In my eyes, the problems with it are two-fold. Firstly, of course there are issues of liberty and the rule of law. This is clearly what you are mostly concerned about, and on the whole I agree with your rant. But secondly (and perhaps this simply makes the first point even more deplorable) the scheme is completely pointless and will almost certainly achieve nothing. It is a very uncomfortable truth that the people that children and vulnerable adults are most at risk from are the kinds of people who would never be subject to such a scheme in the first place; namely family members and associated friends.

This scheme is no more than an exercise designed to allay the general public’s paedophile paranoia by reassuring them that the problem lies outside of the home, with strangers. And not just strangers, but strangers who are easily identifiable by their behaviour, which will of course be different to the behaviour of the ordinary person. It allows them to continue to disassociate themselves from anything truly unpalatable. I guess the plan is that once these strangers are identified, categorised and barred we can all heave a sigh of relief and go back to living in denial.

Great rant. A very alarming development

Thank comrade. Very alarming indeed.

Interesting Rant Reuben, thanks for posting it. I work as a teacher in Spain now, which has thus been an eye-opening experience because here there is very little paranoia about paedophilia. Educators don’t seem to live in the same climate of fear as their UK counterparts, at least not due the increasing likelihood that they will be falsely accused of something by a child or parent. The biggest problem in Spanish schools seems to be the lack of student discipline and respect for teachers – this, as Selena indicates in her comment, is most likely a result of people failing to recognise that education begins at home.