Row over parents playground ban.
A council in Hertfordshire has banned parents from two council-run adventure playgrounds because they have not been Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked.
Watford Borough Council wrote to parents and carers saying adults without a CRB check would have to be supervised by vetted playworkers.
The letter said it had no option but to ban all adults including parents and carers from the two sites.
Unsurprisingly, folks are complaining.
The Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Watford said the decision was “ludicrous”.
Richard Harrington said: “The council has made the decision that parents are no longer allowed to play with their children in the play areas and that children will be cared for by ‘qualified and police vetted play rangers’.
“It’s a sick joke. This is a case of creating problems where there are none.”
What he said.
Welcome to Nanny State.
It’s nothing to do with CRBs and everything to do with helicopter parents making their kids lives less safe.
See here:
http://sarabedford.com/blog/2009/10/flat-earth-news-strikes-watford/
Rankersbo: Helicopter parents may have spurred the council’s action, but the council’s response has indeed been to tell parents they need CRBs. Watford’s mayor is quoted in the BBC story:
“The elected mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill said the authority has faced criticism from a dozen or so parents.
“She added: ‘The letter from a senior community playworker to parents was a bit like a sledgehammer to crack a nut but councils are in the front line and vilified if they don’t take these sorts of measures.’”