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Keeping you up to date on the progress of the Named Person scheme and the NO2NP campaign.
‘ChildrenCount’ surveys
Posted 10 years ago
State schools in three areas of Scotland are currently in the process of implementing the controversial ‘ChildrenCount’ surveys. In Dundee and Angus the surveys are to run until 15th September, while in North Ayrshire they are scheduled to run between 29th September and 10th October.
The surveys ask children aged between 9 and 16 a range of intrusive and personal questions, some of which are age specific. Examples from some or all of the surveys include:
- Do you feel very close to your mother?
- When you have misbehaved do your parents listen to your side?
- How often do your parents tell you they’re proud of you for something you’ve done?
- Do you enjoy spending time with your father?
- How old were you when you first smoked cannabis?
- How many times in the past year have you sold illegal drugs?
At the end, the survey states:
‘Some of the questions in the survey may have raised some issues you are currently experiencing. Please tick the following box if you’d like help from your teacher’
Aside from being grossly inappropriate and an obvious intrusion into private family life, the surveys are doubly concerning when viewed in the context of the impending introduction of a named person for every child, tasked with policing their ‘wellbeing’.
NO2NP is therefore encouraging all concerned parents who have children in schools where the surveys are being conducted to ask to see the full survey before their children are asked to take it, and if necessary, ask that their children be allowed to opt out altogether on the basis that the surveys are meant to be entirely voluntary.
Please also alert other parents in these local authorities who may not be aware of the surveys or their content.
Full details of the surveys and their contents can be found on the website of Dartington, the company behind the surveys.