The criminalization of parenting

A disturbing news item highlighting the reach of the British state involves a senior nurse at a public school who was reported to police by her 15 year old son for smacking her other son aged 10. According to reports the mother hit the younger son 'on the bottom' after he was abusive and repeatedly swore at her. As a result of the call to police the mother and her husband were both arrested and held in a cell for 32 hours. Both were released without charge and were notified by police that no further action would be taken.

This incident would have been disturbing enough in itself but it led to still more sinister consequences. As a result of the police involvement, the local Social Services department was contacted who then took the decision to put the 10 year old boy and his younger sister on the child protection register. The public school then sacked the mother from her post as senior nurse claiming that 'the school’s reputation could be severely damaged in the event that parents became aware that the children of the school’s senior nurse were on the child protection register.' The mother herself commented 'I have been a practising nurse for 25 years with an unblemished career. I have no idea why my children are still on the register'.

This episode illustrated the extent to which the State, with its cultural Marxist social agenda, can now destroy the independence of families and the reputation of parents. Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the case is the way the 15 year old was willing to 'shop' his parents to the authorities, in a manner reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, or the totalitarian regimes of North Korea and Mao’s Cultural Revolution. The reason he could do this is the campaign by the Marxist left to augment the powers of the State and its functionaries in the guise of 'protecting children'. On the face of it nobody could object to the protection of children – so what is the problem?

Today the child protection industry is big business. For example, the NSPCC 'Full Stop' campaign raised over £250 million, and the charity is immensely influential in influencing government policy. The fundamental premise underpinning their campaign is that all forms of physical chastisement, including smacking, constitute 'child abuse', a term of relatively modern origin, and much broader in scope than child cruelty, which the NSPCC was originally formed to combat. The ultimate objective is to make the smacking of children a criminal offence.

We have seen the result of this approach in schools, which are now plagued with problems of indiscipline. Extending this principle into family life will criminalise parents on a grand scale, and undermine their authority since parents will wish to avoid being reported to the authorities by their own children. The losers will be children who will be denied proper discipline. The winners will be those seeking the state control of family life.