Today, I was at Stephen’s school helping the kids put on their costumes for the annual Christmas show. During the chaos, I videotaped them milling about dressed as angels, snowmen, and stars and also took some photos. At first, I intended to take a picture of everyone to make sure that all were included then get the shots developed later this week. But soon, one of the teachers came over and whispered that technically, I shouldn’t be taking photos of other people’s kids because a parent in another class had specifically requested that their child not be photographed. What the @#!

I couldn’t believe that the type of parents Esther Rantzen wrote about in the Times Online in October really do exist! She is the founder of ChildLine, a toll free number in the UK which children can dial and ask for help with abuse. In the piece, she touched on the difficulty of balancing between protecting our children and overprotecting them.

The truth is that paedophiles are unscrupulous and cunning and they have taken jobs as school bus drivers, sports coaches and youth club leaders to gain access to children.

However, the letter does express a real fear. Over the past 20 years, alongside sensible advances such as the creation of commissioners for children and a minister for children, there have been examples of daft over-zealousness.

Why on earth prevent parents taking photographs of their children performing in a nativity play or pictures of their children playing football? The five-year-old who plays Joseph at Christmas time, the 10-year-old who scores a miraculous goal for his team, deserve their place in the family album.

The loss of innocent contact is a real deprivation for a child. Why shouldn?t a teacher cuddle a six-year-old who has fallen down in the playground? It would be a tragedy if fathers were inhibited from hugging their daughters. The abused children I have met desperately want and need the ?safe cuddles? that they never receive. We do all children a huge disservice by assuming that all adults are paedophiles.

I have always taken care not to post pictures of other children’s faces and am even shying away from posting pictures of Stephen. And, thankfully, since the teachers know me well, I wasn’t thrown in jail today. Even more important, Stephen is here with me, well loved and cared for.

If you’re a kid living in the UK and need someone to talk to about any problem, call ChildLine. They’ve got counsellors who can help you. 0800 1111