Social services have been notified about Kirstie Allsopp’s intention to let her 15-year-old son go by train across Europe with a friend, but she has since changed her mind, reports Sky.
The presenter of Location, Location, Location reported that her son, Oscar, travelled around Europe this summer with a buddy who is sixteen years old. However, a social worker called her upon his return and told her that a case had been started due to concerns over kid protection.
Allsopp posted a long defence on her Instagram, claiming that the idea that social services might become involved never crossed her mind.
She said: “I knew that we were becoming a more risk-averse culture in the UK and the US. My time in Switzerland has taught me a lot. There, as in Japan, children walk to school alone and are encouraged to learn early to be self-sufficient, and trusted to make sensible choices,” reports Sky.
She expressed hope that “the silver lining to this cloud is that everyone stops and thinks about the freedoms we had as children, and ask what harm could be done, not by the freedoms, but by the restrictions and fears we are imposing on our kids,” even though she was aware that some people might object to her decision to allow her young teen to travel Europe without an adult.
She had previously told The Mail on Sunday that she felt “sick” and then “very, very cross” after receiving the council call, reports Sky.
Allsopp said on Twitter earlier on Monday that she was “proud of him” after Oscar returned from a nine-day train tour throughout Europe.
According to Allsopp, she got “incandescent” and told the social worker that it was none of her concern and that she was stopping the conversation, even though the social worker “wanted to know what safeguards you put in place for your son’s travel.”
The TV host said that officials were unaware that she had been singled out by someone making up a case of mistreatment, reports Sky.
She hasn’t been informed of the referral’s method or source.
Oscar’s local council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), allowed the file to be kept open “in case there was another referral and we needed to come to your house and look into this further.” An investigation into the matter was initiated, reports Sky.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
