It’s fairly obvious that it’s people who have positions of trust who will be able to abuse that trust, hence your list Martin. So regulation around the trusting relationships that are part of jobs/voluntary work seems to me a healthy management of risk. We’ve yet to see what the benefit:hassle ratio will be of the new vetting system.

The worrying thing for me is that St Matt’s seem to have responded to the concerns that were raised as well as could be expected and yet Baxter still managed to abuse. Additionaly, for each one person convicted there are nine others out there not being caught abusing.

David,
I’m afraid this seems to be almost endemic to people who work with youngsters particularly. Think of the groups aho are affected – Catholic Priests, schoolteachers, Scout masters. It is a shame and, of course it has had a governmental over-reaction in the form of the excessive checking of everyone who comes into contact with the young. I can almost see the day when Grandparents will be subject to “vetting”.
It is a reflection on the world we live in

Im guessing this has gone? Otherwise let me know.

Mark

Ravi Zacherias, in his book “The real face of atheism”, quoted Peter Kreeft about morality saying ― “Ancient ethics always dealt with three questions. Modern ethics deals with only one, or at the most, two. The three questions are like the three things a fleet of ships is told by its sailing orders. First, the
ships must know how to avoid bumping into each other. This is social ethics, and modern as well as ancient ethicists deal with it. Second, they must know how to stay shipshape and avoid sinking. This is individual ethics, virtues and vices, character-building, and we hear very little about this from our modern ethical philosophies. Third, and most important of all, they must know why the fleet is at sea in the first place…I think I know why modern philosophers dare not raise this greatest of questions: because they have no answer to it.”

Unless we have an idea of why we’re drawing lines or why we’re staying shipshape, both individually and corporately, we will always push the lines because they’re meaningless.