done, but if it has saved just one child, it is worth it.

Im so tired of "what about the children" excuse for imposing on our liberties. Im tired of hearing about requirements to show one's innocence when no crime has been committed.
Is saving even one child worth all of this as another poster wrote here? ABSOLUTELY NOT! What utter nonsense.
In the first case, this child preditor issue has been way overblown and exaggerated. The media sells it along with all kinds of other fear inducing issues.
Parents must take reasonable precautions to protect young children, and teach them to be cautious. That is enough. The government is only there to prosecute perpatrators...not to do the job of parents and family in protecting children.
There will always be bad people in every society. No where is completely safe for children or adults.
Frankly, children are no more important to society than any other person. In fact, considerably less, from a societal point of view. They contribute nothing and use more resources. The great Mongol leader Gengus Khan once said that children are a nations most renewable resource. Cold, but true. Im not advocating such a attitude about children, but let us get over this ridiculous notion that anything goes to protect the children from the Boogyman. Let's all grow up about this issue and not let our fears for our kids be used to manipulate us out of our civil liberties and sense of well being.