to find this horrifying

[granted]

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/10/schoolboy-quizzed-cameron-office-picket

Sorry - no good at links.

About a 12 year old boy being threatened by police anti-terrorism squad over a little peaceful protest by a small group of Year 7s.

What is our country coming to.

here you go

bliiiiiimey

It's like something from a dark comedy, isn't it? I mean, what on earth were the police thinking? And what information were they expecting to get ('Well, there's me and Smithy. On our microscooters...)?

Disgraceful.

Thank you, LittleMissHoHoHoFit. :)

Hmm. If I were the boy, I'd be delighted at the attention my little protest got!

I doubt the police were actually worried about a twelve year old - more worried maybe that some idiots would jump on his bandwagon and cause trouble that a load of children shouldn't be caught up in.

Hmm - I wonder... .... would I have let my DCs "protest" at 12 years of age..... ??

No, I think not.

you do links by doing then www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/10/schoolboy -quizzed-cameron-office-picket

easy peasy.

Double bracket thingy?

I'll have to try it some time.

Ta.

yes see - Links The simplest way to insert a link is to enter the web address (URL) surrounded by and . So type www.mumsnet.com to display a link like www.mumsnet.com. If you want your link to display text other than the web address itself, leave a space after the address then add the text before the ]]. So "Look at this page", would display "Look at this page."

(taken from bottom right of this box i am typing in)

Mowiol - I bloody would. And I would be proud of them for doing it, and I would be hopeful - but not certain, bless them - that I agreed with their strongly held opinions.

But then, perhaps I am woefully naive. You see, when I first used my right to protest, police officers were mainly there to make sure nobody got lost or bothered by anti-protesters whilst on a protest.

A friend of mine of similar age went on her first protest march for about 20 years last year and was utterly shocked at the violent and intimidating attitude of the police. It's over 25 years since the Battle of Orgreave and its media coverage - and that was supposed to be a wake-up call.

But the world of the protest is different now ..... rent-a-mob is always there. This is inevitable.
And 12 year olds are just that.. 12.
They are still children and mostly do not have the physical capability to get themselves away from trouble in a crowd situation.

Protests? In West Oxfordshire?

How dare anybody in Cameron Land say anything against the constituency

I feel like joining these kids.. it's only down the road from me..

My DCs (now grown up) have never "protested" in the marching sense....... but they both (to my intense pride) have verbally challenged ignorance on a one-to-one basis in a work situation.
That made me very proud ..... they stuck up for underdogs and faced up to bullying colleagues. They did this on their own in a work situation.
That said .... if they had been protesting students I would have asked them the following:
a) Someone has to pay for your education ... why not you when you are earning a good wage eventaully?
b) Are you sure your degree is going to benefit the country if you think the country should pay?

Mowiol - this is about cuts to a youth centre, not about fees.. HTH

Sorry - having read the link I now understand, good on the boy for campaigning.
Probably the Police are being very heavy-handed here but in these days of scanning everything from Twitter to Google searches I can see why they have to be seen to follow up everything.
They would be roundly criticised if they didn't follow up every last dead-end and some horrendous event took place, no?