MEDIA RELEASE
21 MARCH 2007

Yet Another Poll (yawn!) Shows Smacking is No Big Deal

In the latest of 15 polls run over the last 2 years on this topic, 71% of the 1850 respondents to the STUFF website poll said they had been occasionally smacked and it was no big deal. A further 21% said they were smacked hard but never think about it.

Only 5% said that a hard smack had affected them in a negative way.

Despite this poll not being scientifically accurate, it is consistent with every other poll run over the last 2 years, including a survey done by the anti-smacking lobby for their own Conference last year (Feb 2006) which found 82% support for section 59.

Family First National Director Bob McCoskrie says that parents should take heart from this poll.

Despite the claims of the anti-smacking lobby groups and MP’s, reasonable smacks don’t harm children. Parents should also ignore the accusations that when they smack, they are assaulting their kids and are guilty of violence.

“Reasonable smacking and correction in the context of a loving nurturing family does no harm, as has been confirmed by quality research done by Otago University and the Christchurch School of Medicine,” says Mr McCoskrie.

He says that NZ parents deserve credit for the job they have done, and are doing, raising their children, and they certainly don’t need Sue Bradford’s “education” or the Prime Minister’s “agenda” to fix something that ain’t broke.

Family First continues to call on the government to tackle the real causes of child abuse as identified by UNICEF and CYF reports, and international research – namely family breakdown and dysfunction, substance abuse, and stress and poverty.

ENDS

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