Parent Power Forum Guidelines

Parentpower is not a pre-moderated forum.  Our policy is to keep intervention to a minimum in order to facilitate open and honest discussion, and a free exchange of ideas.  That said, we monitor all posts and will use our discretion to delete or ban any posts that seem to us to go against the spirit of the site.  We have a few forum rules:

  • Treat other members at all times with respect. To put it another way, treat others the way you would like to be treated.
  • No personal attacks
  • No posts that break the law
  • No spamming
  • No trolling, misleading or deliberately inflammatory behaviour
  • No swearing

All posts will be monitored, but Users of the forum can report any suspected violations you think we might have missed by using the report button above each post.

A bit more detail

Being a parent in today’s world isn’t easy.  The idea behind Parent Power is to provide help, advice, support and encouragement – as well as being a place where parents can share concerns and ideas, and support each other.

Post deletions

Parent Power supports freedom of speech 100%.  That said, we will remove any posts that contain personal attacks, break the law, and/or are obscene, offensive, or felt to be deliberately unpleasant.  Any subsequent posts and/or threads repeating the words in the deleted post will also be deleted.

Swearwords and offensive language

We appreciate that people have different ideas these days of what constitutes ‘swearing’, but please refrain from using any language that may be construed as blasphemous or liable to cause offense to others.

Posting links and spamming

 We welcome people posting the odd link to other sites and blogs that others might find useful or interesting, but please note that we shall delete any and all attempts to ‘spam’ the boards with links in order to promote a member’s own product, services, survey, or e-petition.

In order to protect users, we also won’t allow any promotion of fundraising for registered charitites on the forum.  Any such posts should be posted on the Charities noticeboard.

Trolls and troublemakers 

Sadly, every once in a while we do get visited by trolls who are hostile to our aims.

If you suspect someone of being a troll, please don’t accuse them publicly on the discussion thread, but report your suspicions to us and we’ll check them out and, if needed, take appropriate action.

Can you delete a thread you yourself have started? 

It does sometimes happen that someone wants to remove a whole thread they themselves have started.  This can be annoying to others who’ve contributed to the discussion, so as a general rule we discourage this.  But we do understand that there can be developments that make this necessary, so if you have a pressing reason for wanting a thread you started to be deleted, please report it to us and we’ll take a look.

What happens if I break a rule?

If we feel you’ve broken the Guidelines, first time we’ll send you a warning and ask you not to do it again.  Second time, we’ll send you another warning, but saying this time that if you do it again, you’ll receive a temporary or permanent ban, dependant on the severity of the infringement.  If permanent, you’ll be blocked from using the forum for the future.

“Slap in the face” to parents
Consultations, Focus, News add comment

“Slap in the face” to parents

Safe at School reacts angrily to Damian Hinds’ ruling that parents have to ask the headteacher’s permission to withdraw their children from sex education SPUC Safe at School, a leading parents’ advocacy group, has reacted angrily to Damian Hinds’ statement today on sex education, in particular his emphasis on ‘LGBT issues’ and the fact that…

Advice or State Totalitarianism?
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Advice or State Totalitarianism?

The [Draft] Independent Schools Standards: Advice for Independent Schools (March 2018): A Manifesto for State Totalitarianism Executive Summary The new draft advice (March 2018) for the Independent Schools Standards (2014) details how independent schools can demonstrate the way in which they have fulfilled their obligation to actively promote and enforce LGBT ideology under the guise…

State-Promoted Indoctrination
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State-Promoted Indoctrination

State-promoted ideological indoctrination  In a speech at the LGBT Pride reception at Downing Street on July 3rd, Prime Minister Theresa May proudly announced, ‘We will continue our investment in programmes to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools, protecting LGBT students and making acceptance and understanding the default.’  She went on to say, ‘A…

Parents Protest Pride Parade
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Parents Protest Pride Parade

According to the London Evening Standard, a Croydon primary school was “forced to hold an event celebrating ‘Pride’ in private after a group of parents threatened to protest at a playground parade.” Heavers Farm Primary School was planning an LGBT event featuring a “Proud to be Me!” parade at the school watched by families. The…

Speak out for parents!
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Speak out for parents!

HOME EDUCATION CONSULTATION CLOSES NEXT MONDAY 2ND JULY The Government has been holding a ‘call for evidence on home education’ – the consultation closes at 11.59pm on Monday 2nd July. The Government appears to favour introducing a mandatory register for parents who home educate. This may sound reasonable but it undermines an incredibly important principle…

Children at risk from porn
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Children at risk from porn

TV Doctor wants 12 year olds shown hardcore pornography in class Dr Christian Jessen, popular presenter of C4’s Embarrassing Bodies, is promoting hardcore pornography in school lessons for children as young as 12. In a recent newspaper interview the 41 year old claims it would be “very helpful” to “make kids cringe and squirm” by getting them…

Home Ed Parents Sidelined!
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Home Ed Parents Sidelined!

Home Educating Parents Sidelined! On 10th  April 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) published significant new draft Guidance for Home Education in England. This all seemed very reasonable, with the guidance subject to a public consultation ending on 2nd July:    https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/home-education-call-for-evidence-and-revised-dfe-a/ However, there was one major omission in the Government’s approach to this matter…

Parental Rights Overturned
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Parental Rights Overturned

Gillick competence + GDPR = Parental rights overturned Background: From April 2015 patients registered with a GP in England have had the right to have online access to their medical records.  Up until May this year, an individual having parental responsibility for a child under 16, wishing to see the child’s medical record, could apply to…

Support from David Kurten
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Support from David Kurten

Why has the government stopped listening to parents? It is a fundamental principle of British society that parents are the primary educators of their children. Unlike some other nations like Germany which has a ‘Schulpflicht’ – compulsory schooling – in the UK, parents are not required to send their children to a school. Most parents…

Faith Schools Under Threat?
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Faith Schools Under Threat?

Faith schools comprise one third of the UK school community. Many of these schools are over-subscribed, often reaching the top of local league tables and, more recently, reaching the top percentage of schools as high achievers in Progress 8. It therefore appears not only contradictory but also plainly ridiculous that a good number of Britain’s…