I have been in contact with Francesca Lees, who is the School Health Advisor for Oldham Primary Care Trust. She says;
' I would only weigh/measure a child regularly if there were possible concerns about a child's weigh or growth, or if a child is subject to safeguarding procedures i.e
a child protection or 'child in need' plan. '
She is very keen to discover who is making up these ridiculous stories and what the motive is for frightening parents in this way. Does anybody here have any ideas about this? Fiona Nicholson has also been in touch about this and I hope that Education Otherwise will also act to dispel this rumour.
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The origin of the concerns that lead to the weighing and measuring is significant though. Often a parent, who knows their own child and usually their genetic background well, can be unconcerned about a size that is out of the ordinary, which official charts might show as being a problem. These charts have been demonstrated to be inappropriate in some individual cases, and yet the weighing and imposition of diet plans for children can be very harmful.
ReplyDeleteIf she meant "possible concerns emanating from parents" I'd be less concerned, but why should such parents need to have their children officially weighed when a set of bathroom scales would do the job? And is the *weight* of a child the best thing to be highlighting when the real problem might be one of lack of spaces to play, or lack of money or education or growing space for healthier food?
With the current prevalence of anorexia, official focus on a child's weight can be dangerous. Many home educators want - for those kinds of good reasons - to opt out of such monitoring programmes and their freedom to do so should be preserved, equally along with the freedom of other parents who feel they need the support to be able to opt in.
'Many home educators want - for those kinds of good reasons - to opt out of such monitoring programmes and their freedom to do so should be preserved, equally along with the freedom of other parents who feel they need the support to be able to opt in.'
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. This is a service which is being offered. How do you suppose that the child could be weighed unless the parent took her to the clinic or health centre? I simply can't see how compulsion could work here; maybe you could describe a scenario where a child is weighed against the will of her parents? I can't think that many nurses would cooperate in such an exercise. They would be laying themselves open to a lot of accusations.
I can easily imagine a scenario in which a child is seen by healthcare professionals in another context, or perhaps almost by accident when accompanying other family members to appointments, and their size thought to be a concern to officials, then pressure being put on parents to accept a programme of weighing and other interventions. This wouldn't be conpulsory per se, but might feel to be so by the parents even if they themselves were not worried about their child's size.
ReplyDeleteI can also imagine, post-Kyra and the Badman review, an element of the world of healthcare professionals pressing for our children to be included in these programmes as a matter of course, in which case opting out might be viewed with suspicion and all the repercussions that can come with such suspicion.
'I can easily imagine a scenario in which a child is seen by healthcare professionals in another context, or perhaps almost by accident when accompanying other family members to appointments, and their size thought to be a concern to officials, then pressure being put on parents to accept a programme of weighing and other interventions. This wouldn't be conpulsory per se, but might feel to be so by the parents even if they themselves were not worried about their child's size.'
ReplyDeleteYes, but this is not a home education issue. This sort of thing happens in schools too.
'I can also imagine, post-Kyra and the Badman review, an element of the world of healthcare professionals pressing for our children to be included in these programmes as a matter of course, in which case opting out might be viewed with suspicion and all the repercussions that can come with such suspicion.'
I can imagine all sorts of things, but prefer to deal with things as they are. There is no evidence at all that anything of this sort is happening. If it did, I would be the first to complain.
"If it did, I would be the first to complain."
ReplyDeleteThat's reassuring, as long as you understand that compulsion can be - and often is - disguised as other things.
"I simply can't see how compulsion could work here; maybe you could describe a scenario where a child is weighed against the will of her parents?"
ReplyDeleteCompulsion would be easy, all they would have to do would be to bring in SS. They could easily twist a refusal to go to health check-ups organised by the LA into evidence of neglect. I would guess with most families the threat would be enough.
I wonder if your avoidance of Health Visitors by always being out with the baby when they called would be seen in such an innocent light today. Or would they begin to wonder if you had something to hide?
'Compulsion would be easy, all they would have to do would be to bring in SS. They could easily twist a refusal to go to health check-ups organised by the LA into evidence of neglect. I would guess with most families the threat would be enough.'
ReplyDeleteIs there any evidence that this has actually happened?
'That's reassuring, as long as you understand that compulsion can be - and often is - disguised as other things.'
ReplyDeleteYes, by a nurse saying, 'every child has to have these tests' for example. Parents might thus be hoodwinked into agreeing to something which they did not really want. This certainly happens, although more often with the parents of schoolchildren.
'That's reassuring, as long as you understand that compulsion can be - and often is - disguised as other things.'
ReplyDelete"Yes, by a nurse saying, 'every child has to have these tests' for example. Parents might thus be hoodwinked into agreeing to something which they did not really want. This certainly happens, although more often with the parents of schoolchildren."
Or by a nurse saying: "We're a bit concerned that she's heavier than we'd like her to be, so here's a diet plan and we expect you to bring her to be weighed again next month." A refusal to go along with this would almost certainly trigger SS procedure.
The fact that it can happen to school children doesn't make it less of a problem, does it?
'The fact that it can happen to school children doesn't make it less of a problem, does it?'
ReplyDeleteNot at all. But while it is common enough in schools, I have not yet heard of it happening with home educated children. This, after all, was the concern when people raised the qestion of Oldham.
Which brings us back to the origin of the "concerns" referred to by Francesca Lees in your post. Have home educating parents in Oldham gone to her with concerns and asked for their children to be weighed? While this is possible, it seems unlikely.
ReplyDelete'Have home educating parents in Oldham gone to her with concerns and asked for their children to be weighed? While this is possible, it seems unlikely.'
ReplyDeleteMore likely that they have been offered this service in the way that Health Visitor offer to weigh and measure children. Quite a few people, if told that everybody else is doing it, will agree to something.
"More likely that they have been offered this service in the way that Health Visitor offer to weigh and measure children. Quite a few people, if told that everybody else is doing it, will agree to something."
ReplyDeleteSounds like something that could slip into a routine system and then a compulsory one almost by default then. The price of freedom..