COLUMN: On the 'anti-smacking' bill
About eight years ago we entered our Guy Family farming business in the Electra Business Kapiti Horowhenua Awards. The whole process was invaluable to our company because of the feedback we received from the assessors. The awards ceremony last week at the Events Centre was hugely successful and there was a real buzz among everyone. Showcasing the businesses we have in the Horowhenua and Kapiti region at this event shows how new businesses have evolved from our cornerstone industries of agriculture, textile and retail.
It takes a bit of guts to enter your business in this competition. There is always a perceived risk of failure and you have to be ready to hear what the judges really think of your business. That is where the true value of entering this competition is gained. Staff get a boost and genuine sense of pride if their workplace enters the competition and is lucky enough to win an award.
I’m opposed to the ‘anti-smacking’ Bill. Everyone is talking about it and what it will mean for law abiding parents trying to do their best raising their children.
The reason the public are in an uproar is because this Bill is seen as an invasion on how good parents discipline their children. As a young parent I know raising a family isn’t a walk in the park – there is no formal training. Children need to be loved, but at the same time they need to learn boundaries. We use ‘time out’ that works incredibly well when our 2-year-old needs to learn that he has done something wrong. While I have never smacked – I don’t want to be criminalised if one day I decide that a light smack across the hand is required to change a bad behaviour.
Many parents feel this legislation is another example of the ‘Nanny State’ Government – imposing laws on how we should parent our kids. The Labour Party is forcing all its MPs to support it, despite more than a dozen being opposed. The MPs are coming under intense pressure in their electorates to vote this Bill down, so Helen Clark looks like making this a Government Bill. There are two reasons:
Labour needs the Greens support for a fourth term in power.
Labour is trying to minimise the negative impact it receives from supporting the Bill by passing it as quickly as possible (before Easter?)
The Prime Minister was recently reminded of her 2005 interview on Radio Rhema, when asked if she wanted to see smacking banned she replied: "Absolutely not - I think you're trying to defy human nature". Clearly Miss Clark has flip flopped and lost touch with the mood of New Zealanders as about 80% of us are against this Bill.
We all want a better society for our children free from unnecessary violence. That’s why National MP Chester Burrows (an ex Policeman and Lawyer) has drafted some amendments that define ‘reasonable force’ to correct behaviour and eliminate confusion over whether a light smack is ok under the Bill.
In its current form Police say they will be forced to investigate smacking complaints and are preparing guidelines on how the Bill should be enforced. In other words, if your neighbour reports you for giving your child a light smack then the Police will have to pay you a visit. This seems ironic when Police are in short supply across the country.
I will continue to love my children and hope that the ‘Nanny State’ doesn’t start dictating terms in our family home. Somehow I have a fear that this Bill will pass and it will take a test case in court to clarify a very awkward situation for some unlucky parent.