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Authors revolt against vetting for school visits

Philip Pullman has led a chorus of protest from prominent children’s authors over a new scheme that will require them to be vetted before they can visit schools. He has branded the legislation "Labour’s Section 28", after a controversial piece of Conservative legislation, aimed at preventing the promotion of homosexuality in schools, which was scrapped in 2003.

From November 2010, professional and voluntary staff working regularly with children in sectors including education will need to be registered on the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) database.

Pullman said: "This is Labour’s Section 28—the implication being that no adult could possibly choose to spend time with children unless they wanted to abuse them. What will it say to children? It’ll say that every adult is a potential rapist or murderer, and that they should never trust anyone. Naturally I shall have nothing to do with any such ‘clearance’, and in consequence, I suppose, I shall never be allowed into a school again. I shall regret that very much, but I refuse to be complicit in any measure that assumes my guilt before I’ve done anything wrong. The proposal deserves nothing but contempt."

However, author Gillian Cross backed the new checks. She said: "I understand entirely why people are enraged about the whole child abuse suspicion frenzy, which is particularly hard on men. It is nevertheless true that many children are abused. Theirs is the real suffering, and if checking can help to prevent that, I’m not opposed to it. Though I would be interested to know how often CRB [Criminal Records Bureau] checks have actually prevented known abusers from working with children."

Set up in response to the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by school caretaker Ian Huntley in 2002, the Independent Safeguarding Authority will vet all individuals who work with children from October this year, requiring them to register with a national database for a fee of £64. Pullman compared the scheme to the notorious piece of legislation section 28, which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools and for which David Cameron offered a public apology last week.

The Carnegie medal-winning author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce agreed with Pullman. "As an author you’re never alone with a class," he said. "There’s no possible reason for this, unless it’s a revenue-raising scam."

Both Pullman and former children’s laureate Anne Fine said the legislation would mean that they would not speak in a school again. "I refuse – having spoken in schools without incident for 32 years, I refuse to undergo such a demeaning process," said Fine. "It’s all part of a very unhealthy situation that we’ve got ourselves into where all people who are close to children are almost seen as potential paedophiles."

Children’s author Adele Geras called the scheme "lunatic". "They ought to be able to refine this legislation to make exceptions for people who see huge groups together," she said. "One is never alone with a single child – one is never alone with a vast number of children. The smallest number would be 32, and there are always two to three teachers."

Source: Guardian & The Bookseller

Philip Pullman was born on the 19th October, 1946 in Norwich, England. Pullman is best known for the series of books entitled His Dark Materials, the award winning children’s literature consisting of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Posted: July 11th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Philip Pullman

Comments

Peter Macinnis

How stupid! All they need to do is get the authors to sign a loyalty oath.

I had to sign a detailed register and statement some years ago before entering a school, solely to talk to teacher librarians–my valid (at that time) teacher registration wasn’t enough. Ironically, there are something like five teachers from that school undergoing police investigation.

The solution is simple. They need stronger, more binding loyalty oath forms

Date: July 13th, 2009

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