I was reading about a case in Canada where parents had their children removed because of concerns that they were being brought up with far right, neo nazi views. For example the girl went to school with a swastika drawn on her arm and told social workers in detail how to kill 'people of colour'. CP on the grounds of emotional abuse perhaps? This obviously raises questions about personal beliefs and how far those can be imposed on children before the state should (if ever!) intervene, is there such a thing as harmful political views?
I think i would argue that yes there is but im not resolute in my views just yet. What do others think?
Oops sorry - wrong forum!
I think absolutely yes, what you describe is abuse- that child is at risk of criminality if nothing else and if setting your child on a likely track of offending and anti-social behaviour is not unsafe parenting in todays world then I am at a loss. I also would question what the wider context of this child's life is??
"I think absolutely yes, what you describe is abuse- that child is at risk of criminality if nothing else and if setting your child on a likely track of offending and anti-social behaviour is not unsafe parenting in todays world then I am at a loss. I also would question what the wider context of this child's life is??"
Google it, it was reported all over the world (although evidently not in Britain!). From what I've read the press mainly picked up on the political aspect but I think there were some other causes for concern too, hardly suprising. The judge upheld the concerns of the social workers which is reassuring but I cant help thinking that if the case was in America rather than Canada there would have been a different outcome. Does anybody know of similar cases in the UK?
thinkpink: is there such a thing as harmful political views? I think i would argue that yes there is but im not resolute in my views just yet. What do others think?
Maybe there are, but the route of thoughtcrime is a dangerous slippery slope. And where would it end -- harmful religious views, harmful personal views? Should we be monitoring facebook groups and the like and putting people on a register as soon as we know they're members of a group like that? Ultimately you have people like Richard Dawkins who thinks bringing up a kid with religion (any religion) should count as child abuse.
This is a case where the parents clearly went further than just holding objectionable political views.
jonny1: I think absolutely yes, what you describe is abuse- that child is at risk of criminality if nothing else and if setting your child on a likely track of offending and anti-social behaviour is not unsafe parenting in todays world then I am at a loss. I also would question what the wider context of this child's life is??
Hi jonny1.
Your opinion that it is abuse is perfectly valid, however, holding the opinion that something is abuse - however repugnant it may be - does not make it so. I draw your attention to the excellent response from copperbird above which warns of correlating the objectionable with evidence of abuse and the wider worrying implications if we do so.
It is entirely possible to raise a child within a household of extreme views and yet meet their wider moral, physical and emotional needs. Indeed, the job of a social worker is to be able to separate what appears to be common sense from professional assessment and can often be a reason why other agencies think we are not taking their concerns seriously when the opposite is the case.
However, you are absolutely right to raise questions about the wider context of the child's life as we are told, "The government agency argued the children were emotionally harmed and were also being raised in squalor and suffering from neglect."