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Take a teenager who decides that they no longer want to wash/do chores/go to school, or worse, starts to steal from the local shop, friends, family members. If the parents tell the teenager off for bad behaviour, has that teenager been subjected to abuse. Apply the rules of common sense and decide for yourself. Now apply the rules of the "experts" and see what you come up with. If the "expert" answer is:- Well the teen is stealing/skipping school/ being verbally and physically threatening because he/she has been abused by his/her parents, then you are starting to get the idea.

How many of us, have seen an unhappy child being dragged around the supermarket by their parents, only to be smacked, in full view of other shoppers, for demanding sweets, biscuits, cakes etc, or simply out of sheer frustration at the boredom of this activity from their point of view. Could this be considered abuse? Applying the rules of common sense, it probably is, and personally that is the stand I take. I'd like to take those parents by the scruff of the neck and have a real go at them. I daren't even contemplate what an "expert" might make of that!

What of a child in care? How much abuse do Social workers carry out on children under their care? For example, would depriving a child of water count as abuse? I think it would, allowing for common sense to prevail. But for the "experts", who knows. Does teaching a child to steal, do drugs, shoplift etc count as abuse? Now I believe that it is, and, I hear you say, no-one would do that anyway, and I hope you are right. However, whilst I believe that every loving parent would teach their children NOT to do these things, I do not believe that SS has the same interests at heart. After all, these are not their children are they? they are just an inconvenience dropped on them by society, just another number!

It follows then, that if the SS do not teach the children in their care the difference between right and wrong, then these same children are probably victims of state condoned abuse on the largest scale ever seen in the civilized world. How else could you describe the training of young thugs, tearaways etc. Worse still, the inherent dangers in training a child to become a false accuser is a real risk that the SS seem only to willing to ignore.


Home alone: advice for parents (PDF, 149KB)
NSPCC

Working together to safeguard children: a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (PDF)
Department of Health (DoH), Home Office and Department for Education and Employment (DfEE)
London: The Stationery Office (TSO)

Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families
Department of Health (DoH), Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and Home Office
London: The Stationery Office (TSO)

What to do if you're worried a child is being abused: children's services guidance
Department of Health (DoH), Home Office, Department for Education and Skills (DfES); Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Lord Chancellor's Department and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
London: Department of Health (DoH), 2003

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