Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The UK Just Loves Orwellian Ironies

File this under: Self-righteous good intentions gone horribly wrong; more potential social destruction to come.

I had done a post in the past regarding the UK's obsession with CCTV cameras and its' social and legal implications. While I didn't expect that to be the last word on the issue, I never expected this:

THOUSANDS of the worst families in England are to be put in “sin bins” in a bid to change their bad behaviour, Ed Balls announced yesterday.

The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes.

They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction.

Around 2,000 families have gone through these Family Intervention Projects so far.

But ministers want to target 20,000 more in the next two years, with each costing between £5,000 and £20,000 – a potential total bill of £400million.



While the intentions are for the best: routing out drug problems and anti-social behavior in struggling home environment, the means in which it is being carried out are deeply disturbing. At a certain point it is up to the responsibility of the family to curtail the behavior of their children within the home and that should be it. A person's home is meant to serve as the last frontier of your privacy, especially in this day and age. While one might argue that these families had their to prove their responsibility, I think that this action is totally inappropriate.