Top sociologist slams named person scheme

Leading sociologist Dr Frank Furedi (Emeritus Professor of sociology at the University of Kent) has lambasted the named person scheme in a recent piece for The Independent. Dr Furedi writes:

“Arguably, the most disturbing manifestation of the politicisation of parenting is the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act. This grotesque act empowers the state to appoint a ‘named person’ for every child, from birth to the age of 18. The duty of this state-appointed named person will be to act as the child’s guardian.

“Scotland’s minister for Children and Young People, Aileen Campbell, thinks that this erosion of parental authority is OK and offers reassurance with the not very reassuring words that ‘we recognise that parents also have a role’. ‘Also’? If the experience of the past 15 years is anything to go by, political intervention in child rearing is likely to become more prescriptive and intrusive.”

Read the article in full here