2 April 2012
A recent news item reported in the New Zealand Herald on a survey undertaken by Curia Market Research. EPOCH New Zealand is delighted that indications are that the new law may be discouraging the use of physical punishment. Some comments on the survey follow.
The nature of the questions asked makes it difficult to interpret whether or not there have been attitude and behavioural changes since the law changed because the questions asked are not based on questions asked over time in New Zealand. Some questions that might be tracked over time were asked by the Office of the Children’s Commission in 2008. However, it is very pleasing to note that 63% of parents surveyed say they have never or only rarely smacked their child since the law change. This might mean that the law is discouraging the use of physical punishment.
The researchers, and perhaps some parents, continue to confuse discipline with physical punishment. The research asks “Do you think the anti-smacking law has caused a decline in discipline amongst young children?” Discipline and physical punishment are not the same thing. Discipline is about guiding a child to behave well and does not depend on physical punishment.
Police monitoring of the law change shows few reports of minor smacking but a significant increase in reports of more severe assaults on children, which provides a measure of protection for children who are the victims of physical punishment
The question asking “Do you think the law should be changed to allow hand smacks on a child’s backside or hand?” is extremely leading. Smacks of any sort should not be encouraged but all indications are that under the present law, minor incidents of smacking are mostly unlikely to end in prosecution.
We simply do not know whether the law change is making any difference to rates of child abuse because our statistics on rates of child abuse over time are of a limited nature The causes of child abuse are multiple and complex. Changing attitudes about how children are disciplined (in the wider sense of the word) is only part of the picture.
It should be noted that there has been no significant public campaign to promote the law positively or to increase parent support and education since the law change.
