Hitler youth or Baker Street Irregulars?

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Sep 9th 2008 5:05PM

Categories: Kids 8-11, Teens & tweens, In The News, Chores

Local governments in England are now recruiting children as young as eight to report "enviro-crimes" -- littering, graffiti, and such. According to the Ealing Council in West London, "there are hundreds of Junior Streetwatchers, aged 8-10 years old, who are trained to identify and report enviro-crime issues such as graffiti and fly-tipping." (Fly-tipping is the dumping of trash anywhere other than an authorised landfill.)

"We currently have 25 Street Scene Champions who work with the council," says Harlow Council in Essex. "They are all aged between 11 to 14. They are encouraged to report the aftermath of enviro-crimes such as vandalism to bus shelters, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping etc. They do this via telephone or email direct to the council."

On the one hand, I suppose it's a good thing to get youngsters involved in keeping their community clean and safe, but on the other hand, it seems kinda totalitarian. It's a fine line and I'm not sure which side this falls on. What do you think?

Source

Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mihir 9-10-2008 @ 10:25AM

what the hell is an "enviro-crime"?? one would safely assume graffiti, littering and general vandalism (like fly-tipping) are already against the law. why the weird label?

poor england. what has happened to you?

Lauryn 9-10-2008 @ 11:24AM

The title of this article is very inappropriate. Keeping track of people who are careless with community property can make it a nicer place to live for EVERYBODY, and cannot be likened to spying on people's private lives for the purpose of advancing one race or group of people over another with devastating consequences. You should be ashamed of yourselves for juxtaposing two such incredibly different situations. Please change the title of the article.

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