Cronky

Position your mouse cursor over where it says 'Daily Telegraph:' etc then click the left hand button of your mouse. It will reveal things like:

Leading the way again! Daily Telegraph: Isle of Man's Ballarkermeen High School School hits children with ‘political propaganda’ on gender self-ID

In the Daily Mail today: The parents who fear their 11-year-olds will be scarred for life by the graphic sex education lessons that no one warned them about... and the drag queen who told pupils there are 73 genders wasn't the worst of it So, basically, the school's teaching is that the state's view of the parents is the correct one and the child's view is wrong. In other words they deliberately undermined the boy's relationship with his Mum and Dad and, by default, their authority.

On GB News tonight: Salute those parents but they must be bloody livid. I hope they throw the book at the School and the Department too.

Covered this evening in the UK on GB News:

Big Tech censorship: YouTube shuts down TalkRadio's channel for 'violating community guidelines' after presenters challenge lockdown policy A lot of the UK Cabinet have been on Talk Radio discussing COVID. What the hell are the Yanks doing interfering with our free speech?

I suspect that the problem is that whilst the IOM Government has a difficulty answering the question 'What happens when the reserves run out?' the UK civil service, being able to read a balance sheet, knows the answer. The IOM Government is not allowed to raise debt (i.e. borrow money) so come the day we hit the financial buffers the UK Government will have to step in. Nobody, on either side of the water, wants that. Hence the review to try and find out why it is so difficult for the IOM Government to take executive action with it's finances. The problem, as far as I see it, is that however you frame the rules of Tynwald and the Government you are pretty much stuck with the people in it. On many issues they simply won't budge - not least when it comes to cutting their own salaries.

Perhaps the clue is that the review is being hosted by the Attorney General's Chambers: Attorney General's Chambers https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/offices/attorney-generals-chambers/ If this was just an IOM Gov thing I would have expected the 'Cabinet Office' to be behind it. Looks to me that this a Whitehall initiative. Cue Barrie Stevens!

It strikes me that a lot of the chat on Manxforums arises from dissatisfaction with the political system. The Lisvane review presents an opportunity to take the complaints to someone who just might be able to help. He's a clever bloke and very experienced. It would be a pity if he only heard the establishment view. I note Chris Thomas has a written wuestion for next Tuesday's Keys:

In times gone by a visit to A&E was not a threatening experience. But with experiences such as We Like The Moon' reported : 'I was taken aside and asked if I had throttled my child' it stands to reason that some few parents might be cautious about taking their child to A&E if they hear stores about other parents being falsely accused. That's exactly what we don't want to happen. Parents must be able to approach the system with the confidence that they won't be wrongly suspected of deliberately harming their child. Of course, A&E should keep a weather eye out for child abuse. But there has to be a more subtle way than the present system.

Your post confirms my worst suspicion about this policy. Children in the Isle of Man are actually less well protected because parents are becoming cautious about approaching the system for help in case they get falsely accused. The policy makers need to re visit this one.

Was it not a feature of the Baby P tragedy was that they were incompetent and missed very obvious fractures? I would expect professional people to keep an open mind about any diagnosis. If it presents as abuse then follow it up. But the premise that every single child attending A&E might be at risk is over the top. The 'tick sheet' approach sounds all wrong to me.

To be fair to the Hospital, presumably in certain circumstances they are supposed to tell a child's social worker if there is any sort of problem. But they can't do that unless they ask about every child that they see. I presume no one's suggesting that children with an assigned social worker should have wear a badge or special clothing. The parents of the 99% who aren't affected shouldn't get upset because everyone is asked - it's not implying you look like a child-beater.. In some circumstances it's sensible to have a check-list because worried and flustered parents may forget to tell you something important. Though it's also sensible to go through it tactfully and not let it delay any urgent treatment. It seems fairly understandable, to me, that innocent people don't like being treated with suspicion. True story, as told to me: Friends of mine were playing with their grandson at the seaside. The boy fell on the rocks and gashed his head. So, off to A&E! When the parents arrived they were taken aside by the A&E staff and told that 'grandparents are silly' and the parents were not to leave the boy unattended with them. It was a case of a simple accident that could happen to any kid at the seaside. But someone had to take the blame and the records had to show that remedial advice had been given and received. Imagine how you would have felt if you had been that grand parent.

Some interesting remarks: Aquarius: [/size] Snowflake: Blade Runner: BigDave The reason we have this attitude in the Isle of Man public services is because Tony Brown's 'government' adopted a children's policy from England called 'Every Child Matters'. This was originally brought in by Tony Blair who took the view that every child was at risk and so every parent had to be treated with suspicion. Hence big databases etc. etc. As a result of this attitude social services in England, Wales and the Isle of Man became overwhelmed with referrals and the system went into meltdown. The Coalition Government scrapped the 'Every Child Matters' policy and are now introducing a new policy called the 'Munro Review' which takes that attitude that some children are at risk - but most or not. So, if you concentrate your social services where there are problems you get a better result. I.e more child abuse cases detected - and less interference in normal families. But it looks to me like old attitudes die hard and the staff in the Isle of Man are still over scrutinising people and needlessly pressuring them to get involved with social services. The bit about A&E visits is a case in point. Asking every parent who takes their child to A&E if they have a social worker is intrusive and obviously going to cause bad feeling. Sure, if A&E get a kid in who they genuinely think has been abused then we would hope they would act appropriately. But treating every visit in this fashion is counter productive.

Will you be lobbying your MHK over the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which comes before Tynwald this Autumn?