NEW ZEALAND: Smacking kids faces ban by 2005

The Dominion Post, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND ^ | October 7 2003 | Leah Haines

[shaggy eel]

The [New Zealand] government has given the clearest indication yet that smacking children will be against the law in two years.

Facing stinging international criticism of New Zealand's stance on corporal punishment, Social Development Minister Steve Maharey said the law which permits "reasonable force" by adults against their children would be gone in two years.

New Zealand has consistently been criticised by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for not repealing Section 59 of the Crimes Act. This section lets adults use reasonable force as a defence against child assault, but is not available as a defence against adults hitting adults.

Again this week, the UN committee expressed its "deep concern" that New Zealand had yet to ban all forms of corporal punishment. That followed Prime Minister Helen Clark's recent public backing for a repeal of Section 59.

But recent opinion polls suggest that more than 70 per cent of adults still believe it is okay to smack children and Mr Maharey has said New Zealand is not yet ready for the law to be changed.

Instead, the Government has provided $10 million for a two-year anti-smacking public education campaign.

Mr Maharey said the Cabinet had agreed to revisit Section 59 before the campaign's end, by which time he believed both the public and Parliament would be ready to amend the law.

In an effort to affect public perception before then, Government ministers have begun changing the way they talk about the repeal of Section 59, insisting that it is not a smacking ban.

They say parents would not be criminalised for disciplining their children, but that adults would no longer be able to escape conviction on charges of child assault by pleading reasonable force.

Meanwhile, New Zealand First MP Brian Donnelly has written a private member's bill that bans hitting a child around the head or using implements to punish them.

And the Greens have drafted a new bill repealing Section 59 altogether, saying that allowing children to be smacked added to the culture of abuse in New Zealand.

Both member's bills would need to be drawn from a ballot held every second Wednesday before they could be debated.

ACT has also lashed out at the UN for espousing idealism "that is unrealistic in our world".

"If the UN wants to tell us what to do, then it should at least come to New Zealand and see things first-hand," Social Welfare spokeswoman Muriel Newman said.

[shaggy eel]

As a child I was smacked and realise that it was always for good reason. The downstream effect for me is that I've ended up on FreeRepublic as a paragon of virtue. The real need for smacking really lies with voters, to smack politicians like Helen Clark and Steve Maharey into line. Discipline and abuse are two different issues and the UN, which is governing New Zealand thru these marxists, needs to realise that.

[shaggy eel]

ping

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[GSWarrior]

A well placed smack to the posterior is sometimes called for. Striking a child the face is (going way out on limb here) wrong.

[Tai_Chung]

Social Development Minister Steve Maharey said the law which permits "reasonable force" by adults against their children would be gone in two years.

Only "unreasonable force" will be allowed?

[dead]

This reminds me!

I have to go to New Zealand and smack some kids before 2005.

[snopercod]

It's still OK to slap women around though, right? <r,d,&g>

[concordKIWI]

A slap in the face isn't good, but there is nothing wrong with a smack on the ass. There are times when I feel it is apropriate. Hey, in SFO, people pay money for that.

[Jaded]

There is in the normal course of child rearing a huge difference between discipline and abuse. These people have no clue what it is. If you spend all of your time begging your children and fretting over their self-esteem you will have pushy monsters. But you already knew that.

Beyond that this article deserves a big eye roll.

[shaggy eel]

,,, direct your letter of intent to Steve Maharey - he recently claimed in Parliament to live a "blameless life of exellence."

[shaggy eel]

It's still OK to slap women around though, right?

,,, it's never been OK to slap women, but womyn are another issue [LOL].

[annyokie]

It depends. When I called my mother a "b*tch" when I was 16, she slapped me into next week.

[GSWarrior]

Just a guess. McClintock supporter? Me, too.

[shaggy eel]

Hey, in SFO, people pay money for that.

,,, more than I need to know, but with the way the economy is, whatever it takes to turn a buck, I guess.

[azhenfud]

I've always heard smacking was impolite. Leave it to the impolice to make it against the law.

[dead]

I think the poorly-worded headline is leading people to believe that this is a ban on smacking children's faces.

It is just about regular old spanking, isn't it?

[shaggy eel]

Beyond that this article deserves a big eye roll.

,,, indeed, you're 100% on the money. The irony is, Helen Klark and her sisterhood of matrons in charge are predominantly childless.

[concordKIWI]

Times are hard, money's tight- calls for desparate measures

[ElkGroveDan]

The easy answer is for the parents to schedule a cruise for their summer vacations. Then they can tell the kids all year, "Just you wait until we're in international waters young man, then you're really going to get it!"

[jwalburg]

Next week then or next week next week?