A BLOG ON THE SPECTRUM: BEWARE OF PARKED CARS!

A few years ago whilst doing my teachers training we discussed examples of student confidentiality. I was surprised to find out that my children could be exposed to quite dangerous individuals and the teachers and the parents and the students did not have a right to know this information. Hopefully this is no longer true.
One lecturer discussed a situation whereby he had taken a group of students on an Outward Bound weekend and whilst away the students had shared a dormitory type bedroom. There had been the usual high spirits and bickering but nothing too serious. Later on the lecturer found out that one of the students that he had taken on the trip was on bail for a serious knifing incident! He confronted the Head of Department who it turned out knew nothing about the situation. A decision had been made by higher powers in the college, they had decided that the confidentiality of the student on bail was most important! There were 16 and 17 year olds in the group, surely The Children's Act would still have applied to these young people. As a parent I feel it is my right to know if dangerous people are in contact with my children.
It seems that the Conservative party does not agree with proposals to share information between government departments.
I do appreciate some of the arguments against the proposals,

The Liberal Democrats accused the government of stripping the public of its privacy.
"Blair's Britain now has the most intrusive government in our history," leader Menzies Campbell said.
"There is no part of people's lives which is free from snooping.
"State intervention and control expands every day. It is time we put a halt to this." he added.

and also the comments made by the organisation Liberty.

Human rights group Liberty said the government had contempt for people's privacy.
"This half-baked proposal would allow an information free-for-all within government - ripe for disastrous errors, and ripe for corruption and fraud," the group's director Shami Chakrabarti said.

I do not believe that the government has the capabilities, the intelligence or strong enough ethical base to implement their plans effectively. So where does that leave us and our children? As always, at risk because of a lack of a cohesive safety system for our welfare. Our children can go to school and come into contact with individuals who have been police checked but go to church and be taught by individuals who do not have to be police checked.
I have been a parent now for almost 25 years and I have learned to ask the right questions.
Questions with YES and No answers are the only ones I ask and I let them know if they put my child at risk then I will sue their ass. Obsessive? HELL YES!
The year before my eldest went to school there was the tragic school accident whereby children were drowned at Land' End which subsequently gave me a fear of all school trips. I have never felt happy letting my girls go on school trips but I always let them go apart from Anastasia's first summer school trip. At the age of 5 they wanted to take them from their local school in Newbury in Berkshire to London on the train and then catch local transport buses and walk across London roads to the Natural History Museum. I said NO but they still went and nothing happened thankfully, Anastasia says she does not remember the situation but as an adult is glad I did not let her go.
Ariel was on a train to London when the bombs went off on7/7, Anastasia was in Russia when the Theater siege took place, I was in Spain in a resort where bombs were set off by ETA and I was also in a resort in Turkey where bombs were set off on a local transport bus. Poo happens I know but doing your best to minimise the risks to yourself is so important.
My personal mantra is

BEWARE OF PARKED CARS-
for me this means always be aware, trust no one but yourself to take care of you and your loved ones

And why beware of parked cars? In Russia parents tell their children not to walk past the parked expensive cars as they belong to the new Russian elite and they have been known to be blown up in the past!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
The three paintings at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff that I would love to own.