Archive for the news Category
August 13, 2009
The Local, an English language publication in Sweden reports that Liberal Party MP Helena Bargholtz is dismayed to learn that New Zealand is holding a referendum to reintroduce smacking. She says,
I am so disappointed learning from the Swedish media about the referendum in New Zealand as to whether corporal punishment should be reintroduced.
Hitting people is wrong – and children are people too. Corporal punishment of children breaches their fundamental rights to respect for their human dignity and physical integrity.
Its legality breaches their right to equal protection under the law. The rights of all children – the smallest and most fragile of people – must be fully respected.
Read the entire article at The Local.
August 12, 2009
The NZ Herald reports today that most mainstream churches back a YES vote.
Some quotes:
“The law isn’t perfect, but [the Catholic Church is] reasonably satisfied with the compromise.”
The heads of the Anglican and Methodist churches say the current law, which bans the use of force against children for “correction”, is working well and should not be changed.
Baptist national leader Rodney Macann said the referendum was an opportunity for churches to declare their belief in “zero tolerance for violence”.
August 11, 2009
John Roughan writes in the New Zealand Herald (8/8/09) that the men behind the smacking poll are so confident of its result they have prepared their next move by drafting a bill that would allow parents to use reasonable force for “correcting” a child’s behaviour.
He writes that they expect the vote for their “good parental correction” to be so decisive that John Key will have to surrender his stated wish to leave well-enough alone.
When they sent the bill to Roughan they said, “This is what government will adopt after the referendum.” So definite, And wanted him to report that the bill, sponsored by Act MP John Boscawen, expressly forbids the use of “any weapon, tool or instrument”.
“That is progress,” he wrote.
He then engaged on the No Vote team in an email Q&A to seek clarity.
“The bill would also make correction illegal if it “causes the child to suffer injury which is more than transitory and trifling” or, “is inflicted by any means that is cruel or degrading”.
“So that is what their correction is not, but what exactly is it? It is not simply the instant admonitory smack that the law now specifically permits. They want to add correction as a distinct permitted purpose.”
He concluded: “I don’t need a right, he does. But there it is; they want the right to smack long after the event, “as long as it’s not abusive … as long as the child associates the punishment with the wrong behaviour … haven’t you heard of parents taking time out … ?”
“I find the idea of parents taking “time out” to plan a punishment quite repugnant if what they plan is physical.
“Whatever the referendum result, I think justice will decide the hiding has had its day.”
August 11, 2009
Any debate over child discipline should include those most affected, the Children’s Commissioner says.
It was important children and young people were heard in the debate on the anti-smacking law, commissioner John Angus said in a story published in the New Zealand Herald (10/8/09).
Dr Angus said he had asked the Young People’s Reference Group a series of questions about the child discipline law and while they supported the law change, they said that information about it had been lacking.
The group is made up of young people who provide advice to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner on relevant issues.
One of the members, William, 16, said the law change removed ambiguity in the seriousness of offences.
“Maybe it’s time we listened to our youngest citizens,” he said.
August 10, 2009
TVNZ’s Sunday programme ran an excellent documentary on our “smacking culture” and the referendum.
Be sure to watch it!
August 10, 2009
Scientific American reports today that a task force appointed by the American Psychological Association concludes that “parents and caregivers should reduce and potentially eliminate their use of any physical punishment as a disciplinary measure.”
[Task force chair psychologist Sandra A. Graham-Bermann of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor] explained that the group of 15 experts in child development and psychology found correlations between physical punishment and an increase in childhood anxiety and depression, an increase in behavioral problems including aggression, and impaired cognitive development—even when the child’s pre-punishment behavior and development was taken into consideration.
Read the full article.
August 7, 2009
Terry Dobbs wrote an insightful piece in today’s Herald, discussing the results of her research and its implications for improving behaviour outcomes for our children. Here are some excerpts:
Proponents of smacking argue it is not child abuse and that smacking and child abuse are not related issues. They claim that physical punishment is only used as a last resort, that smacking is lightly administered and harmless and should be used when a parent is calm and loving.
But how real is this – what do children tell us? In 2005, as part of her Master’s thesis at Otago University, she interviewed 80 children aged between 5 and 14 years old about their experiences and understanding of family discipline. They were from ordinary New Zealand households with no history of child abuse or neglect.
Some 91 per cent of children in the study said they had been physically punished.
Adults may define a smack as something a lot gentler than a hit, but children were clear that a smack is a hard hit that hurts both emotionally and physically.
Fear and pain may sometimes achieve short-term obedience, but in the long term these emotions are unlikely to contribute to positive behavioural outcomes or promote children’s effective learning.
Many of the children believed smacking did not work as a disciplinary tool. They said that the use of time out, having privileges removed or being grounded were far more effective means of discipline.
The children’s responses render many adults’ claims and justifications highly suspect. It is also concerning that quite large numbers of children reported adult behaviour that was in fact abusive.
[Progressing to more effective discipline techniques means] moving on from a number of deeply held and understandable attitudes and emotions – coming to terms with the fact that your own loving parents hit you (they knew no better), that you may have harmed your child’s development (it’s never too late to change that) and that the law can be regarded as a positive move for children rather than an unwelcome imposition on adults.
Our 2007 child discipline law is only two years old – let’s give it time to help New Zealand grow happy, healthy children.
Read the whole article.
Also see a copy of the report “Insights”, which describes the results of Terry Dobbs’s work, and was commissioned by Save the Children
August 7, 2009
Do parents have the right to smack their children?
The referendum on smacking is sparking controversy nationwide. As a result New Zealand’s premier debating society is hosting a show down between prominent Yes and No Voters in 2009.
The debate; open to the public, with entry by gold coin koha, is being organised by the Victoria University Debating Society and is sponsored by the University.
Side affirmative will be represented by champion student debater Udayan Mukherjee, commentator and former journalist Dave Crampton (who blogs at http://big-news.blogspot.com) and Wellington lawyer Michael Mabbett.
Green Party MP Sue Bradford will speak for the negative side, as will founder of Lobby Group EPOCH and former UNICEF NZ Advocacy Manager and Beth Wood. They will be joined by Victoria University Debating Society President Polly Higbee.
Each debater will have around ten minutes to speak, and a show of hands at the end will determine the winner.
Tea and coffee (and heated discussion) will be served after the debate.
“That parents have the right to smack their children”
Monday August 10, 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Lecture Theatre One,
Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus, Victoria University
August 5, 2009
Open Parachute has a cogent summary of the recent Police Statistics on the Child Discipline Law.
1: “Smacking” in itself is not an offence. The report had to consider offence codes which weren’t “smacking” but most likely to include “smacking” type incidents.
2: The legislation has had “minimal impact on police activity.”
3: During the review period “police attended 279 child assault events, 39 involved ‘minor acts of physical discipline’ and 8 involved smacking.”
4: There has been a decrease in ‘smacking events’ and ‘minor acts of physical discipline.’
5: There has been an increase (36) of ‘other child assault’ events. (We should be concerned about these).
6: “No prosecutions were made for ‘smacking’ events during this period.”
Read the whole article at Open Parachute.
August 3, 2009
Wellington, Aug 2 NZPA – Social Development Minister Paula Bennett will not vote in the smacking referendum she said today.
Instead she will “shut up” and listen.
“I think this is a time for politicians to listen, actually it wouldn’t do any harm for some of us to shut up for a while, see what the public think and then make some plans from there,” Ms Bennett told TV One’s Q+A programme.
Politicians had the opportunity to put forward their views every day, she said.
However, she said the current law appeared to be working.
“Certainly I suppose I see that through Child Youth and Family, and through being the minister for that, that I am not alarmed by anything that seems to have changed drastically in the last couple of years.”
