We were a bit slow off the mark this morning. And when we turned on the telly, we were confronted with the sight of Sue Bradford crowing about the success of her beloved anti-smacking law following the conviction of Jimmy Mason last night. Mason was found guilty of one of the three charges against him, and will be sentenced next month.
Bradford claimed that there is evidence that her law has reduced violence about children. On behalf of all the children who have died or been seriously injured as a result of violence since the anti-smacking law was passed, we ask Bradford to either put up her evidence or shut up, and see what New Zealanders have to say in the up-coming referendum.
UPDATE: MacDoctor has an excellent blog-post on the S59 issue today - it's well worth taking a few minutes to read and reflect on.
4 comments:
How can Bradford have the gall to comment about a flick on the ear and yet be silent about a blow to the head hard enough to cause a brain haemorrhage?
I can think of at least four children killed since the introduction of the amended S59. Boiling water, chunks of wood, massive sustained beating that pulverirsed their insides - Bradford was silent on all of them, as was Cindy Kiro. But thank god none were smacked and that a wedge has been driven into the guidence element of the parent-child relationship. What a disgusting turd eater Bradford is. John Key is no better. He too believes life is better with this attack on families remaining in law. The old S59 worked perfectly well as the results of it's use show. I'm sick to fuck of the lies of a certain element of society.
Bradford will not be presenting any evidence that child abuse is on the decrease - because there isn't any. What is also evident is that there is no increase in the reporting of child abuse either, despite campaigns (although I hear there is an increase in reported "smacking incidents" that thoroughly waste police time).
What Bradford actually means when she says that child abuse is on the wane, is that smacking is on the decrease. This is because, in her delusional world, smacking a kid and torturing a child to death are all lumped into the same basket.
As I have pointed out on my blog, the only result of Bradford's stupid bill is the removal of smacking from a parent's disciplinary armamentarium. For those with low parenting skills, that leaves nothing at all, as they lack the patience and skill to use alternative methods of discipline.
Unfortunately, the results of the lack of discipline will not show up in child abuse convictions (where John Key is looking) but in crime statistics in 10-15 years time. It will then be much too late to undo the damage that this short-sighted policy has caused.
Excellent comment Macdoc - I've just read your blogpost, and will update mine with a link, as it is essential reading. It's very hard to find fault with your argument.
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