Wednesday 4 December 2013

Oh, no! Simon Webb is publicising the names of children



I suppose that I have only myself to blame for the latest piece of nonsense to be circulating about me on face book and twitter! When Lisa Amphlett was expressing the desire to speak to me on the telephone or at least exchange emails with me yesterday, I just knew that it would end badly. I said as much to her on the comments here, when I declined politely to do so. She was persuasive though, saying;

my offer of an email, telephone or face to face conversation stands. How can honest communication be anything less than a good idea? 

How indeed? And how could I have been such a mug? Despite refusing to play, she eventually sent me a personal email, trying to draw me into a debate. I could have deleted it, but felt that that would be a bit rude. She was clearly anxious to be in touch with me.  Now the first thing that I noticed was that she had CC’d her email into a third party; a man whose name I did not recognise. Obviously, I checked this person, just in case he was a lawyer or something. A quick google led me to a newspaper article featuring this man, who turned out to be Lisa Amphlett’s partner. In the article, they were very free with their personal details, mentioning their daughter’s name and precise age. I was amused to find that this meant that from 2009 to 2012, Lisa’s daughter had been under the age of five and she had therefore not technically been a home educator at all during those years of activism on behalf of the cause. It will be recalled that much has been made of the fact that Fiona Nicholson is not technically a home educator either, by virtue of her  own son’s age. 

I replied amiably enough to Lisa’s email, checking that I was right about her daughter’s age. I mentioned that I too had been regarded by some as not competent to speak about home education, because my daughter too was not aged between five and sixteen and I was therefore not a home educator. I thought this pleasingly ironic. Let us pause for a moment here and consider what has happened. Lisa has in the past telephoned a newspaper and advertised her daughter’s name and age. She clearly didn’t mind this information being freely available on the internet. She has gone out of her way to get me to exchange emails with her, even though I have told her that I don’t wish to do so. I have teased her about the fact that for three years of her home education activity, she was not officially a home educator at all and we part on what seems to me good terms. Anybody see anything reprehensible in my conduct?

Before we go any further, I should explain that I was pretty sure that this would all end  in unpleasantness, whether I did or did not  respond to Lisa Amphlett’s advances. How could I know this? It is really very simple. Whenever anybody makes a fetish of being honest and truthful, as Lisa did when she talked of, ‘my personal integrity, which I take very seriously’, you can be pretty sure that the individual will turn out to be a tricksy liar! (It’s much the same as her friend Maire Stafford, you see. She of course describes herself in her twitter profile as being mild, shy, timid and sweet; it’s a racing certainty that such a person will prove to be an aggressive bully).

So far, so good. At Lisa Amphlett’s urging, I have been in touch with her and exchanged a few good humoured messages. Imagine my surprise, when I found that as a result of this, people were talking of trying to close down this blog or speculating about calling the police. You gasp? You think it unlikely? Here is a man called Peter Flynn, tweeting last night;

 breach of privacy. Report them to the Blog hosting firm !


if he used the names of my children I'd report him to the police.

https://twitter.com/PeterRFlynn


So, I am to be reported to the police and also the Blog hosting firm, because Lisa Amphlett wanted a newspaper to report the name and age of her daughter? No, that would be crazy! It must be because I publicised the child’s name by mentioning it to her mother. But wait, surely her own mother would already know her daughter’s name? Very odd.

Here is another of that same crowd:

he is playing a dirty game..using names of children etc. Nasty man.

https://twitter.com/offshorebella


I won't weary readers with any more examples.  The good thing here is that we are able to see precisely what has happened and follow  these untruthful rumours to their source. This can only be the personal email that I sent Lisa Amphlett. It is good to be able to see in detail how these rumours are started and who is responsible for them. If nothing else, it should act as a warning for others who become embroiled with this particular bunch of home educators. I say home educators, but you have to ask how much time they are actually  able to spare for educating their children! One sees them engaging in all sorts of conspiracies and rumour mongering at all hours of the day and night, but they never seem to discuss education or childcare. They are all of them too obsessed with fighting imaginary hobgoblins. A little more education and a little less fretting about supposed threats to their chosen lifestyle would be my recommendation for some of this particular crew! In the meantime, the take-home message is clear. If somebody claims that her personal integrity is very important to her; be afraid, be very afraid! You will soon find lies and innuendo about yourself being spread across the internet.

80 comments:

  1. How about a novel idea... rather than discuss what you or Lisa said/didn't say about each other, what about GS reply to Lisa re APPG?

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    1. who funds LA,s Julie is it via income tax and council tax or are LA,s funded in some other way? if as i know it is via income tax and council tax do you agree with me that LA officers should treat us as paying customers?

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    2. I agree with you Anonymous, though we know they often do not do as you suggest. :-(

      To continue on the theme: who funds the APPG?

      Given the poor record of LAs, (their overwhelming majority having appalling policies highlighted by GS himself when it suited and the long history of abuse of the legal position and even government guidelines,) is it a good idea for the APPG formed to raise awareness of EHE and to provide a platform for a full range of views about policy on home education not only to take a position that LAs should form an association of EHE officers to try to homogenise their policy/practice nationally in the hope that good practice will manage to remain afloat where it exists through an ocean of offences, but to use their office to proactively bring this about when LAs don't run with the idea themselves; actively and specifically excluding the views of elective home educators themselves when they express concern?

      Anontoo

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    3. So, what was the reply? Her site seems to have crashed or something.

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    4. Anon 1 - who I assume is Peter Williams - I really don't understand what you are trying to say - yes , of course we pay the LA staff via council tax; what is there to argue about?

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    5. Anyone who doesn't hate their LA is an enemy of Peters. There tell lies about him there did.

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    6. then that makes us paying customers of LA.s who should then treat us as paying customers Julie?

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    7. cat you agree with an LA telling lies about a parent or child? yes or no will do

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  2. Please note you have been reported for Harassment to Blogspot who are investigating. I do not condone my name being used on your blog entry and as such ask you to remove it as soon as possible.

    Children's privacy is indeed in law - in US as well as UK. We have numerous protections for not only data protection but a right to privacy. If you were hosted in the US, you are in breach of the laws as you do not have parents consent to publish such data.

    As it stands, I fail to see what your blog is intending to achieve. You do not comment on education either - it looks from your previous 4 or 5 posts that you delight in picking on people to receive a response. Are you a troll? Potentially.

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  3. If you want to publish a child's personal information on the internet, you should usually get the verifiable consent of the child's parent or guardian. Whether you need the parents' or guardians' consent for the publication, or that of the child, will depend on the circumstances, in particular, the child's age and whether you can be sure the child fully understands the implications of making their information available on the internet.” - Data Protection Act

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    1. I don't understand why people who blog and twitter complain when there names crop up on other blogs. If you don't want it then stop plastering yourself all over the internet.

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    2. who Funds LA,s cat?

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    3. Do you really not know?

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    4. Cat wont bring herself to say its tax payer wonder why she wont say these words?

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    5. say after me Cat it is the income tax payer and council tax payer who funds pays the wages of LA,s

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    6. Himself not herself.

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    7. amazing Cat can not face the fact that it is the tax payer who funds pays the wages of LA,s

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    8. If you genuinely dont know then you could ask your councilor mate next time you're schmoozing with him. There tell you the answer lol.

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    9. 'There tell you'? I think we all know who really wrote that one.

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    10. If you want to publish a child's personal information on the internet, you should usually get the verifiable consent of the child's parent or guardian. Whether you need the parents' or guardians' consent for the publication, or that of the child, will depend on the circumstances, in particular, the child's age and whether you can be sure the child fully understands the implications of making their information available on the internet.” - Data Protection Act

      And this is relevant to what? Which child's name have I published?

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    11. Are you a troll?

      A man trolling on his own blog! That's a novel idea.

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    12. one thing you like about the county councilor was he got rid of the SAO Webb likes that to dont you?

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    13. There tell you.... yes I wrote it and was making fun of Williams.

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    14. well at least your be pleased to know we never had a meeting with our LA and the county councilor got rid of them for us it was great fun to many thx County Councilor Dr Tony Ludlow

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  4. http://homeedlampoon.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/the-smokeless-smokescreen/

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  5. You are not Cheshire cat, you are just a sock puppet. I am the real Cheshire cat.

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  6. Er - this appears to be about an email discussion between Simon and Lisa; I was hoping we could get back to discussing GS reply to Lisa....

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  7. I observe that Lisa Amphlett has now published her daughter's name on her own open blog. This is her choice and nothing to do with me.

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    1. That was a very odd thing for her to do, wasn't it? Unless she was deliberately trying to construct a scandal. You really should have resisted getting in touch with her, Simon. You ought to know better by now.

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  8. I don't know why you labour under the delusion that you cannot be a troll on your own blog.
    "In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally[3][4] or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[5] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion"
    By this definition you are most certainly a troll.

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    1. I am always exceedingly reluctant to describe anybody as an idiot, but you are an idiot. Trolls are people who visit forums, lists and blogs to disrupt the conversations taking place there. The idea that somebody keeping a personal bog could be a troll, just because people come on the blog and don't like what they see there, is bizarre.

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    2. You have a personal bog?

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    3. 'You have a personal bog?'

      That's very amusing, Cheshire Cat! This is it.

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    4. I did wonder if it was where your troll lives?

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    5. OMG Simon *no-one* makes jokes with themselves ffs.

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  9. Of course it's to do with you. It was you who sent her the creepy, stalkerish "I know your child's name and age" email.

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    1. 'Of course it's to do with you. It was you who sent her the creepy, stalkerish "I know your child's name and age" email.'

      If I understand you correctly, you are saying that if, in the course of an email exchange, somebody I don't know personally mentions my daughter's name; that is creepy and stalkerish. Is that right?

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    2. Just to distinguish myself from the other anonymous people, I will call myself 'Billy'
      Simon - have I got this correct, the only time you mentioned the child is in a private email?

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    3. 'Just to distinguish myself from the other anonymous people, I will call myself 'Billy'
      Simon - have I got this correct, the only time you mentioned the child is in a private email?'

      Yes of course. I would hardly mention the child here. It was in a private email exchange, initiated by the mother herself. She has now published this on her own blog, so presumably she is not that bothered about her daughter's name being known.

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    4. Here is the full email exchange, as published by the mother herself:

      http://www.lisaamphlett.com/2013/12/05/clarification/


      Creepy stalking, indeed!

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    5. Then what on earth are these people talking about?!

      How can you have possible invaded any child's privacy? How can you be reported for harassment? How can you be a troll on your own blog?

      I feel as though I have slipped into a parallel universe!

      Billy

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    6. It's simple. In the past Simon has spoken in favour of increased monitoring of home Education. Those who disagree as some of them aren't up to the job, hate him.

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    7. Peter misses the point, as usual.

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  10. 'I feel as though I have slipped into a parallel universe!'

    Welcome to the world of the militant home educators!

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  11. There was no need to mention the child *at all*. The fact that you did and that you refuse to acknowledge how intimidating and creepy/stalkerish this action was speaks volumes about you. As does having converstaions with yourself under the pseudonym "Billy"

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    1. ... the accusations get more bizarre!

      I can assure you I am not Simon.

      Billy.

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    2. ... the accusations get more bizarre!

      I can assure you I am not Simon.

      Billy.'

      You have seen nothing yet! Anybody commenting here who is anything other than bitterly opposed to me and all my works is automatically assumed to be one of my alter-egos. The same suggestion has been made about Cheshire Cat.

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    3. 'There was no need to mention the child *at all*. The fact that you did and that you refuse to acknowledge how intimidating and creepy/stalkerish this action was speaks volumes about you.'

      You are saying, if I understand you correctly, that if somebody I have not met personally,emails me and mentions my daughter's name, then that constitutes creepy stalking. Have I got that right?

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    4. Your daughter is an adult and has voluntarily put her name and far too much personal information on the internet all by herself. Letting a mother know that you have sought out the name and birth date of her child barely more than an infant is definitely creepy/stalkerish and intimidating. A word from the wise - since you appear to have no appropriate judgments around this - stop stalking people - or if you must - don't deliberately make them aware you are stalking them. That's the bit that's creepy and you should stop.

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    5. ' Letting a mother know that you have sought out the name and birth date of her child barely more than an infant is definitely creepy/stalkerish and intimidating'

      Lisa asked me several times on here if I wanted to exchange emails. I declined, but she sent me an email anyway. She copied it in to a man whose name I did not recognise. I wondered what the game was and so I googled this unknown man. Had she not CC'd him, I would have had no reason to to take this step. When I did, the first thing I found was a newspaper article which mentioned this unknown man, along with the child's age and name. had they wished to maintain their child's privacy, they would not have telephoned a newspaper and asked them to print this information. I did not publish the child's name on this blog, but mentioned it in a private email to the mother. had the mother respected my wish not to have any contact with her or had she not included the name of an unknown man on her email; this would not have happened.

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    6. The people who have been clearly shown that Simon has actually acted with integrity throughout this exchange need to now SHUT UP. The more you complain about the supposed stalking the more you look like idiots.

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    7. Actually Simon this would never have happened if you a) had not decided to mention the name and age of the child in the email to the mother (which was utterly unecessary - you could have just said "your eldest child" for example) and b) had not decided to lambast Lisa on your blog for comments made by other people on her twitter feed. So yes you are a creepy internet stalker and no you have not acted with integrity. The truth seems unwelcome here especially by the above anonymous.

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    8. Again not my comment.

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    9. Again my comment.

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    10. Hang on I didn't say that.

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    11. Well somebody did and I think it was you.

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  12. "Trolls are people who visit forums, lists and blogs to disrupt the conversations taking place there"
    No it doesn't mention that as being a requirement. It says
    "a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response"
    This accurately describes your normal modus operandi. You are most assuredly an internet troll.

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  13. In case anyone has been disturbed by Simon's trolling and cyberstalking there is some useful information on this old post -
    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9017938/Five_ways_to_defeat_blog_trolls_and_cyberstalkers
    Simon's behaviour is categorised thus:-
    "Psycho trolls: Has a psychological need to feel good by making others feel bad."
    and
    "Vengeful stalker. This type of person is angry with the victim due to some real or imagined insult or injury. Some of these stalkers are psychopaths -- a person affected with an antisocial personality disorder -- who have no conscience or remorse. They may have paranoid delusions, often feeling that they themselves are victims and are striving to get even."
    There are some good tips on how to deal with trolling and cyberstalking in the article.

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    1. If this is an attempt at humour it hasn't really worked.

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  14. What you mean my terminiology wasn't funny?

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  15. I thought your post was a joke as nobody could be distressed by Simon mentioning a girls name. Even Lisas website says she never complainedabout it. You all need to stop whining ad you just look foolish.

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  16. Not compared to Simon we don't.

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    1. Do you not know how to choose your own name? Perhaps an adult could talk you through it. Actually if your using mu nickname on purpose are you trolling me?

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  17. No I am not trolling you, I can't help myself, Simon's inanity is catching.

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    1. Are you posting as me in the hope I will stop posting? Will you be happy when only people who have the same views as you post on here?

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    2. Hahaha, no I tell you what, when you/Simon stop posting attention seeking annoying drivel so will I.

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    3. CC, no one is allowed to realise that SW occasionally posts the truth. If they do, they must be crushed by the roaming band of internet idiots. It's anti-free-speech activities like this, on the part of people who like to think of themselves as free-thinking liberals, which really annoy me.

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    4. By attention seeking annoying drivel do you mean opinions you disagree with?

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    5. Anti-free speech activities? LMAO is that from the hypocrite who told me I need to shut up?

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    6. How could anyone possibly tell you to shut up when they don't know who is posting? Duh!

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  18. Yes if you post under somebody else's name you remove their ability to have their opions heard. Because you don't agree with their opinion you are trying to silence them

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    1. Of course. That's the whole point. The suppression of free speech. This person is attempting to force you to give up commenting by using a name which you've used here for years. Your crime? To concede that Simon may have had a point about something. That cannot be tolerated.

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  19. Absolute balderdash and surely only Simon could think that sloppily? You do not have a right to own any particular pseudonym so please stop being so precious about it. My use of a name cannot possibly prevent you from posting here or silence you - that's quite honestly the silliest thing on the page excepting the original blog post. Cheshire cat is my name now and I feel very persecuted and silenced by your use of it.

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  20. Ah the theory that I am simon again? Names are used to separate out comments so people reading them can follow a thread. Your use of other peoples names is to distract people from reading what they think. Are you sitting there giggling to yourself at how clever you are? Troll....

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  21. Normal people, when they are interested in the content of a person's twitter or facebook feed, subscribe or follow. Simon has not followed Lisa openly and I think it's safe to assume that he didn't stumble upon the conversation by chance. Given that Simon is not interested in the content of her tweets for their own sake but only wishes to mine information for his blog and given that he is not openly following her, I can't really think of an alternative way of describing this behaviour except to call it stalking. If Lisa was, reasonably, put out that Simon had made sure she knew he had sought out the name and details of her child, she did not plaster "lies and innuendo all over the internet" (Simon's hyperbole not mine) she had a conversation with her friends on twitter. It was Simon who then sought out this conversation and dragged content posted by Lisa's friends here to this blog in order to deliberately discredit her. Well I have news for you Simon, you failed. Your antics have done nothing to harm Lisa and you have simply succeeded in showing the world what a poisonous, jumped-up little twit you really are. Go ahead and spend the evening inventing more sock puppets to joke with and defend your actions.

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    1. 'you have simply succeeded in showing the world what a poisonous, jumped-up little twit you really are'

      The typical sort of thing that anonymous commenters are bold enough to say. You appear to be saying that looking at people's blogs is tantamount to stalking? Twitter is a form of blogging. Does this mean that you are stalking me? Most alarming!

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  22. Fiona's son is now OUT of HE. Lisa dd had it to go through so any changes would have effected her. The difference is glaring to me, Give it a rest Simon. You are getting boring now.

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    1. So, home educators whose children are now grown up shouldn't be concerned about their future or current grandchildren? Glaring oversight on your part.

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    2. 'Give it a rest Simon. You are getting boring now.'

      What does your life lack, that you feel obliged to come and visit a blog which you find boring? The internet is a big place; surely there are other blogs which you might enjoy more? Only a thought!

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  23. Hi

    Ive stumbled on here and am not a Home Educator or have any wish to be having 3 children very happy at school. However, I have friends who home educated and would defend their right to choose what is right for them. However what strikes me here is that in general people who make such a choice over their children's education do not do so lightly are people who care deeply about the issue and it seems such a crying shame to see you so publicaly spating about the subject and being so nastily personal. It does you no credit. Lisa the llady you speak os Simon is a person with feelings and you have been most ungallant, It would seem her offer to speak to you was genuine and from now having read her twitter think you owe her an apology, Thats not to say you dont have valid points to make, and I am certain you have been hurt my comments made about you by maybe her or other HE's . I guess what Im saying is that you shouldnt need o resort to personal attacks to argue your point, it devalues both you and the argument. If you had some inaccuracies man up and apologise, the world would think more of you. Lisa as you say is just entering HE you have had by the look of it a lot of experience,, surely you should be supportive not so critical. I dont think I could do what you guys do/have done but am really fortunate to have brilliant small schools for my kids, but I do think you do a fantastic job, concentrate on supporting each other and your education choices, not knocking each other down. debate by all means, just on the issues not the personalities, and try and look for the best in each other not the worst and give the lady a break. Lisa I wish you every success in continuing to HE Im sure you will reap wonderful rewards. (and forgive me Im one of your 'hates' someone who works in childrens services) we are not all the same,

    One more thing to add then you can tell me to wind my neck in and piss off. In a coupld of weeks its Christmas, season of goodwill and all that, an excellent time to show a good example to your children and bury the hatchet,

    Much Love H

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