Left to their own devices
Are the kids alright or are they doomed to be virtual victims?
I’ve been meaning to get back to the safeguarding discussion that I’ve periodically spoken about here and elsewhere. Not least because it has reared its ugliest of heads of late. The recent resurfacing of the grooming - no, rape! - gang controversy has been as distressing as it has been welcome. At least to those of us who think the little we know about what has gone on (and is no doubt still going on) matters more than maintaining the fiction that all is well in our communities. Forget the awkward hand gestures of the excitable tech bro, we should be saluting Elon Musk for services to child protection in the UK.
I’ve been critical of the iceberg analogy in the past. I don’t think there is loads of child abuse going on beneath the surface - not in people’s homes at least. As I’ve discussed before, the child protection data we have doesn’t support that. But I fear with these grotesque gangs, there is a lot more to this scandal in terms of its volume and geographical spread than we might hope. It has been actively covered up and suppressed for so long, as each local report has confirmed, how could it be otherwise? I’ll come back to this paticular issue shortly as I continue what I’ve been writing and speaking about on community, particularly since last summer’s riots.
But the other safeguarding issue I really want to get to grips with is the fear, angst and anxiety that surrounds the discussion about … devices. As a parent, these are ever-present. The kids are always on them. We’re always on them. And yet we’re also being told that they’re toxic, the reason our kids are going crazy, an invention so perilous they spell nothing but doom for all our futures. They could be right! I too, in my darker moments, worry about what all their (and my!) online, media-mangled, socially sapping screen time is doing to them. But I also have my doubts - it’s all too feverish for my liking. Which is why I’m going to write about that too over the coming months.
In the meantime, if you want to read more of my thoughts on child protection and safeguarding - a sector I’ve spent some time around over the years - here are a few other Substack pieces I’ve written …
Is child abuse getting worse?
Who could fail to be horrified by the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson by those who were supposed to care for them? But, I ask myself - as I prepare to speak at the Battle of Ideas debate: From grooming gangs to child abuse: is social work working?
Arthur and Star: What went wrong?
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was just six years old when he was killed by his father and his father’s partner. She would later be convicted of his murder. Star Hobson didn’t make it past 16 months, again killed by those who should have cared for her. She was murdered by her mother’s partner. The
From Child Protection to Cowardice
I recently spoke at the Battle of Ideas debate From grooming gangs to child abuse: is social work working? and want to share a few reflections on how it went. Sadly, I couldn’t be there for the whole weekend and won’t be at the follow-up Battle of Ideas Festival in Buxton
What is safeguarding?
This is a question I ask myself more and more. So much so that I’ve decided to dedicate my next few posts to the topic. Why do we care more about some safeguarding risks than others? So while, for instance, we seem especially keen on installing defibrillators
Safeguarding is everybody's business but ...
It’s a mantra you can hardly fail to have come across. And it’s true. Safeguarding is everybody’s business. Or at least it should be. But too often it’s anything but. It’s an activity carried out by officialdom. It’s a procedure that you have to follow. It’s a box that must be ticked. It’s mandatory training. Something to be endured and then forgotten a…
From safeguarding to solipsism
As I’ve said before, sometimes in the world of children’s safeguarding you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s as much as about safeguarding adults as it is about protecting children. This came to mind when I was reading Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people
Image: L E Morgan