would i be right today?.

MRWELL · Mar 21, 2013

Many years ago i decided to take a few of the local kids who was invalids mainly fishing,it was only two or three and a friend of mine did the driving because i could not drive,it was a very rewarding days fishing seeing those kids fishing and helping them to catch a few as well so much so that i decided to do this on a more regular basis and i did.

I had to think things through because of the safety issues and i never took them anywhere near deep water and always on flat surfaces (if i could find any),i also decided not to take more than four at anyone time,again this was because of the safety issues,i always had the parents permission to take the kids and i was trusted to take good care of them and i did.

I found it very rewarding and would have loved to have continued doing it but it became a hard thing to organise and transport was always a big problem so in the end i had to stop,it really upset me at the time to see all those kids faces after they was told it would be their last time but there was nothing i could do about it,all this happend many years ago now but i wonder if i was doing this today would it be right or would it be looked on as playing with fire,it was all done out of the kindness of my heart but when i see and read all these things about adults and kids (you know what i mean) it makes my skin creep to think i could have been talked about in this way.

Have any of you been in this kind of situation before,don't get me wrong nothing was ever said but it could have been,was i right at that time to do what i did or was i playing with fire,i can see what could have happend but it never did,i don't think i would do the same thing again today if i had the chance...would you?

laguna · Mar 22, 2013

Very commendable but I wouldn't these days without;

a) crb police check (advanced level)
b) at least one parent/guardian/carer to accompany you
c) health & Safety equipment (life vests, first aid kits)
d) licensed coach qualification
e) Public liability insurance
f) proper planning

Anyone considering such an outing would leave themselves wide open to allegation, but more importantly; you could put the lives and welfare of others at risk.

Taking your own young/disabled/vulnerable family members fishing for the day would be an entirely different matter - so long as their safety and welfare was your priority.

chav professor · Mar 22, 2013

MRWELL said:
Many years ago i decided to take a few of the local kids who was invalids mainly fishing,it was only two or three and a friend of mine did the driving because i could not drive,it was a very rewarding days fishing seeing those kids fishing and helping them to catch a few as well so much so that i decided to do this on a more regular basis and i did.

I had to think things through because of the safety issues and i never took them anywhere near deep water and always on flat surfaces (if i could find any),i also decided not to take more than four at anyone time,again this was because of the safety issues,i always had the parents permission to take the kids and i was trusted to take good care of them and i did.

I found it very rewarding and would have loved to have continued doing it but it became a hard thing to organise and transport was always a big problem so in the end i had to stop,it really upset me at the time to see all those kids faces after they was told it would be their last time but there was nothing i could do about it,all this happend many years ago now but i wonder if i was doing this today would it be right or would it be looked on as playing with fire,it was all done out of the kindness of my heart but when i see and read all these things about adults and kids (you know what i mean) it makes my skin creep to think i could have been talked about in this way.

Have any of you been in this kind of situation before,don't get me wrong nothing was ever said but it could have been,was i right at that time to do what i did or was i playing with fire,i can see what could have happend but it never did,i don't think i would do the same thing again today if i had the chance...would you?

Bloody hell Mr Well, I am a teacher! Never really thought about it like that before - i am seen in the presence of upto 30 odd kids at a time

mg:

No seriously, Laguna's post is about right.... 'Safeguarding' is the watch phrase. Its about protecting YOU and the the children/child in your care. Reading your post, it sounds like you applied the principles of common sense.

The fact is, if you did the same thing today you would need to do it through a school, fishing club or similar organisation. To protect yourself, you would have basic safe guarding training (you are working with children, you have to put the rights and welfare of the child first - and know what to do if you become aware if this is compromised in any sphere of their lives). A CRB check is a simple Police data base to determine your suitability to work with Children.

Given your perception and fears about being seen teaching kids to fish - it reinforces the importance of a good Safeguarding policy.... It should primarily make you feel safe... Safe that you can protect the rights of the children in your care and not put your self at risk.

Teaching kids is the most rewarding experience in the world... You would be sharing a gift - your passion for fishing. You would be having a positive impact on their lives and you would be surprised about how much fishing can benefit them in other areas of their lives.

I left school with 2 GCSE's..... had difficulties reading, spelling and writing.... Fishing gave me an education!!!!

And no, you would not be seen as a social pariah - your actions would be viewed as giving something back that enriches young peoples lives.

maverick 7 · Mar 22, 2013

It is always difficult getting involved with young kids.....it is great shame that you can no longer take a little girls hand and tell her how pretty she looks.....That was done regularly in years gone by and her parents was proud that somebody would say such a nice thing. Do it now and the parents would probably smack you and tell you to F... Off.....you will be unjustly looked on as some kind of pervert.

It means that youngsters nowadays never get that important interaction with adults that we got when we were kids.....those paedo's have a lot to answer for and I don't mean only for the obvious.

We often take my Granddaughter out for the day and this particular time we let her play in some kind of play area they have in these Retail Parks. Got my camera out to take a few pics ...and was told I couldn't use my camera when there was so many kids around.....I was gobsmacked.....and slightly embarrassed too.

You daren't even look at a youngster these days for too long.

What a state of affairs that is.

Like I said they have a lot to answer for..

NB....Good example of what I am talking about.....I originally put the word "lovely" instead of "pretty" in this post.....but I changed it to "pretty" because I was slightly worried that "lovely" wasn't the right word to use..........see what I mean?

Bloody ridiculous.

Maverick

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Mar 22, 2013

I'm a qualified rugby coach (level 1 only) for both adult and youngster and when coaching kids we were told not to touch a child if they were upset

and as a parent when you see a child crying your natural instinct is to comfort them

yogi224 · Mar 22, 2013

big risk nowadays if you ask me. i agree with laguna completely. i work in care as well. do the kids have learning disability or physical disability? you would be surprised at the amount of false allegations made by adults with learning disability and i for one would not want to put myself at that type of risk unnecessarily tbh. although in a way i do as i work with learning disability. shame we have to think this way now though. good luck with your decision

MRWELL · Mar 22, 2013

Thanks for the replies Guys...The youngsters had physical Disabilities not mental,i would not take the risk in taking those who had mental issues because i had no idea how to handle them if they had a fit or something,many was wheelchair bound but could do a lot of things for them self but obviously they needed to be looked after all the time and we (my friend)never left them for a second,the way i looked at it then was it was giving both the youngsters plus parents a well deserved break from the normal toil of the day and to be honest i never once thought of the possibility of someone saying i had done anything to any of the children but recent events Like Maverick has pointed out has made me think of what might or could have happened and it is a wake up call as to how things have changed.

I always believed i did the right thing and thought things through in the right way but now i question if i did and if i did the same thing today i would be classed as a pervert by some who would question what my intentions was,example the other day i mentioned this to a work mate and his reply was the reason i put this thread on mainly that being....was it only the fishing you was teaching them.....he said it in jest so i took it has it was meant but it got me thinking just how lucky i was that no one had made claims of this nature against me and how it would be almost impossible today to do anything like this without all the checks and insurances that come with it,i can see why it is needed but my god how things and times have changed.

STAN.

yogi224 · Mar 23, 2013

MRWELL said:
Thanks for the replies Guys...The youngsters had physical Disabilities not mental,i would not take the risk in taking those who had mental issues because i had no idea how to handle them if they had a fit or something,many was wheelchair bound but could do a lot of things for them self but obviously they needed to be looked after all the time and we (my friend)never left them for a second,the way i looked at it then was it was giving both the youngsters plus parents a well deserved break from the normal toil of the day and to be honest i never once thought of the possibility of someone saying i had done anything to any of the children but recent events Like Maverick has pointed out has made me think of what might or could have happened and it is a wake up call as to how things have changed.

I always believed i did the right thing and thought things through in the right way but now i question if i did and if i did the same thing today i would be classed as a pervert by some who would question what my intentions was,example the other day i mentioned this to a work mate and his reply was the reason i put this thread on mainly that being....was it only the fishing you was teaching them.....he said it in jest so i took it has it was meant but it got me thinking just how lucky i was that no one had made claims of this nature against me and how it would be almost impossible today to do anything like this without all the checks and insurances that come with it,i can see why it is needed but my god how things and times have changed.

STAN.

you certainly did the right thing in giving those children some fun mate. the problem is nowadays there is so much suspicion that we cant do the good things in life that we all took for granted when we were young

terry m · Mar 23, 2013

laguna said:
Very commendable but I wouldn't these days without;

a) crb police check (advanced level)
b) at least one parent/guardian/carer to accompany you
c) health & Safety equipment (life vests, first aid kits)
d) licensed coach qualification
e) Public liability insurance
f) proper planning

Anyone considering such an outing would leave themselves wide open to allegation, but more importantly; you could put the lives and welfare of others at risk.

Taking your own young/disabled/vulnerable family members fishing for the day would be an entirely different matter - so long as their safety and welfare was your priority.

Some good advice here, I would add a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the activity to the list.

It is unfortunate that people who genuinely want to help youngsters are assumed to be up to no good until they prove otherwise. is is a worrying indictment of our society as a whole.

We can all look back - perhaps with rose coloured specs - on the simple upbringing that we probably had, things today are very different - not necessarily better or worse - just damned different.

would i be right today?.

MRWELL

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laguna

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chav professor

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maverick 7

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Lord Paul of Sheffield

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yogi224

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MRWELL

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yogi224

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terry m

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