Schools must tell parents of threats to children

School policies which prevent parents finding out if their child could be the victim of a potentially serious crime should be changed, says National’s Education spokesman, Bill English.

He is commenting on a report about a school which withheld from parents allegations by a child that she had been raped.

“In this case, the school eventually did the right thing and ensured that the child’s mother had access to the information,” he says.

“However, many parents would be appalled by comments from professionals that a policy of withholding such information is the right one.

“While health and education professionals may not always agree with parents’ reactions, in the end parents are legally and morally responsible for their own children.

“Almost all parents take their responsibilities seriously and they must be given information which is critical to their child’s welfare,” Mr English says.

“If parents don’t know, they can’t care”.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>