July 20, 2010
Corporal punishment of children in schools has been illegal in New Zealand for 20 years. Most parents would be outraged if they thought their children could be strapped or caned at the discretion of another adult. They would see this form of punishment as unjust, ineffective, unsafe and a breach of children’s rights.
In a short news item from Texas. USA, something called a “paddle” is displayed. This is the implement used in some schools to punish children. It looks like a cricket bat and it is said to be capable of causing tissue injury in the recipient. Physical punishment of children in schools is still legal in some, but not all, states in USA.
In the clip a child advocate argues against the use of physical punishment as colleagues seek to make physical punishment of children illegal in schools in Texas. He argues that hitting children teaches them to hit, is ineffective as a method of teaching children to behave well and is a cruel and degrading form of punishment.
Hopefully more and more New Zealanders know these things and will feel horror on seeing a “paddle”. The “paddle” is a very graphic symbol of violence to children and reflects nothing but misinformation about what adults can do to help children behave well.
August 17, 2009
Former probation officer Christopher Horan writes in today’s Otago Daily Times that people are sick of the debate and it’s time to move on, comparing the present situation to the debate around corporal punishment in schools. We moved on, and few regret the move to more effective ways of disciplining children in schools.
I’m confident that most parents who oppose Sue Bradford’s child-discipline Act are caring and responsible parents. That’s why I’m also sure they will be uneasy in the knowledge that their view is shared by most wife beaters, sex offenders, child abusers and child killers.
These are the people who cling to a distorted sense of entitlement to control the lives of others.
Moving on would leave them behind.
Read the full article at the ODT.
Tags: child killers ,christopher horan ,corporal punishment ,horan ,move on ,Otago Daily Times ,physical punishment ,prison ,probation ,probation officer ,schools ,sex offenders ,sue bradford ,wife beaters
June 8, 2009
Linley Boniface provides food for thought in her opinion piece in today’s DomPost.
New Zealand was among the last countries in the industrialised world to ban corporal punishment in schools, but attitudes have now changed to the point where most parents would be outraged at any suggestion that teachers be allowed to take a belt, strap or cane to kids.
Bafflingly, though, it appears to be the location of the beating rather than the act itself that some of us object to. We don’t want kids being hit in the classroom, but we’re happy for them to be hit in the home.
Despite clear evidence that the world around us is chock-full of people who couldn’t successfully raise a family of tadpoles to adulthood, we believe anyone above the age of 18 can be trusted to use restraint, caution and common sense in deciding exactly how hard to hit the children in their care…
[N]early one child a week is admitted to Starship children’s hospital with serious injuries inflicted by an adult.
Her bottom line: It took generations for us to believe that it was unacceptable to beat children in schools. It will take generations for us to believe that it is unacceptable to beat children in our homes. But we have to start sometime.
That time is now. A YES VOTE supports a better future for our children.
Linley also questions the relationship between the media and and those responsible for calling this referendum on “a deceitful question”. Read the whole article.
