[Cockermouth, England; November 23. Image via Getty]

COCKERMOUTH, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 23: A flood damaged child's doll sits in the street as residents and business owners return to their flood ravaged premises and homes on November 23, 2009 in Cockermouth, England. After the worst floods in the history picturesque Lake District Cumbrians were being allowed back to their properties today to see the devastation and begin the massive clean up. Many Roads and bridges are still subject to closure in the district as forecasters predict more rain on the way. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

[London, November 20. Image via Getty]

Hula hoop artist 'Marawa' performs during a photocall to promote the 'La Clique' Cabaret in London, on November 20, 2009. The show is a mixture of cabaret, burlesque, circus and variety and runs in London, from November 20 until January 17, 2010. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

[London, June 29. Image via Getty]

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 29: A woman walks past a view of the City of London in Richmond Park on June 29, 2009 in London, England. The Met Office has announced a weather warning for much of Great Britain with temperatures expected to hit 32C this week. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

[Banyoles, Spain; May 31. Image via Getty]

BANYOLES, SPAIN - MAY 31: Annie Vernon (L) and Anna Bebington of Great Britain cool off in the water after winning the Women's Double Sculls final race during day three of the FISA Rowing World Cup on May 31, 2009 in Banyoles, Spain. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

According to the Independent, 200 children in the UK, some as young as 13, have had files opened on them by the British anti-terror cops as potential terrorists based on reports by their teachers. The 18-month-old "Channel Project," started by the Association of Chief Police Officers, encourages teachers, parents and other authority figures to keep a vigilant eye on students' school work, journals and conversations and report those "susceptible to extremist beliefs" to the police.

The program was apparently partly inspired by one of the bombers in the 2005 London subways, because, according to one detective, "when we went back to his teachers they remarked on the things he used to write. In his exercise books he had written comments praising al-Qa'ida. That was not seen at the time as being substantive. Now we would hope that teachers might intervene, speak to the child's family or perhaps the local imam who could then speak to the young man."

Once they've been reported, in addition to getting written up, the kids get a sinister-sounding "programme of intervention tailored to the needs of the individual" which can apparently involve cnversations with parents and religious leaders and, oh yeah, cops. Says a Home Office rep,

The whole ethos is to build a relationship, on the basis of trust and confidence, with those communities...With the help of these communities we can identify the kids who are vulnerable to the message and influenced by the message. The challenge is to intervene and offer guidance, not necessarily to prosecute them, but to address their grievance, their growing sense of hate and potential to do something violent in the name of some misinterpretation of a faith...We are targeting criminals and would-be terrorists who happen to be cloaking themselves in Islamic rhetoric. That is not the same as targeting the Muslim community.

The obvious objections to this plan would seem to involve privacy violation, criminalization of children, unjust targeting of the Muslim community, loss of trust between educator and student, and a heightened sense of hysteria. All that's to say noting of various Sci-Fi regimes, Shirley jackson stories, police states, Red Scares, and The Prisoner. Look, obviously early intervention with alienated young people is always a better policy than mere criminalization - and radicalization is indeed a very real issue in Britain - but that's when we're talking about actual criminals, or at least certifiably "at-risk" individuals, not some 13-year-old whose teacher has been eavesdropping on him. The potential for abuse, for vigilante craziness, for casual racism, seems enormous. As a rule, citizen soldiers (with their uniformly sophisticated grasp of religious and cultural distinctions!) seem like a very dicey proposition, even in far less problematic cases than this, and on a very practical level, it seems like making angry kids feel like they're being spied on by trusted authority figures, and treated as adversaries by police, isn't exactly the best way to decrease feelings of alienation. And for those who are, perhaps, already involved in actual radical activity...won't this merely prompt them to be less forthcoming with, say, "comments praising al-Qa'ida?" Just a guess. But if that's good enough for the cops...!

Police Identify 200 Children As Potential Terrorists [Independent]

Yes, there is a social expectation that women will be the primary caretaker of children, and it's great that the government takes some small steps to allow women to transition more easily back into the workforce and have flexible hours if they want them. But by putting those responsibilities solely on women, the government is basically saying that it is, in fact, a woman's role to be the primary caregiver. That's not actually a great thing for equality.

Duncan Fisher, who heads the British think tank the Fathers Institute, hits the nail on the head with two points: gender stereotypes in child-rearing are reinforced by unequal pay with which women struggle; and "allowing" women to transfer part of their government-mandated leave to their husbands does nothing to give men equal opportunities and continues to reinforce the idea that it is a woman's role.

Furthermore, both Brewer and Fisher pointed out that while it's great for the government to allow people to take leave, both genders struggle with the fact that actually doing so can cause harm to their careers. Brewer notes that many women are being ignored for positions because of the expectation that they will take their full year and ask for flexible hours, while Fisher notes that men are often looked down upon for taking time away from their careers to help rear their children.

It is great for a government to mandate employer-flexibility for parental leave, but it's crappy for both parents and the society as a whole when doing so continues to reinforce the stereotype that child-rearing is "women's work." It's also worse when it's tied up in issues like pay disparities (which the government is also trying to tackle). Parental leave issues are tied to equality both in the workplace and in society as a whole, and caught up in everything from child care costs and availability to the way "flexible" hours are viewed by employers to pay disparities and gender stereotypes. While the government can't mandate that fathers stay home or put an end to stereotypes about the appropriate gender roles in relationships, it could at least try not to reinforce outdated ideas of gender stereotypes like the idea that a stay-at-home dad is something so unusual.

Equality Laws 'Are Now Holding Women Back' [The Times]
Paid Maternity Leave Does Us No Favours Either, Say Fathers [The Times]