Government recruits child spies to report anti-social neighbors!
LONDON, England - February 10, 2010 - Child spies will be encouraged to report their neighbors as part of the latest drive to cut thuggery and anti-social behavior on estates.
As part of a campaign launched yesterday, youngsters will look for residents with untidy or litter-strewn surroundings and then try to persuade them to clean up their homes.
Ministers recommended that children involved should also write to authorities to demand action against those whose houses are labeled anti-social.
Using young people to target residents identified as letting the neighborhood down ‘teaches the children a sense of pride’ and shows them they have the power to get things done, the Department of Communities and Local Government said.
But critics warned that anti-social behavior on estates is routinely committed by children and recruiting school-age youngsters to report their neighbors is a recipe for intimidation.
“A plan like this can easily be milked by young people,” criminologist Dr. David Green of the Civitas think-tank said. “I worry that it would become a license for children to harass people.”
The child spy scheme was launched by Communities Secretary John Denham and Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who called for “an army of community champions to challenge anti-social behavior”.
As part of a campaign launched yesterday, youngsters will look for residents with untidy or litter-strewn surroundings and then try to persuade them to clean up their homes.
Ministers recommended that children involved should also write to authorities to demand action against those whose houses are labeled anti-social.
Using young people to target residents identified as letting the neighborhood down ‘teaches the children a sense of pride’ and shows them they have the power to get things done, the Department of Communities and Local Government said.
But critics warned that anti-social behavior on estates is routinely committed by children and recruiting school-age youngsters to report their neighbors is a recipe for intimidation.
“A plan like this can easily be milked by young people,” criminologist Dr. David Green of the Civitas think-tank said. “I worry that it would become a license for children to harass people.”
The child spy scheme was launched by Communities Secretary John Denham and Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who called for “an army of community champions to challenge anti-social behavior”.
