School caterer gives a child a biscuit: accused of "grooming"

Rebelheart · 09-10-2010 05:20PM #1

I've read it all now. In today's Irish Times, a catering supervisor in a school in Fermanagh asked her colleague to give a student a biscuit: 'The following day the woman, who is related to the child, was told by a senior teacher that under the Child Protection Act she could be seen to be “grooming” the child....This week the Impartial Reporter reported a priest was told she was absent due to a “serious child protection issue”.'

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1009/1224280701917.html

Oh, this is wrong: wrong on so many levels. At this rate we ought to create two worlds, where every child is separated from every adult. The woman involved should just thank her lucky stars that she wasn't male when she offered that biscuit.

orourkeda · 09-10-2010 05:22PM

I sometimes wonder if the only reasonable course of action to avoid these situations in modern society is to simply keep your interaction with other people to an absolute minimum.

El Weirdo · 09-10-2010 05:22PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

The woman involved should just thank her lucky stars that she wasn't male when she offered that biscuit.

Why? Is she male now?

cgordonfreeman · 09-10-2010 05:24PM

Stupid PC sh!te

Max Power1 · 09-10-2010 05:25PM

Unless it was a "soggy biscuit";) I dont see the problem tbh

pablomakaveli · 09-10-2010 05:25PM

I honestly wonder sometimes if common sense is becoming a thing of the past.

Rebelheart · 09-10-2010 05:26PM

El Weirdo wrote: »

Why? Is she male now?

What she is now is quite irrelevant to what she was when she offered that biscuit. At least try and understand basic grammar before attempting to be a smartarse. Thank you.

latenia · 09-10-2010 05:28PM

It makes a nice headline for the 'pc gone mad' brigade to mouth off to but there's a lot more to this apparently.

Rebelheart · 09-10-2010 05:29PM

latenia wrote: »

It makes a nice headline for the 'pc gone mad' brigade to mouth off to but there's a lot more to this apparently.

Er, go on ....

chucken1 · 09-10-2010 05:29PM

I've just given my step daughter her dinner and offered ice cream to her and her pal afterwards:eek:...waiting for the gardi to knock on the door.....Seriously,is the world gone totally mad?:(

marzic · 09-10-2010 05:30PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

What she is now is quite irrelevant to what she was when she offered that biscuit. At least try and understand basic grammar before attempting to be a smartarse. Thank you.

I beg to differ, if she is now a man she... he, oh you know what i mean, has a 'mickey'... i dont think i need to say any more...

Max Power1 · 09-10-2010 05:32PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

What she is now is quite irrelevant to what she was when she offered that biscuit. At least try and understand basic grammar before attempting to be a smartarse. Thank you.

This is after hours. Were you expecting a serious, logical debate :rolleyes:

Rebelheart · 09-10-2010 05:32PM

marzic wrote: »

I beg to differ, if she is now a man she... he, oh you know what i mean, has a 'mickey'... i dont think i need to say any more...

You actually do; although it would probably be better for you if you didn't.

Jumpy · 09-10-2010 05:33PM

"Lunch Lady Doris! Have ye got any grease!?"

"Yes. Yes we do."

"THEN GREASE ME UP WOMAN"

marzic · 09-10-2010 05:35PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

You actually do; although it would probably be better for you if you didn't.

so, what should i do?

El Weirdo · 09-10-2010 05:36PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

What she is now is quite irrelevant to what she was when she offered that biscuit. At least try and understand basic grammar before attempting to be a smartarse. Thank you.

Rebelheart wrote: »

You actually do; although it would probably be better for you if you didn't.

Jesus. Who put sand in your vagina? It's AH. Lighten the fuck up.

cgordonfreeman · 09-10-2010 05:36PM

marzic wrote: »

so, what should i do?

Leave it go. It wasn't funny to begin with.

Jumpy · 09-10-2010 05:39PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

What she is now is quite irrelevant to what she was when she offered that biscuit. At least try and understand basic grammar before attempting to be a smartarse. Thank you.

"Nobody calls me basic sonny jim"

http://uscca-newsletter.s3.amazonaws.com/2010/6/11/1506b.JPG

latenia · 09-10-2010 05:40PM

Rebelheart wrote: »

Er, go on ....

According to a journalist reviewing the papers last night. If you even think about it for half a second, what makes more sense? That this was about giving a child a biscuit or that there's more to it?
Here's the full report:
http://www.impartialreporter.com/news/roundup/articles/2010/10/08/392360-grooming-warning-over-biscuit-for-child-in-school/

Rebelheart · 09-10-2010 06:23PM

latenia wrote: »

According to a journalist reviewing the papers last night. If you even think about it for half a second, what makes more sense? That this was about giving a child a biscuit or that there's more to it?
Here's the full report:
http://www.impartialreporter.com/news/roundup/articles/2010/10/08/392360-grooming-warning-over-biscuit-for-child-in-school/

I've just read that full report, And I've "thought about it for half a second". These two lines spring out: 'The Key Stage 1 manager said that she had spoken to the Unit Catering Supervisor outlining that no child should be singled out for preferential treatment and advised how actions of favouritism could be misinterpreted. Ombudsman documents show eight months after the meetings, the Principal said he had not perceived her actions as grooming a child and that he regretted that the misinterpretation had occurred.'

I don't know where you work but where I work when somebody is unfairly accused of something, apologies are made. Promptly - or there are consequences for management as well as for the people who made the mistake. Mistakes are part of every working life; to not rectify them as soon as possible is another matter entirely.

Now, do you know something else or do you want to continue implying something negative about this (anonymous) woman's character?

Donkey Oaty · 09-10-2010 06:31PM

Chocolate HobNob anyone?

efb · 09-10-2010 06:34PM

Lads alot of the time it's waiting for the right opportunity I reckon there's more than a biscuit involved

galwayrush · 09-10-2010 06:34PM

Stupid people in jobs which entail strict and silly job descriptions.:rolleyes:

ytareh · 09-10-2010 06:36PM

Crazy story but fully agree with earlier poster that if this had been a guy he probably would have been strung up or gotten 20 years ...Just this week my little girl got a flyer from school about photographs and there were two quite distasteful items on it I felt .The first was that the 'company' was 'fully irish ' and even worse it specified that a FEMALE attendant would prepare the kids for their pictures...Now sadly I can see why they would write that ,even going back 30 years there was always talk of 'strange men' and never 'strange women' but it really does seem to be almost the case nowadays that being male and a paedophile are one and the same !Case in point the man asked to move seats on the flight when a child travelling alone was put beside her...We need lots more male pre school and primary teachers ASAP!

Rebelheart · 09-10-2010 06:44PM

ytareh wrote: »

[(Case in point the man asked to move seats on the flight when a child travelling alone was put beside her...)] We need lots more male pre school and primary teachers ASAP!

(I remember that story) This is currently a huge problem in Irish schools. The GAA was talking a few years back about how because far less males are going near teaching (especially primary school) as a profession, they were losing coaches and trainers. As cute and as much fun as kids might be, no man with a family to support could risk getting into teaching these days. There's waay more at stake than feeding a family.

IvySlayer · 09-10-2010 06:47PM

Ridiculous stuff.

Anyone who 'grilled' her should be sacked straight off.

We need a complete revision of the child protection law to stop these kinds of over reactions from happening.

Common sense is needed when dealing with children, not nanny state nazis.

Dudess · 09-10-2010 06:47PM

latenia wrote: »

It makes a nice headline for the 'pc gone mad' brigade to mouth off to but there's a lot more to this apparently.

"Paedo!" accusations over an adult merely interacting with a child aren't even political correctness anyway - they're Daily Mail-esque hysteria which is the exact opposite to political correctness.

PAULWATSON · 09-10-2010 06:49PM

orourkeda wrote: »

I sometimes wonder if the only reasonable course of action to avoid these situations in modern society is to simply keep your interaction with other people to an absolute minimum.

Maybe that is the reaction they want.

DeVore · 09-10-2010 06:51PM

"Grooming"? ..... wouldnt "feeding" be more accurate??

DeV.

Earthhorse · 09-10-2010 06:53PM

DeVore wrote: »

"Grooming"? ..... wouldnt "feeding" be more accurate??

Not if she plucked the biscuit out of the child's hair.

Pookah · 09-10-2010 06:57PM

30 posts in and I can't believe nobody has pointed out that this type of thing is really taking the biscuit.

School caterer gives a child a biscuit: accused of "grooming"

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