I have always had something of a soft spot for those organisations having a name which is impossible to oppose. The Pro-life movement, for example. Who could possibly be against this? What would that make you; pro-death? I have been reading up recently about another such group, Taking Children Seriously. Well I hope that all of us as parents do this! In fact I actually take children, within their limitations, a good deal more seriously than I do most adults. I find their opinions more interesting, I prefer talking to them and I have far more patience with them than I do for adults, most of whom I find very slow and uninspiring company. I have for a while been planning on writing a post about Taking Children Seriously, but usually get sidetracked. I am afraid that this has happened once again, this time by the very first words which caught my eye as soon as I went onto the website of this rather unusual movement.
A few days ago, I put up a link to an article about TCS. To summarise, those adhering to this philosophy feel that we should treat children as being rational beings in precisely the way that we do in general other fellow human beings. We should not seek to dominate them or impose our will upon them, any more than we would upon an adult. This is all fair enough. I have never had any use for those who feel able to strike children with impunity or even to grab hold of them and drag them by main force from one place to another. Regular readers will also know that my only concern in the debate on home education is the rights of the children involved. I couldn't care less about the imaginary rights of their parents! It might have been supposed that I would have felt a good deal of sympathy with the followers of Taking Children Seriously. So I did in the past, before I actually read the sort of things which David Deutsch and Sarah Fitz-Claridge, the founders of the movement, have to say.
Before I go on, I must mention a curious thing, which was also touched upon in the article to which I posted a link. That is that people who follow this philosophy often comment online about matters relating to childrearing and education without specifically mentioning TCS. This is because it is a controversial approach and many people simply dismiss anybody connected with it as a being a bit of a crank. One has to read between the lines and look for phrases such as 'common preference' and 'Popperian epistemology' in order to identify those who adhere to this school of parenting.
A difficulty about Taking Children Seriously is that taking the advice of its founders could end up under extreme circumstances in killing your child. On the website is a piece by David Deutsch which explores that dilemma faced by parents whose toddlers refuse to be strapped into car seats. I have had a good deal of experience of this actually. One of my daughters would have the most spectacular tantrums about being strapped into the car seat when she was two. It made no odds. We still did it. This is because a two year old cannot possibly appreciate the fact that she might end up flying through the windscreen of the car and being killed if there were a car crash. This is quite wrong according to David Deutsch; the correct approach being either to abandon the car journey or allow the child to remain in the moving vehicle unrestrained.
Now to John Holt! I am sure that readers are dying to here about his dark side. What could it be? Was he really a secret kiddy fiddler? Did he beat his wife? Spank his children? Well no, none of those actually. It's a shame, because this might have raised him in my estimation a little. He always strikes me as the most irritatingly bland and pompous individual with his interminable, folksy anecdotes about the children he has met. Hearing that he used knock his kids about would have made him more human somehow. In fact all that he did was to express regret that some child chose school over home education. Oh and he used punishment and threats to keep the kids in his classroom quiet. Even this proved to be a shocking revelation because I can't see him doing anything of the sort and having read all his books, I am sure that I would have remembered this. In fact it was just that he used to write a big Q on the blackboard and this as the signal for the class that he wished them to quieten down a little. What a bastard! It's next door to child abuse!
I recommend readers to go the Taking Children Seriously website and read some of the stuff there. I shall be writing something a little more detailed in a day or two about this.
only time these children was seen going to school and coming home read Webb and take note!
ReplyDeleteThe children’s grandmother, grandfather and three aunts were arrested in Glasgow after police raided their house and alleged discovered an eight-year-old boy in the cell.
It is understood they were tipped off by his nine-year-old sister, who told officers she and her brother were imprisoned in the cage by their grandparents.
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Questions were last night being asked why social workers had failed to discover the alleged plight of the youngsters, who had been living with the family for more than two years.
The situation only came to light after the girl was reported missing to police by her grandmother on September 13 after failing to return from school.
When she was found, it was reported she refused to return home, claiming she did not want to be locked up in a cage. A specially-trained police liaison officer was called to hear the girl’s story and a raid was subsequently organised.
Police officers then discovered what one source described as “highly unusual sleeping arrangements” at the property, a red brick semi-detached house in Cardonald, in the south of the city.
It is alleged the cages were converted babies’ cots, altered in such a way as to be able to contain older children, in which the pair slept and spent much of their time.
“The cots had been built up like big cages to stop large children getting out of them,” a Strathclyde Police source said.
“The children were going to school and when they got home were put to bed in the cots early in the evening and they would not have been able to get out until they were let out for school the following morning.”
One neighbour said: “It was noted by most of those living in the area that the only time we ever saw the kids was when they were coming or going home from school.”
Another said: “It has been the talk of the place that these kids are never seen. I saw them maybe five times in more than two years.”
Sources within the city council’s social work department described the children as having a “complex background” and it is understood they were living with their extended family because of their parents’ addiction problems.
The family was known to social workers, in part due to mental health issues, but it is understood the children were not considered to be at significant risk.
The five were arrested on Friday last week, four days after the alleged discovery, and detained over the weekend before appearing in private at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday morning.
They are the children’s 53-year-old grandfather, 52-year-old grandmother and three aunts, two aged 32 and one 18.They were charged with cruel and unnatural treatment against a child.
At their court appearance they made no plea or declaration and were released on bail on the condition they do not approach the youngsters, both of whom have been placed in care.
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “This is now a matter for the courts and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
However, senior sources confirmed the social work department is conducting an investigation into its handling of the case.
Well, yes. And if they had not been going to school and thus being seen in this way, the abuse might never have come to light!
ReplyDelete'Another said: “It has been the talk of the place that these kids are never seen. I saw them maybe five times in more than two years.”'
ReplyDelete'never seen'? But they were seen all day, every day at school. That didn't protect them.
I can't seem to find out how their plight was eventually discovered?
Mrs Anon
"That is that people who follow this philosophy often comment online about matters relating to childrearing and education without specifically mentioning TCS. This is because it is a controversial approach and many people simply dismiss anybody connected with it as a being a bit of a crank. One has to read between the lines and look for phrases such as 'common preference' and 'Popperian epistemology' in order to identify those who adhere to this school of parenting."
ReplyDeleteI suspect this has more to do with the fact that very few people have actually read directly about the theory and are using bits and pieces that they have picked up 2nd and 3rd hand, so to speak. I've spoken to several people who have used these phrases yet have never heard of TCS.
Both my children, at a young age, would at times stoically refuse to get into a car seat, and even could wiggle out of it Houdini-style, usually on the motorway and however tightly one fixed it.
ReplyDeleteIt made sense to seek a common preference. This wasn't difficult. We simply arranged our lives so that we could travel when we were almost certain they would fall asleep. When dozy they didn't object to being put in the chair.
Easy solution. No danger to anyone.