It seems these days that it’s very difficult to find the right safety levels for children but I think that sometimes things get a bit extreme.
I recently read about Isambard Community School in Swindon which has insisted that all parents wishing to attend their children’s sports events must be CRB checked. One parent was not allowed to attend his 12 year old son’s rugby game because he hadn’t been checked by the Police.
The school say that they have taken the new measure to try and prevent strangers from accessing others parts of the school through the playing fields. They want to make sure that potential paedophiles do not gain access to the school.
It’s hard to know where a line should be drawn as sadly there is no denying that there are dangerous people in all walks of life. The people that worry me most are those in positions of power who choose to abuse it, just look at the Jeremy Forrest and Megan Stammers case. At just 15 years old she ran away to France with her teacher, someone who was an authority figure in her life, teaching her every day; he must have been CRB checked to be able to work in the school.
Everybody worries about the safety of their loved ones and all we can do is make sure that children know what is appropriate and understand what they can do to stay safe. There has to be a happy medium between kneejerk hysteria and being too relaxed. Hopefully we can implement safety measures that help children and their families without causing negative results. Every child wants their family to support them when they play sports or take part in the school play and stopping parents without CRB checks from attending is a step too far in my opinion.