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Law should stay as it is, Children’s Commissioner
Media Release
Embargoed until 8pm 21 August 2009
Law should stay as it is, Children’s Commissioner says
The
law protecting children should stay as it is, Children’s
Commissioner Dr John Angus said today.
“I respect
that New Zealanders have participated strongly in the
referendum and it indicates to me that we are thinking hard
about how we bring up our children,” Dr Angus
said.
“My advice to Government will continue to
be that the current law is good for
children.
“Parenting is about a relationship.
Hitting, smacking and slapping children are forms of
punishment that get in the way of the sort of relationship
that works. They are not an effective way to set boundaries
for children and teach them right from wrong. Most parents
know this instinctively.
“There is a wealth of
evidence from experts on child health and welfare that
smacking, hitting and slapping are not effective and in some
instances, can be harmful.
“In addition to that I
have listened to the voices of children and young people.
They say smacking is ineffective, harmful to them and hard
to understand.
“I have looked at the Police
statistics and fears that the new law would mean Police
would investigate lots of families and lots of parents would
be prosecuted, have proved unfounded.
“At its
heart this law gives children, like the rest of us,
protection by law from assault.
“The change to
the law in 2007 was an important step towards keeping
children in New Zealand safe and
secure.”
ENDS
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