I was ruminating again today about this anti-smacking bill (and yes, I will refer to it as that, for it is) and the people who support it; particularly Save The Children. I am still trying to decide whether to continue financially supporting them in light of the revelations below in other posts.
Anyway, this got me thinking about the proponents of this bill: do they really think that loving parents (around 85% in most polls) want to be able to hurt their children under the law? Do they really hold such a negative opinion of most New Zealanders (who are good, loving parents) that we would do such a thing? Surely not! If so, I am saddened to think that the opinion the s59'ers hold of their fellow NZers is so low.
And if they don't think that loving parents will hurt their children, have they asked themselves why parents want the ability to be able to use smacking to discipline their kids?
It seems to be that the proponents of s59 really haven't thought it through. Either they don't have children, or they are raising them the hard way - putting a heck of a lot of effort into time-out or grounding or other multifarious punishments, when a single smack will solve the issue quickly and permanently with a few tears that are soon forgotten.
It seems to me that they just don't understand.
Anyway, this got me thinking about the proponents of this bill: do they really think that loving parents (around 85% in most polls) want to be able to hurt their children under the law? Do they really hold such a negative opinion of most New Zealanders (who are good, loving parents) that we would do such a thing? Surely not! If so, I am saddened to think that the opinion the s59'ers hold of their fellow NZers is so low.
And if they don't think that loving parents will hurt their children, have they asked themselves why parents want the ability to be able to use smacking to discipline their kids?
It seems to be that the proponents of s59 really haven't thought it through. Either they don't have children, or they are raising them the hard way - putting a heck of a lot of effort into time-out or grounding or other multifarious punishments, when a single smack will solve the issue quickly and permanently with a few tears that are soon forgotten.
It seems to me that they just don't understand.
There's probably middle-aged guilt involved. I'm sure many of those who had children that have grown are thinking of all the times they lost control and smacked their children out of frustration rather than it being considered discipline and think everyone is the same as them.
ReplyDeleteI was talking to someone today who would fit that profile (thought, she's against banning smacking).