13-year-olds facing criminal checks

Criminal record checks are routinely being carried out on 13 and 14-year-old children, figures have revealed. Nearly two thousand 14-year-olds and more than three hundred children aged 13 and younger underwent Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks last year. They are vetted if they volunteer to help as sports coaches or to teach younger pupils at after-school clubs. The checks are aimed at stopping dangerous criminals and paedophiles. But campaigners said vetting such young children was "absurd". The figures were revealed by the CRB in Freedom of Information Act requests made by the Manifesto Club, a campaign group. Josie Appleton, who wrote its Vetting Children report, called on ministers to scrap plans for a huge expansion in background checks. From next year anyone volunteering to work with children or vulnerable adults must be registered with the Government's Independent Safeguarding Authority. She said: "We knew about the vetting of 16 and 17 year olds, but we are shocked that vetting extends to 14s and under. The idea that a 14 year-old could be a paedophile is obviously absurd - but it only reflects the mistrustful assumptions on which the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the new vetting database are premised. The vetting database needs to be scrapped." Children's Secretary Ed Balls is expected to publish the results of a review of ISA rules. Its chairman, Sir Roger Singleton, was asked to examine the scope of the checks after public outcry. The CRB figures revealed 1,922 14-year-olds were checked last year and 336 children under 14. Since 2002 10,097 children aged 14 years old have been checked, 3,138 aged under 14 and 29,722 aged 15. They are among three quarters of a million under 18s to have had their backgrounds checked in the last seven years. A Criminal Records Bureau spokesman said it "makes sense" to check anyone over the age of criminal responsibility, which is ten years old. A spokesman said: "The criminal age of responsibility is 10 so it makes sense that we would check anyone over that age if they were working in regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults."9my view)-This is getting way out of hand,first it is adults now children...yet the worse criminals and terrorist in the world run contries or as people call them the governments,presidents,queens,kings,the army and other shits in power.....they go free but innocent people and children are being treated like crap! fuck you!