Hon Bill English

National Education Spokesman

22 September 2004

English: pendulum swings away from parents

National's Education spokesman Bill English says the pendulum has swung too far away from parents when it comes to potential life-changing events in their children's lives. Speaking to the PPTA conference in Wellington today he said that politically correct ideas about privacy and confidentiality had put the welfare of some children at risk.

"When there are significant events affecting a child, and a real risk to their welfare, parents should be involved. "Schools are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff too often. That's not fair on them, and laws that allow that to happen are sapping parental responsibility by stopping their involvement.

"Parliament has an opportunity to reinforce the responsibilities of parents, to strengthen families and to clarify the law for schools when it addresses clause 37 of the Care of Children Bill in the next few months.

"It's time for a public debate on how the law deals with the role of parents in matters of their children's welfare. "It's time to swing the pendulum back in favour of parents," says Mr English.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>