Watching the kids: Surveillance in the U.K.

• Author: Hanson, Macy
• Position: Childcare - Brief article

CHILDREN IN the United Kingdom will soon have a new reason to eat their vegetables: The government is watching.

In June child care practitioners and child protection experts gathered at the London School of Economics to voice concern about the Children Act 2004, one of the biggest intrusions into parental rights in U.K. history. The act, passed following the abuse and death of an 8-year-old girl, mandates a 224 million [pounds sterling] interagency database that will track the development of Britain's 12 million children.

Meant to be fully operational in two years, the system will combine existing databases to create a unified file on each person under 18. Government workers, such as teachers, social workers, and law enforcement officials, will be required to report "information as to the existence of any cause for concern" and log their comments in the corresponding file.

What might be "cause...