Boys are Fungible

February 11, 2015 permalink

A British social worker took a boy from primary school for a visit with his dad. But she grabbed the wrong boy, Kenzie Joe Jubb. This is not the first time a social worker took the wrong child.

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Social work? More like social berk: Wrong boy removed from school and taken to visit 'dad'

00:00, 12 February 2013, By Steve White

His parents are demanding to know why their boy, who has no dealings with social services, was plucked from the classroom

Scene: Francis Askew School in Hull

A social worker was given the simple task of collecting a lad from his primary school and driving him to see his dad for a supervised visit.

But the WRONG BOY was taken from the class and sent off in the social worker’s car.

The confused lad – four-year-old nursery pupil Kenzie Joe Jubb – had arrived at a social services office before the school realised there had been a shocking mistake.

School staff alerted the council about the blunder and Kenzie was hastily returned.

His parents are demanding to know why their boy, who has no dealings with social services, was plucked from the classroom.

Kenzie’s dad Alistair, said: “We are furious. CCTV shows he was away from school for 11 minutes.

"Eleven minutes is a long time when your son is with someone he doesn’t know.

How do you get the wrong child? Someone has messed up and we want to know who.

“When I was told about Kenzie being taken, the first thing that went through my head was that it was by someone with a fake identification. It was horrific.”

A two-year-old girl – who is the sister of the boy who was meant to be taken to his dad – was also in the car when the social worker drove Kenzie from Francis Askew Primary School in Hull, East Yorkshire.

Hull city council says it will join forces with the school to investigate the blunder.

John Readman, the authority’s director of children’s services, said: “This incident should not have occurred.

“The school and the local authority have apologised to the families involved for the distress it must have caused.

"Importantly, the child was at all times supervised by an experienced member of staff.”

Source: Mirror (UK)