Not many things bring a tear to my eye, but this does

[proggy]

Really, you're seeing this as a chance to bitch about Tony Blair?

Read the story again, it's pretty clear services were aware of problems of some sort. The parents told the teachers the kid was not allowed to eat school food and disobeying is a ticket to being sued... all the school can do is pass on their concerns to people up the chain and wait for them to intervene, not disobey the parent's wishes without permission to do so.

Seeing an kid who was obviously being starved (they saw his weight drop, and he had searched through bins for food) and not giving him food for fear of a potential lawsuit is a shameful cowardly thing to do. They should be jailed along with the parents.

[d000hg]

There are maybe two national headline cases a year. Those are just the ones which get notoriety...

[shaunbhoy]

Seeing an kid who was obviously being starved (they saw his weight drop, and he had searched through bins for food) and not giving him food for fear of a potential lawsuit is a shameful cowardly thing to do. They should be jailed along with the parents.

Hear Hear!!!

[d000hg]

And then when who kid loses weight because they actually are ill and has allergies to lots of food is fed by well-meaning teachers and dies, proggy will be railing about how "interfering teachers" should be sent to prison.

What, oh genius, what you have the school do if they think a kid is abused rather than starved? Have the teacher decide to take the kid home with no authority from anyone?

[MaryPoppins]

There are maybe two national headline cases a year. Those are just the ones which get notoriety...

Exactly. I think I heard on R4 this morning that approx 80 children a year are killed by their parents.

[cailin maith]

Exactly. I think I heard on R4 this morning that approx 80 children a year are killed by their parents.

That is a shocking statistic and makes me really sad Poor little feckers

[vetran]

And then when who kid loses weight because they actually are ill and has allergies to lots of food is fed by well-meaning teachers and dies, proggy will be railing about how "interfering teachers" should be sent to prison.

What, oh genius, what you have the school do if they think a kid is abused rather than starved? Have the teacher decide to take the kid home with no authority from anyone?

well if the School have reported to social services and then social services have formally asked the Doctor it could be said they have done their job. If they haven't IMHO they have been negligent and should be prosecuted (to encourage the others).

I would also expect all the bruises to have a documented investigation and recording:

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/train...F_wdf52858.pdf

If an organisation has concerns about the welfare or safety of a child or young person
(e.g. concern about a physical injury or neglect at home) or concerns about the behaviour
of an employee or volunteer (e.g. if they hurt a child, breach the code of conduct or do
something considered to be poor practice) it is vitally important to record all relevant
details, regardless of whether or not the concerns are shared with either the police or
children’s social care. An accurate record should be kept of:
o date and time of incident/disclosure
o parties who were involved, including any witnesses to an event
o what was said or done and by whom
o any action taken by the organisation to look into the matter
o any further action taken
o where relevant, the reasons why a decision was taken not to refer those concerns
to a statutory agency
o any interpretation/inference drawn from what was observed, said or alleged
should be clearly recorded as such
o name of person reporting on the concern, name and designation of the person to
whom the concern was reported, date and time and their contact details.
o The record should be signed.

[MaryPoppins]

That is a shocking statistic and makes me really sad Poor little feckers

I know. From what I know of my friends job in family services, the difference with this case is the 'apparent' deliberate nature of the abuse.

[shaunbhoy]

And then when who kid loses weight because they actually are ill and has allergies to lots of food is fed by well-meaning teachers and dies, proggy will be railing about how "interfering teachers" should be sent to prison.

What, oh genius, what you have the school do if they think a kid is abused rather than starved? Have the teacher decide to take the kid home with no authority from anyone?

I think the fact that the kid was tucking into leftovers from the bins ought to have been some kind of indicator that he was not that concerned about his "allergies".


Then again, you don't have any kids and are involved with a teacher, so you can hardly be classed as neutral.

[NotAllThere]

They should lock up the social workers and other "professionals" who are PAID to stop this!.

It's hard enough to attract decent social workers as it is - hence the many complaints about them. If they work under the threat of jail for screwing up, I doubt that will help the situation.

Not one for thinking things through, are you? The depths of your ignorance never ceases to amaze me.

I know some kids with severe allergies. Some, without vigilance from their carers, would rapidly eat themselves to death.