NZ's Anti Smacking Laws - Child Protection or Waste of Police Resources
July 8th 2008 05:18
In June last year, New Zealand introduced a controversial anti smacking law. Twelve months on, we need to ask if this bill has been success or a waste of valuable police resources.
The law is designed to protect children from parents who use unreasonable force such as punching, kicking or using objects such as whips or cords to discipline their child. It means these parents can no longer use the defence of “reasonable force to correct a child’s behaviour,’ to avoid proscution.
Parents who give their child an open hand smack over a tantrum in the supermarket, need not fear arrest, according to the law. Police have the discretion to decide whether or not an incident is worthy of prosecution.
Save the Children Director in New Zealand John Bowis is happy about the introduction of the law and feels it protects children from serious abuse. He also believes parents are not being prosecuted for minor incidents.
I am anti parents hitting their children using weapons such as brooms or belts just because they are frustrated and do not know what else to do. This is more than reasonable force and these parents need prosecuting.
I do not believe in open hand smacking either, but I know that some parents have used this as a very last resort, when reasoning and other methods have failed. Although most of these cases have not been prosecuted, many parents have been questioned and even received a caution from police. Really Long Link
It is not the police’s fault, it is their job to follow up on all cases of suspected abuse, but I wonder if some members of the public are using this law as an opportunity to go on a witch-hunt.
I also wonder, are valuable police resources being wasted investigating minor cases while children in serious danger are still not getting the attention they need.
The law is designed to protect children from parents who use unreasonable force such as punching, kicking or using objects such as whips or cords to discipline their child. It means these parents can no longer use the defence of “reasonable force to correct a child’s behaviour,’ to avoid proscution.
Parents who give their child an open hand smack over a tantrum in the supermarket, need not fear arrest, according to the law. Police have the discretion to decide whether or not an incident is worthy of prosecution.
Save the Children Director in New Zealand John Bowis is happy about the introduction of the law and feels it protects children from serious abuse. He also believes parents are not being prosecuted for minor incidents.
I am anti parents hitting their children using weapons such as brooms or belts just because they are frustrated and do not know what else to do. This is more than reasonable force and these parents need prosecuting.
I do not believe in open hand smacking either, but I know that some parents have used this as a very last resort, when reasoning and other methods have failed. Although most of these cases have not been prosecuted, many parents have been questioned and even received a caution from police. Really Long Link
It is not the police’s fault, it is their job to follow up on all cases of suspected abuse, but I wonder if some members of the public are using this law as an opportunity to go on a witch-hunt.
I also wonder, are valuable police resources being wasted investigating minor cases while children in serious danger are still not getting the attention they need.
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