PRESS RELEASE

A press release from Family Life International, New Zealand

Wednesday 28.03.07

New comprehensive US study shows yet another cause of child aggression that isn’t smacking

A new study in the March/April 2007 of Child Development shows that the more time that children spend in centre-based care before kindergarten the more likely they are to display aggressive and disruptive behaviours during later stages of development.

The study, led by Jay Belsky, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues and Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck University of London, focused on 1364 children who had been tracked since birth as part of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

The study showed that teachers reported more frequent problem behaviours such as: argues a lot; cruelty, bullying or meanness to others; destroys things belonging to others; disobedient at school; gets into many fights; lying or cheating; and screams a lot from children who had been in day-care.

The study confirms the findings of research conducted in Canada last year which showed that children in day-care were 17 times more hostile than children raised at home, and research conducted in the UK in 2005 which showed that day-care was linked to "higher levels of aggression."

“This research adds to a large and growing body of research which shows that child aggression and disruptive behaviours are not linked to smacking; contrary to the unscientific claims continually promoted by many supporters of Sue Bradford’s anti-smacking bill” says Family Life International media spokesperson; Brendan Malone.

In today’s edition of the NZ Herald the Prime Minister states that “New Zealand has it on its conscience that our rate of child death and injury from violence, including in the home, is appalling.”

“If the Government is really is so concerned with child welfare then why are they targeting loving physical discipline of children, when research clearly shows us that is has nothing to do with child violence?” says Mr Malone.

ENDS

© Scoop Media