Comments on: March for Democracy – vote with your feet

By: Peter Nise

Peter Nise — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:21:41 +0000

You have seen the TV series The House of Tiny Tearaways now you can get the book

Yes that is right you do not have to beat the crap out of your children and hospitalize them

The House of Tiny Tearaways (Hardcover)
by Tanya Byron (Author) RRP: £12.99 but go to amazon.uk and get it for Price: £7.73 http://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Tiny-Tearaways-Tanya-Byron/dp/0563520361

Lets hope this save tap payers money used up by childrens hospitals

By: MurrayBacon

MurrayBacon — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:06:05 +0000

Garth is dead right.
Listen, rather than criticise him and you will learn something to help make your life better.
Besides, who would want to be sane in NZ?
To me, that would be the biggest insult, “you are sane [in NZ}!!!”
Good on you Garth. Cheers, MurrayBacon.

By: SicKofNZ

SicKofNZ — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:06:12 +0000

Garth, you could make a fortune with those incredible diagnostic skills. Communist China might have good opportunities for you. You ought to try for a job there. I'd supply you with a reference. Regards Men Against Dickheads

By: julie

julie — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:41:59 +0000

lol.

By: Garth

Garth — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:56:11 +0000

You are all mad.

By: Hans Laven

Hans Laven — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:14:01 +0000

That’s what I meant by:
a) The manipulative misrepresentation used by the anti-smacking brigade. To refer to smacking as “violence” is manipulative and ill-considered. Why would a smack be more violent than forcing a child to a time out room and imprisoning the child there against his/her wishes? Why would you consider a smack as any more violent than physically forcing a struggling child away from a playground or into a car? Do you think a smack is more violent than drilling holes in childrens’ teeth, cutting their bodies with scalpels in operations, sticking needles into them to take blood or to inject them with substances? Of course not. We do many not-so-enjoyable things to children towards their welfare, and normal smacking is mild and done with good intentions towards shaping children’s behaviour for the better.
b) Excessive focus on social modelling theory to the exclusion of other processes affecting children’s behaviour development, such as behaviour management including punishment.

You may as well ask for a referendum stating “Do we believe good parents in NZ model expulsion from school and social groups, controlling others’ use of possessions, imprisoning others in their rooms and forcing adults’ will on children’s activities as solutions to problems?” The point is, whatever parents do to control, limit or to punish children may be unpleasant for those children and can be challenged by cheap shots and shallow moral argument, but it’s a very bad idea to remove options whereby parents can meet their responsibilities for shaping their children/s behaviour and assisting their safe development. In the absence of strong scientific findings to guide us, where we draw the line for banning things is an ideological matter that is appropriately determined by the majority.

By: Hans Laven

Hans Laven — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:36:44 +0000

Yes, good points rad_dad. Absolute direct democracy would be dangerous and I don’t agree that referenda should be automatically binding on our government. However, to a large degree democracy itself inherently involves a tyranny of the majority and requires some faith in collective wisdom. Similarly, I believe there is room for our government to show more regard for the expressed wish of the people through referenda. That has in fact happened with respect to the “law and order” referendum which has been followed by increased sentences, easier options for complainants through the Court system, the offender levy providing money towards restitution, and a few other developments. I did not agree with the majority on that particular referendum because, for example, I am aware that the criminological research shows clearly that increased sentences and harshness in our prison system will not reduce crime levels. Neverthless, I accept that it is a policy area where government can take the majority view into account. Even more so, the child discipline legislation is a suitable policy for government to be guided by the people. There is no good scientific basis for removing the right to use force in discipline. It’s not an area in which experts have a knowledge and predictive power that might be seen as superior to that of average people. It’s a matter of personal opinion and ideology, and as such there is no excuse at all for our government to ignore the clear referendum result.

By: julie

julie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:40:52 +0000

Happy birthday Josh and you too Rex. May we get a really big crowd.

By: Rex

Rex — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:39:55 +0000

I too will celebrate my Birthday with my family and friends so that we shall be heard and not ignored.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:43:08 +0000

i will be there even though its my birthday….
we cannot allow the polititions in their lofty tower to ignore the voices of the people who’s opinion they stand upon!