Child Discpline Law

What is the law and what does it mean?

In 2007, Parliament passed a new law called the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act.

The new law means:

Parents who assault children no longer have the defence of "reasonable force".
Before the law was changed in 2007 parents or carers who were prosecuted for assaulting a child could claim an "excuse" - that they were correcting a child. The correction had to be reasonable in the cirumstances. This was called a statutory defence (a defence in law). No such defence existed when adults assaulted adults.

This defence no longer exists. If they are victims of assault children can now expect to be treated the same as adults in the eyes of the law.

The police are able to choose not to prosecute in cases of minor assault
Under the previous law the kinds of cases that went to court involved serious assaults. That is unlikely to change.

When the new law was being debated many people feared that parents who occasionally lightly smacked a child would be prosecuted in court and be convicted of a criminal offence. There is no need to be concerned about this. The new law recognises that prosecuting parents for minor assaults would not benefit either the child or the parent. Therefore, the law contains a provision that reminds the police that they are allowed to choose not to prosecute when children are assaulted if they think the assault is of a minor nature. Police have similar discretion to decide whether or not to prosecute adults who assault adults.

The use of physical punishment is banned in law
Police discretion does not mean that the law says that physical discipline (hitting and smacking) is ok – in fact the law goes as far as to say that “use of force” for correction is not allowed.

Adults who have to restrain a child are protected
Another worry that people had during the debate about the physical discipline law was that parents might get prosecuted if they held or restrained a child to keep them or someone else safe. The new law allows parents to hold or restrain or pick up children to:

• keep them safe, for example, from running on the road or touching a hot stove
• prevent them hurting other people or damaging property
• remove them from a place where they are being disruptive
• provide children with care like changing their nappies (even against their will) or to take them to their room or put them to bed

Such restraint has to be reasonable in the circumstances.

Parliament will look at how the law is working in two years after it was passed
The law says that Parliament is to review the new law in June 2009 to see how it is working. Some of the things that might be looked at are:

• Have parents been prosecuted in cases where the assault is minor?
• Have more parents been reported to Child, Youth and Family Services?
• Have more parents come to understand that there are better ways to teach children to behave well than hitting and smacking them?
• Are fewer children being hit and smacked or hurt and injured?

The law and positive parenting

The law sets a standard in law that is consistent with what we know about helping children behave well and with the goals of child discipline
We know from research into children’s behaviour and development that it takes time for children to learn how to behave in socially acceptably ways. Making behaving well something a child chooses to do because it is part of who they are rather than something done only out of fear of punishment is one of the goals of raising a child. It is about learning self-discipline. Indeed learning self-discipline extends through adolescence and even into adulthood. As we saw earlier in this book there are many things a parent can do to help this process - positive actions that help the child feel safe, loved and guided. Smacking and hitting are not part of these actions.

Children are influenced to behave well when their parents behave well around them. Children copy their parents’ behaviour. Children also like to please their parents.

Smacking children sometimes works to stop a particular behaviour in the short term but it does not contribute to a child developing self-discipline. When we discipline children we are often trying to get the child to behave well in the short term (for example, to stop kicking the cat) and of course that matters. But we should not forget that our ultimate goal is a long-term one. We want children to develop self-discipline and to grow up to be caring, confident and respectful people (who avoid hurting animals because they know it is wrong and they care about animals).

Some of the suggestions in Choose to Hug are about dealing with the short-term in ways that help children learn self-discipline. The positive environment discussed at the beginning of the book is also important – it sets the scene for long-term good behaviour.

The law sends a message that violence to children is unacceptable
Most children are raised in loving, non-violent homes. However, some children in New Zealand are treated violently. Much of this violence happens in the name of discipline. All children in New Zealand will be better protected when everyone knows that New Zealand is a place where you don’t hit children.

What children had to say

Quite a few years ago some children were asked for their suggestions to adults on how to help them behave. The highlighted words below remind you of some of the messages in Choose to Hug.

• Don’t hit or abuse me
• Talk things over with me
• Listen to me and respond
• Show me what you want
• Don’t scream at me – just tell me
• Notice when I behave well
• Praiseme and give me rewards
• Understand me
• Say you are sorry when things went wrong
• Don’t over-react to my mistakes
• Have a sense of humour
• Don’t put me down, tease me or insult me
• Be fair
• Encourage me
• Talk over problems
• Set a good example
• Be firm when you need to be but don’t be nasty
• When I am angry let me cool down
• Meet me halfway
• Show me you like me.