Scotland's School Blog Shame

From the very beginning the Council’s approach to the issue has been at best inept. When it first surfaced, Argyll and Bute chose the no-win strategy of trying to blame Martha for making “bad choices”. Martha is 9-years-old.

Then, in response to a newspaper headline they didn't like, the Council tried to silence her blog by banning Martha from taking any more pictures. Within hours, Martha, her blog and Argyll and Bute were all trending on Twitter throughout the UK as her 2.5 million blog followers vented their fury.

In the face of the backlash and pressure from education Minister Mike Russell, the local authority relented and announced a u-turn. Martha's blog was back.

It’s hard to think how Argyll and Bute Council could have handled this any worse. They could have engaged with Martha and her father, captured the worldwide blog interest and worked with the schoolgirl to become a model of best practice for school food. Instead they’ve been left behind in the dark with Martha seeming the force for good throughout this whole story.

And something they seemed to miss in their haste to ban the blog. In two weeks time, the long school holidays start, lunches stop........ and so would Martha’s online presence. 

Instead Argyll and Bute Council is now famous....for all the wrong reasons.

Posted on Friday, 15 June 2012