15 November 2008 Research from Childen's Commissioner shows positive trends
Research organised by the Children's Commissioner and conducted by URM Research shows positive trends with only 28% of respondents clearly opposed to the 2007 law which repealed s59 of the Crimes Act 1961, and an encouraging number of adults opposed to the use of physical discipline.
EPOCH New Zealand finds the following key findings encouraging: 43% of respondents in the independent omnibus survey supported the law while about 33% opposed it. The remainder were neutral. The level of support against the use of physical discipline with children is also encouraging, with 37% clearly opposing use of physical discipline. Support for the use of physical discipline appears to be declining over time.
Awareness of the law change is high, although understanding of what the law means is lower. There are relatively high levels of support, at least in principle, for the concept that children should be entitled to the same protection from assault as adults. EPOCH New Zealand supports the Children's Commission's call for sustained efforts to engage support for positive parenting practices to manage and guide children’s behaviour and for activities to improve understanding of, and support for, the law.
A copy of the full report can be downloaded from www.occ.org.nz/.