Party Leader Graham Capill said today, “The results of the Ministry of Justice survey on physical discipline of children is a victory for common sense and endorses the CHP’s view that parents should be allowed to get on with the task of parenting, unencumbered by governmental interference.

The survey revealed that 80% of the public agreed that a person parenting a child should be allowed by law to smack the child with an open hand if they are naughty.

“Clearly the multi-million dollar CYFS campaigns to change public opinion has failed and has wasted scarce resources seeking to alter the behaviour of responsible parents who are seeking the best for their children.

“It ought also to be noted that the 20% of respondents who wanted to see smacking banned were people who had never been involved in parenting. This suggests the debate is driven by lily-livered bureaucrats who are out of touch with the realities of parenting and who are committed to sheepishly follow the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Mr Capill continued, “It is time we did what is in the best interests of children, that is to train our children consistently, using a variety of techniques which may include the occasional smack, so that they grow up to be responsible citizens. Without that training we will continue to see out of control teenagers committed to prison for serious offences and students expelled from school (instead of continuing their education). To neglect sound discipline is not fair on children.

“Any law change will not achieve the end of stopping abuse. It will however, turn good parents into criminals. The abusers, who have never respected the law, will continue to prey on children. In Sweden, one year after smacking was abolished in homes, serious abuse continued to rise at levels equivalent to those found in America.

“The government should stop pouring money into trying to tell parents how to do their job. Politically correct parent education will not help anyone. Instead they should look at other factors that affect children for the rest their lives, such as the need to spend time with our children, better education, encouraging programmes to ensure marriages don’t end in divorce and giving greater financial support to families. These measurers would be far more effective than a campaign that 80% of New Zealanders simply won’t buy into,” Mr Capill concluded.

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