Some special event for schoolchildren was taking place one day this week. Lines of children approaching from all directions. Lots of adults too
It was only when one such procession passed me on the pavement that I realised all those adults may well have been needed under regulation or whatever to ensure the childrens safety. They were all very young – no more than 5 or 6 - & in the group which passed me there was one adult to 2 children, hand in hand, one on either side. Admittedly this was alongside a very busy main road
I expect most of these (all-women) escorts were parents/volunteers but wouldn’t they all have to have had Criminal Record checks? How much would that have cost?
A friend of mine took early retirement as a primary head nearly 20 years ago now. She had mixed feelings about this – it was one of those moves which, in the early days of school budgets, eased the pressures considerably because she was paid right at the top of the scale
She said that she had not anticipated how much she would feel the sheer relief of not being responsible for the safety of other people's children every day. How much worse it must be now
Then we read of the case of a boy who has been awarded damages, expected to be £1 million, because of an accident on a bouncy castle. The award has been made against the parents who had organised the birthday party for their 10 year old triplets
Of course the important point about this story (buried in paragraph 7) is that the parents were insured, so it will not be a personal financial liability for them
The judge found that there had been inadequate supervision. The point that worries me though is that the other boy involved in what was accepted as a pure accident is described as a gentle giant & enormously tall
The implication is that particular care & supervision are needed for such freaks, who should not be allowed unfettered play with normal children
