$9 million down the drain

The above cartoon is from the Manawatu Standard of June 18, 2009. $9 million is the cost of the national referendum on the question: “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?” Although the postal referendum doesn’t close until August 21, the Government has indicated it will ignore the result – partly because of the “loaded” nature of the question. So at a time of great economic hardship for many, we are literally pouring money down the drain.

See earlier post at https://hourglassera.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/new-zealand-referendum-on-smacking/.

New Zealand referendum on “smacking”

New Zealand referendum leaflet

The referendum question – “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand ?” – is a “loaded question” and thus improper. It assumes an acceptance of the proposition that “smacking” has a place in “good parental correction”, and asks only whether smacking, as part of this “good correction”, should leave the smacker open to criminal prosecution. Clearly, when phrased this way, the question is far more likely to elicit a “No” vote than it would if it were phrased correctly. What we need to be asked is simply whether we think parents should be allowed to hit their children.

Inside the leaflet, voters are informed they will receive their voting papers “in the mail in the first week of August 2009”. Of course, a majority will vote for the “right” of parents to physically assault their children. Sadly, most people still see violence as an effective way to quickly solve a problem.

New Zealand disciplinarian disappointed

See Anti-smacking bill becomes law, and Sue Reid: Smacking laws were never about the real issue of child abuse. Sue Reid is a researcher and writer for Family First NZ.

I was never involved in the debate on this issue, except casually in the office. I was surprised, though, by the vehemence with which some Christians insisted on what they saw as their God-given right, indeed obligation, to hit/smack/spank their children. See Biblical passages concerning spanking.

(The above cartoon is from the Manawatu Standard of June 2, 2009.)