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| Britain |
| Big Brother Is Watching You |
| 2009-08-03 |
| THOUSANDS of the worst families in England are to be put in "sin bins" in a bid to change their bad behaviour, Ed Balls announced yesterday. The Children's Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes. They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals. Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction. Around 2,000 families have gone through these Family Intervention Projects so far. But ministers want to target 20,000 more in the next two years, with each costing between £5,000 and £20,000 -- a potential total bill of £400million. Ministers hope the move will reduce the number of youngsters who get drawn into crime because of their chaotic family lives, as portrayed in Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless. Sin bin projects operate in half of council areas already but Mr Balls wants every local authority to fund them. He said: "This is pretty tough and non-negotiable support for families to get to the root of the problem. There should be Family Intervention Projects in every local authority area because every area has families that need support." But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is all much too little, much too late. "This Government has been in power for more than a decade during which time anti-social behaviour, family breakdown and problems like alcohol abuse and truancy have just got worse and worse." Mr Balls also said responsible parents who make sure their children behave in school will get new rights to complain about those who allow their children to disrupt lessons. Pupils and their families will have to sign behaviour contracts known as Home School Agreements before the start of every year, which will set out parents' duties to ensure children behave and do their homework. The updated Youth Crime Action Plan also called for a crackdown on violent girl gangs as well as drug and alcohol abuse among young women. But a decision to give ministers new powers to intervene with failing local authority Youth Offending Teams was criticised by council leaders. Les Lawrence, of the Local Government Association, said they did "crucial" work and such intervention was "completely unnecessary". |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 What with the latest Administration and the Donks in charge of Congress, so do we Word! |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-08-03 19:35 |
| #9 "Britain badly needs a bill of rights (and a government that will honor it)." What with the latest Administration and the Donks in charge of |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-08-03 19:13 |
| #8 This is asinine! The nanny state at it's worst. If the kids aren't going to school, have the school report the absence and deal with the truancy issue. If the parents are abusive to their children - they are breaking the law. Gather the evidence and deal with the problem legally. Letting the state spy on people in their home 7x24 without court issued warrant should be anathema to anyone in a free society. Britain badly needs a bill of rights (and a government that will honor it). |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-08-03 18:16 |
| #7 Most parents are doing a good enough job to be going on with. It sounds like these 20,000 families are the worst of the worst, that 10% that cause 90% of the problems. If effective interventions can be implemented there, Britain's child welfare costs should go down significantly... and the children will have a chance to grow up to be reasonably productive and happy human beings. I think the correct interventions are being put in place, too: reasonable bedtime, so the children are able to function mentally and physically; actual school attendance, so the children have the possibility to learn, and learn they can't just float through life supported by the state; and proper meals, instead of living off cheese puffs and fizzy soda, and whatever drugs Mummy, Paul and Eddie left lying about after last night's binge. The alternative is to take the children and place them with foster families. But we've had articles here about the kind of families British social workers are likely to place their charges with. It's a much better idea, if possible, to fix the families and keep them together. If this little experiment doesn't work, after all, fostering continues to be available as an alternative. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-08-03 14:44 |
| #6 In Soviet Russia, television... ooops. |
| Posted by: Lagom 2009-08-03 13:25 |
| #5 GO TO SCHOOL...GO TO BED...EAT PROPERLY...CONFORM...CONSUME...OBEY! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-08-03 11:56 |
| #4 Here's an idea. How about they put them in jail when they break the law? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-08-03 11:52 |
| #3 Parabellum, there were good old days like that. For some. For others, growing up was hell. I don't mean the hand-wringing, post-existential type of "hell" that modern day progressives discuss in which they were forced to grow up in middle-class suburbs. I mean, hell, as in abusive, nasty, negligent parents. It's always been thus -- a certain proportion of people have no business creating children but they do nonetheless. One need not go back as far as Dickens to find examples. Child abuse and neglect is and has been a problem from before recorded history began. It's always going to be with us. I'm not sure that putting cameras in homes is the right thing to do -- in fact, I'm pretty sure it isn't. But the "good old days" weren't for some. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-08-03 11:19 |
| #2 Big brother is watching you poop. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-08-03 10:12 |
| #1 I remember the Good Old Days when kids respected their parents and parents were worthy of respect. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-08-03 09:00 |