Under a new law in Scotland, parents will be reported to
authorities for not giving a child enough “love, hope and spirituality,”
according to a government health adviser who is helping craft rules for the
law, which is scheduled to go into effect next year.
Bob Fraser said at a conference for childcare workers in
Edinburgh last month that the “named person” portion of the Children and Young
People Act is about ensuring “positive well-being” for all children not just
for those identified as “in need.”
A spokesman for a campaign opposing the law, No to Named
Persons, called Fraser’s stated intentions for the law a “dark, deeply worrying
and insidious development.”
“Apparently, the named person will police family life
according to some ever-shifting ‘happiness index.’ It’s an impossible standard
for parents to measure up to,” the spokesman said, according to the Scottish
Daily Mail.
Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative party spokeswoman, said
it’s “exactly the sort of nonsense which critics of the named person scheme
feared would happen.”
“Parents will be horrified at the suggestion of being
targeted because a state guardian doesn’t regard their home as sufficiently
spiritual,” she said, according to the Scottish Press.
WND has reported extensively on Scotland’s “named person” plan, which
requires that a government worker be named to oversee the development of every
child under age 18.
The government worker would have the authority to make
decisions for the child that the parents might oppose.
A judge earlier dismissed a challenge to the law, but the
U.K.’s Christian Institute is appealing the decision.
Fraser, who has the title Getting it Right for Every Child
health adviser in the Scottish government’s Better Life Chances unit, said the
new law is about “linking positive well-being and positive outcomes for all
children.”“Not just the usual suspects, not just those we identify as those in
need,” he said.
“Every child deserves to have positive well-being. We have
had suggestions of different indicators of love, hope and spirituality. I am
not wedded. The Act is there at the moment. But in a few years, if people feel
it is right, they should change that.”
The Christian Institute was part of the team that challenge
the law in court, and Queen’s Counsel Aidan O’Neill explained the case.
“It's a Big Brother law which threatens every family in the
land and diminishes the rights and responsibilities of mums and dads to look
after their children as they see fit,” he said.
In his ruling, the judge said it’s “a matter for the legislature
to decide whether the well-being of children is likely to be promoted by having
a near-universal system for appointing Named Persons.”
Among the many concerns about the law is that teachers will
be encouraged to contact the appointed government guardian regarding
sex-education issues rather than a child’s parents.
“It beggars belief that a teacher with concerns about the
well-being of a child – including underage sexual activity, which is a serious
criminal offense – should be told by the government to pass on those concerns
to the Named Person and not the child’s parents,” the No to Named Persons
campaign said in a statement.
WND reported the Christian Institute’s director, Colin Hart, who serves
with the No to Named Persons campaign, said the “blanket nature of this law
degrades the image of the family and derides the work of the vast majority of
parents.”
“It also encourages suspicion among professionals about the
dangers parents represent to their children,” he said.
Parents would be allowed to decline the guardian’s advice,
but the guardian would “be able to share information with a wide range of
public authorities and may intervene without parental consent.”
Along with the Christian Institute, the case was brought by
the Christian charity CARE, Tymes Trust and the Family Education Trust.
The institute said parents James and Rhianwen McIntosh and
Deborah Thomas are also part of the legal case, because they were told their
child’s private medical reports would be given to a state agent.
A social worker, Maggie Mellon, also has spoken out against
the plan. See her statement: The
law, she said, would “bring about the end of family life as we know it.”
WND has reported the concept of a
government watchdog for each child
comes from the philosophy of the United Nations.
“This law shows the natural
progression for a country that has ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights
of the Child and attempts to live up to its treaty provisions,” said Michael
Donnelly, director of international relations for Home School Legal
Defense Association.
Comments
This started in Scotland with abuses coming from Child
Protective Services, just like we are seeing here in the US. It’s time for the
Georgia Legislature to repeal the creation of the Georgia Department of
Community Supervision. The Judicial system must defend parents from Social
Worker abuse. This requires a jury trial to keep the voters in charge.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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