The news that children's authors are going to be required to pay £64 to go through a vetting procedure before being allowed to read in schools has been greeted with outrage by many of my colleagues. But while I have a certain amount of sympathy with those who are angry about the new government scheme, I have no plans to stop my own school visits as a result of it.

Although it will be irritating to have to pay for the privilege of being registered on a national database, I don't feel that we should be treated any differently from others who work with children. Of course, there's a completely different argument to be had over whether children are being over-protected generally in society – but if all those who work in a position of trust with children and vulnerable adults are checked, then I certainly don't feel "insulted" or "demeaned" by being included. I don't believe that the process will make any difference to how the children in schools feel about us, and nor will it create or reinforce a gulf between children and society.

In fact, it's extremely important that authors should continue to visit schools: both the lesser-known writers for whom school visits constitute a considerable portion of their earnings, and more famous ones who don't need the money. One of the benefits of school visits is that we can show children that writers and illustrators are no different from anyone else – we're just like them! When I talk to children I always try to stress that when I was a boy I wrote and drew no better than they do now. As children, we are all amazingly creative, but as we grow older something happens to most of us – we become self-conscious, inhibited and lose confidence. We stop creating. I encourage the children I meet in schools to continue, and tell them that the main difference between me and most other adults is that I didn't stop creating. I'm still doing what I loved to do as a child: drawing and making up stories.

So for us to say, as we do if we ask to be exempted from this scheme, that we're NOT the same as other people – that we're special, and should have special rules made just for us – goes completely against what I believe.