PressRelease FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday 4th August 2009

A Yes Vote Is A Youth Vote

SAVE is surprised by claims from Youth Against Child Abuse New Zealand saying that they speak on behalf of youth and that majority of young people would vote no, without providing any real evidence nor research to prove this miss leading theory.

SAVE recently ran an online survey on the website www.savemovement.org that attracted 100 youth participants from all over the country and as young as 10 years old. The survey was promoted through Facebook and all Members of Parliament were made aware of the survey. The results were as follows

Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?

Yes 69%, No 31%

Should there be the defence of discipline in child abuse cases?

Yes 17%, No 81%

Do youth deserve a better say on this issue?

Yes 82%, No 16%, No answer 2%

What best describes the referendum question

Excellent, no errors or anything 8%

Fine, but could be better 16%

Don’t Know 7%

Not Very Good and Miss Leading 24%

Absolutely Shocking, shouldn’t be allowed 45%

Spokesperson for SAVE and the Yes Vote for Youth campaign Johny O’Donnell says “amidst too many claims that majority of youth would vote no we decided to clear the issue up once and for all, the survey was open to anyone and attracted a lot of interest, in the short time it was running 100 young people took part”.

Campaign Coordinator Manaaki Walker said “violence is a ripple effect it starts of as a drop of water but soon creates a ripple effect which disturbs all the waters, this is no different than smacking a child it may start off as a smack but can soon trigger violent behaviours from both the parent and the child” he added “we need to keep our waters calm and let children have peace in their own homes”.

Vice Chairperson of SAVE Scott Miller believed the campaign had gone well and hoped that New Zealand would do the right thing and protect the rights of young people. He said “the group was very passionate about this cause and were concerned that the rights of young people had been overlooked in the debate”.

YES VOTE FOR YOUTH

SAVE strongly believes that a Yes Vote in the referendum is a chance for adults to do the right thing for children. Many people have been completely miss lead by the referendum question and claims that good parents are being criminalized. While SAVE stands by it’s belief that no physical punishment is the ideal way to raise children that does not mean we want parents behind bars for lightly smacking their children.

Despite recent criticism the group stands by it’s stance and believes the law is working well but it is being put under threat by this referendum, it concerns SAVE that if we return to the previous Section 59 children will have less rights than adults and animals and parents will once again excuse child abuse with the defence of ‘discipline’.

SAVE would like to remind all voters that 69% of young people would vote yes given the chance and it is their responsibility to be the voice that we cannot be and vote yes in the referendum to send a clear message that child abuse is unacceptable.

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