Richard's Kingdom

I was saddened to read this letter, dated 20 August 2007, on the problems being caused by the intrusive, interventionist and illiberal social care policies this government has introduced.
Wouldn’t it be better if social workers, teachers, the police, healthcare professionals and others in public service were empowered to build respectful, constructive relationships with their clients, [...]

The Guardian is reporting that pupils as young as 10 in Padstow, Cornwall, may have been posing as paedophiles online in order to bully their peers.
“Police initially believed a local man was trying to groom the children by befriending them online and arranging to meet them.”
The subsequent discovery that it was probably just a bunch [...]

Are your children being harmed at school because invisible Wi-Fi radiation is frying their brains?
It’s an arresting question, and media outlets as large as the Independent and the BBC have been asking it in recent weeks, however the answer is “no they’re not”. Here’s why:

Wi-Fi transmissions are hundreds of times lower than the World Health [...]

Astley Sports College in Dukinfield has installed £20,000 worth of CCTV cameras to monitor pupils. Even when they’re in the toilets.
The Manchester Evening News (via The ARCH blog) reports that the school has a bullying problem, and Deputy Head Ian Gilbert sees round-the-clock surveillance as the solution:
“[The cameras] have definitely proved their worth because pupils [...]

“When you are looking for a needle in a haystack, is it necessary to keep building bigger haystacks?”