The other side of that is families getting put through the wringer because someone with the wrong end of the stick - or worse, someone who bears malice towards the adults in the family - decides to make a consequence-free anonymous allegation. Suddenly, despite the allegations having no basis in fact, the child is placed on a register, social services are making spot-checks, the parents are made to feel like criminals and spend an indefinite amount of time fearing that if their child so much as grazes his knee, he might be taken away. Allegations of child abuse shouldn't be made frivolously, and if someone is really, genuinely concerned for the welfare of a child, then putting their name to those concerns should be the least of their worries.