Paedophilia fear forces photo ban (From Stroud News and Journal)

Paedophilia fear forces photo ban

DISAPPOINTED parents have been told they will not be able to take photographs of their children's Christmas nativity play at Bussage Primary School this year.

The ban was imposed amid national fears that pictures may fall into the hands of paedophiles.

Earlier this month a Luton school hit the headlines because it had banned cameras from its pupils' performances.

Now Bussage parents have been advised that they are not to take photographs or video the production at the end of term.

Instead, if they want a record of the event they must take pictures of their own child before or after the performance.

The dictate follows a questionnaire sent out to parents earlier this year asking if they would mind pictures of their children being used in newspapers or on the internet.

Carrying out such surveys has become standard practice in schools.

One parent, who did not wish to be named, said it was a sad sign of the times that schools even had to consider the issue.

"If this is what it has come to I'm afraid it's a sad state of affairs," she said.

"I think it's a slight over-reaction but as a parent you're prepared to jump through any hoops to protect your child."

She said she was happy to see photographs of her children in the local press but had asked the school not to post images on the internet because of all the bad press about paedophiles using the net.

A spokesman for the county council said the LEA had not issued any directions to schools asking them to ban cameras from school plays but individual schools were well within their rights to make up their own minds on the issue.

"The only thing we suggest to schools is that they get consent from parents if their children are going to be used in any broadcast or publication that's going to be in the public domain," said the spokesman.

"Parents video taping nativity plays and other productions or taking their own private photographs is not something the LEA would get involved in. "That's up to the individual head teachers and governors to decide."

She said not all schools that had banned photographs and videos at their production had done so due to the fear of paedophilia and in some cases it was simply because the flash of cameras or sound of video cameras running could disrupt the performance.

The spokesman for the school refused to comment on the ban other than to say any parents who had concerns should raise them with the governors.

For more Stroud school stories, see this week's SNJ.