Government's 'covert' psychological tests target children

A new policy in Scotland that appoints a bureaucratic overseer for every child born, with the power to overrule even parental decisions, will obtain information on the children and their families using "covert" psychological tests.

The Scottish Mail reported Sunday the testing will provide database information for the "state guardian scheme."

The paper said every young person in Scotland will be "subtly quizzed" about private life and asked to complete intrusive questionnaires. Among the questions will be whether or not the child's parents make him or her feel special and if the home is "cozy."

Simon Calvert of the Christian Institute, which is challenging the program in court, said it has authorities coaxing younger children "to divulge information through the use of prompt cards, songs and games – designed to familiarize them with the Scottish government's teaching on 'wellbeing.'

"Older children will face a series of questions on their home life, their sexual health and whether or not they feel close to their parents," the institute said.

The family life details will be stored in government databases and available to government officials who may intervene as they wish.

See what today's schools actually are demanding, in "Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians are Using Government Schools to Destroy America's Children."

"Psychologically manipulating youngsters so you can squeeze confidential information out of them is fundamentally wrong, but to store all this information on a giant council database is foolhardy," said Calvert, who also is part of the No to Named Persons campaign opposing the government's program.

He noted teachers already are being given instructions as to what information should be included in the database.

"Example scenarios given include a boy saying he did not miss his mother after he stayed overnight with his grandmother. Another refers to a boy saying he is scared of the dark and that he is allowed to keep the light on but only if he is 'good'," the institute said.

WND has reported on the government's plan to assign a government employee to watch out for perceived educational, social and spiritual deficiencies, and address them, even if parents object to the course of action demanded. Cab drivers are even being trained to spy on children they drive to school, according to a campaign opposing the plan.

Calvert told the Mail the psychological tests are "creepy."

"Parents are going to have to tell schools and local authorities to stop spying on their children," he said. "It really is beyond time that the Scottish government called a halt to this whole charade before they do any more damage. It's Orwellian, it's immoral and it has to stop."

The report said one of the tests "is designed to tease out details of pupils' family lives with leading questions, even in nursery schools."

The program also is developing "prompt cards" for parents, the report said, "encouraging them to 'behave in a way that sets a good example to your child'."

Older students already have been subjected to questions about whether they drink or smoke, or whether they feel close to their parents.

The responses are compared to a government checklist that includes assessments of whether the children are carrying out "voluntary work."

The program ultimately will include evaluations of the children along with their names, addresses, routes to school, hobbies and photographs.

The Mail said Stuart Waiton, senior sociology lecturer at Abertay University in Dundee, reported: "A major problem with the named person professionals is that they appear to have lost any sense of the family as an important private institution for society. Trust, loyalty and privacy in their warped eyes are transformed into secrets being hidden 'behind closed doors.'"

The program is set up to include 11 compulsory inspections of parents' parenting skills before a child starts school.

The government agents, the report said, "will be entitled to demand information and share it with police and social workers without parents' consent or knowledge."

Queen's Counsel Aidan O'Neill said a case challenging the program will be heard within days.

"[It's a] Big Brother law which threatens every family in the land and diminishes the rights and responsibilities of mums and dads to look after their children as they see fit," he said.

A social worker, Maggie Mellon, has spoken out against the plan.

See her statement:

The law, she said, would "bring about the end of family life as we know it."

WND has reported the concept of a government watchdog for each child comes from the philosophy of the United Nations.

"This law shows the natural progression for a country that has ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and attempts to live up to its treaty provisions," said Michael Donnelly, director of international relations for Home School Legal Defense Association.

Cabbie spies

A recording of government officials speaking about the new requirements for cab drivers, who often are contracted to take children to schools, was revealed by the group No2NP.

Jim Terras, a Scottish Borders Child Protection Committee training officer, was speaking during a training day for volunteers under the GIRFEC, or Getting It Right For Every Child, program.

"You will have a duty, a legal duty, to assist the named person. Right," he said. "Now you can imagine the conversations I've been having whilst I've been doing taxi driver training. Right.

"We have over 600 taxi drivers, OK, are contracted to … transport young children, adults at risk of harm, you know to various places, and I have to explain to them that if they're covered by the GIRFEC system ... they as taxi drivers also have a duty to tell us what's been happening.

See what today's schools actually are demanding, in "Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians are Using Government Schools to Destroy America's Children."

"This idea of what happens in the taxi stays in the taxi doesn't exist anymore, you've got to tell us 'cause it's a legal duty."

He said the drivers have said, "It's not our job."

"Now we're saying 'well it is now. If you've got a contract for the council."

He explained how far drivers must go.

"If a child tells you something in the actual front seat of the car, OK, or behind you, that this happened last night, and all the rest of it … and you're concerned about it. ... A lot of them didn't think to get out of the car at the school and go in and speak to the teachers. I had to explain to them that that was the step that they should take."

Hear the instructions: