“Argyll and Bute” is trending on Twitter, and who this morning would have thunk it? All bloggers I feel should be encouraged. I also believe that bans should consider the legal doctrine of proportionality – a ban should be necessary and proportionate. This means having a look at the views of both of the parties involved.
This story didn’t have the fun of ‘Dinner ladies’ by Victoria Wood and colleagues. Argyll and Bute Council has dropped its ban on photographs taken in school dining halls after internet users expressed their outrage at the rule which put a halt to a successful school dinner blog run by a nine-year-old. This issue of banning and proportionality is well known in other examples of legal scenario, such as prisoner voting.
The blog in question is here. The nine year-old’s blog #NeverSeconds has apparently had more than two million hits, sparked debate about the state of school dinners across the globe and raised more than £9000 for charity. She even drew comparisons with Jamie Oliver for his fight for healthy meals, with the celebrity chef praising the “clever girl” for her “great work”. You can read more about the background in this article from the Telegraph here.
This first post demonstrates how totally well-meaning this 9 year-old-student is/was, in a blog entitled, “NeverSeconds – One primary school pupil’s daily dose of school dinners”:
But this is how it sadly ended in a rather illiberal manner.
Council leader Cllr Roddy McCuish, Leader of Argyll and Bute Council, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One:
“I have just instructed senior officials to withdraw the ban on photos from the school dining hall. It is a good thing to do, to change your mind and I have certainly done that.”
He also made the following statement:
“There is no place for censorship in this Council and never will be whilst I am leader. I have advised senior officers that this Administration intends to clarify the Council’s policy position in regard to taking photos in schools. I have therefore requested senior officials to consider immediately withdrawing the ban on pictures from the school dining hall until a report can be considered by Elected Members. This will allow the continuation of the “Neverseconds” blog written by an enterprising and imaginative pupil, Martha Payne which has also raised lots of money for charity.
But we all must also accept that there is absolutely no place for the type of inaccurate and abusive attack on our catering and dining hall staff, such as we saw in one newspaper yesterday which considerably inflamed the situation. That, of course, was not the fault of the blog, but of the paper.
We need to find a united way forward so I am going to bring together our catering staff, the pupils, councillors and council officials – to ensure that the council continues to provide healthy, nutrious and attractive school meals. That “School Meals Summit” will take place later this summer.
I will also meet Martha and her father as soon as I can, along with our lead councillor on Education, Michael Breslin to seek her continued engagement, along with lots of other pupils, in helping the council to get this issue right. By so doing Martha Payne and her friends will have had a strong and lasting influence not just on school meals, but on the whole of Argyll & Bute.”
Martha clearly is very enthusiastic about having a blog which she is free to write on, and the Council wishes to take action on criticisms of the good which may damage the reputation of the school and/or council. However, taking action as a ban would have to be reasonable, necessary and proportionate to have legal effect, many law students would consider. So it seems that the Council, Martha and her father may enter some form of mediation, but it is noteworthy that this episode has generated a lot of negative publicity already (even involving an urgent comment on #BBCWATO given below.) The story continues.
