Anti Smacking Bill

This subject is always going to be contentious and everyone will always have an opinion - so here is my 10cents worth.

I dont have children yet, but have always been surrounded my kids in our family and have 3 god children who I spend a lot of time with. I personally dont beleive in smacking, as I think that its a 'short sharp shock' tactic, and kids dont have to 'think' about their actions. Most of my friends and family use the 'time out' method, and this seems to be effective...but like I say I am not a parent yet and will have to figure these things out when our little one comes along.

In theory I agree with Sue Bradfords bill - but ONLY because she is actually doing something. I dont think that this will in any way stop parents / guardians / caregivers / grandparents (lets be honest  - its not always parents) who beat the kids in their care. I think that it will make it harder for schools and CYFs to actually figure out who the real 'criminals' are.

 

It sucks pure and simply. I don't beat my children they get a quick smack if they are doing something dangerous and never when I am mad at them, but yet technically I am being put in the same box as a person that abuses their child!!!

YES they need to define the law "reasonable force" is such a vague term and open to so many interpretations, I remember a case a few years back where a woman poured bleach down her sons throat as she was angry about how he was talking. She got let off and the judge was quoted as saying "she's normally a good mother" and she was under a lot of stress due to the boys behaviour. BUT banning smacking is not going to stop the people who are doing it from doing it! People already know right from wrong and how far is to far. As far as i am concerned there is a huge amount of difference between a smack on the bum or hand and a whack in the head or with a weapon!

It is going to get to the point where you as a parents are going to have to prove you didn't smack your child as opposed to them proving you did. My sixteen year old niece went through a real rough patch last year and she has said she was so angry at being grounded and at everything last year that had that been the law,she probably would have made and allegation just to make her nana pay for the sake of it. And that's the worry children will then have a tool and if they are that way inclined a way of holding their parents to ransom.

We have to protect our countries children for sure I just don't think banning smacking is going to do what they hope it will do.

Ok, this is horribly un PC of me, but yhe only way to get the child abuse statistics down is to assess each "at risk" (in the opinion of the LMC's etc) fmaily before baby is allowed to go home, and not let that baby go home.

The LMCs do have a standard question as to family violence (something to the mother like, have you any reason to be afraid of violence in your home I think)... but IMO the real victims would be too afraid to answer that honestly anyway.

Gsmum, it wasn't so much how do "I" deem someone at risk, it was really just a "statement". I really couldn't see something like this ever *really* happening, it was a statement along the lines of "if you're gonna do this, why don't you just go the whole hog and do this instead?"

I would assume, though, that during 9 months of antenatal care, your LMC would have a fairly good measure of what type of home baby is going to. I don't mean co sleeping or formula feeding or anything else that some might say is "bad parenting" I mean evidence of drug taking and excessive drinking, evidence of violence, attitude towards differnt things might be a warning sign, and of course, as in the case of the Kahui twins, a history of children in cypfs/other gaurdians care. I realise that all an LMC can do is ring cypfs and warn them, and I know they do, but it seems to get well beyond this point before anything ever gets done, which is sad for those poor kids who don't ask to be born. Like you say, you can't take an animal home from SPCA without checks.

You are so right, there!