1. UNICEF: Daycare is “A high-stakes gamble with today’s children and tomorrow’s world”

Evening Standard (UK) 11 Dec 08
The drive to push mothers back to work is leaving children at risk of long-term emotional damage, Unicef warned today. A detailed study of childcare policies found that leaving under-threes in all-day nurseries made them more likely to be aggressive, disobedient and lonely. The Unicef report, which draws on extensive scientific and psychological data, recommends that all children should, where possible, be cared for by parents at home during the first 12 months of life. READ MORE
READ Full report http://www.unicef.org.nz/page/241/InnocentiReportCard8.html
READ “Extended Childcare No Miracle for Children” by Bob McCoskrie http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10462594&pnum=0

NZ childcare use near top of Unicef list

The Press 12 December 2008
Tens of thousands of Kiwi toddlers are being booked into childcare at world-leading rates and our world-lagging rates of paid parental leave are taking some of the blame. A new report by Unicef rates New Zealand 23rd out of 25 countries for effective paid parental leave. Kiwi parents get 14 weeks paid parental leave. The average in the rest of the developed world is approaching one year. The Unicef report also shows the childcare rates for the nation’s under-fives are among the highest in the world. READ MORE

2. Doctors Should Keep Their Clothes On For Charity

Family First Media Release 12 Dec 08
Family First NZ is supporting children’s charity KidsCan’s decision to refuse proceeds from the sale of a calendar of nude doctors. “One has to question the judgement of the medical recruit firm MedRecruit that they would deem it appropriate to link a charity for at-risk children with nudity, and in the minds of many people, a sexually-themed calendar,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “There doesn’t have to be full exposure for there still to be a sexualised pose which many would deem offensive.” READ MORE

Snubbed nude doctors find better fit for calendar funds
Marlborough Express 12 December 2008

The Prostate Cancer Foundation has said it is more than happy to accept proceeds from sales of a “naked doctors” calendar, after a children’s charity snubbed the offer. READ MORE

3. Doctors get $5m to okay abortions

The Dominion Post 17 December 2008
Doctors who approved abortions were paid more than $5 million in the year to June an increase of $1.5 million or more than 30 per cent in four years. The Abortion Supervisory Committee’s annual report says there were 18,382 abortions in 2007, 448 more than in 2006. Every abortion must be approved by two doctors, one of whom must be a gynaecologist or obstetrician. In the year to June, the Government paid 196 certifying consultants a total of $5,048,096. Abortions are legal in New Zealand under certain conditions, including when pregnancy would endanger the mother’s life, her physical or mental health, or if there is a risk of the foetus being handicapped. More than 98 per cent of abortions are authorised on the grounds of risk to mental health. Earlier, a High Court judicial review found there was reason to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions and that the committee was wrong to interpret the law as meaning it had no power to review consultants’ decisions. READ MORE
Family First Comment: Great payrate for a simple ‘rubber stamp’!!!

4. NZ kids near top of world bullied list

Children in New Zealand suffer some of the worst school bullying in the world, an Australian survey has found. The survey, which featured 36 countries, showed bullying in Australia and New Zealand rated in the worst category. READ MORE

5. What children want most is a ban on divorce, says poll (UK)

A ban on divorce is what most children would introduce if they ruled the world, according to an annual poll of 1600 children. READ MORE

6. Some couples really do live happily ever after

Some couples really do live happily ever after, according to research which shows the euphoria of first love lasts for decades into a relationship. The study found that couples married for more than 20 years showed similar brain activity to lovers in the throes of a new relationship, when shown pictures of their partners. READ MORE

7. Govt to get tough on child abusers
NZ Herald Dec 09, 2008
Justice Minister Simon Power told the Herald he planned to introduce an amendment to the Sentencing Act, which would see tougher penalties for people who have offended against children. He is also looking at a review of the sentences given for crimes against children compared to similar offences against adults, and a review of the controversial right to silence. He cited the example of the two-year term of imprisonment which is the maximum penalty for assault against a child compared with a three-year sentence for people who mistreat animals. READ MORE

Family First Comment: Great stuff. Of the original 5-point Action plan proposed by Family First and other groups www.stoptheabuse.org.nz , this was one of the action points. But we still need a non-political Commission of Inquiry, more resourcing for frontline services, and promotion of marriage and family relationships to see real progress against child abuse.

8. Push to ban porn from petrol stations

Timaru Herald 04 December 2008
Penthouse, Playboy and even the less raunchy Ralph could be pulled from the shelves of BP and Shell service stations if a lobby group has its way. Family First New Zealand is pressuring the oil companies to follow their Australian counterparts and remove the adult magazines from their shops, but “that is just the beginning”. National director Bob McCoskrie said the Australian branches of BP and Shell had set a precedent and New Zealand needed to follow suit. “It is inappropriate for porn magazines, some hardcore porn, to be displayed in stores where children and young people can be so easily exposed to explicitly sexual materials and where families are offended by the titles and the materials on the covers.” READ MORE
READ FAMILY FIRST MEDIA RELEASE Call For BP And Shell in NZ To Ban Porn Mags

9. ‘EXPLOSION’ IN CYF NOTIFICATIONS BUT STILL MISSING ACTUAL ABUSE

Latest figures show we’re ‘narking’ on the wrong people
Family First NZ says that CYF’s limited resources are being wasted and non-abusive parents are being targeted, with a ‘blow-out’ in CYF notifications but the levels of actual abuse not increasing. CYF has received approximately 90,000 notifications this year – up from 32,000 in the 2002—2003 period — and a 30% increase on the 2007 year. Yet actual child abuse being uncovered has shown no corresponding increase. “We all want the public to feel compelled to report child abuse when they see it, but the ideologically flawed anti-smacking law has resulted in unwarranted reports of good parents which is a waste of the limited resources of CYF and the Police. Good families are being narked on because we have confused appropriate and reasonable parental discipline and correction with violence and assault,” says Mr McCoskrie. READ MORE

10. Let’s assess parenting balance

NZ Herald Nov 22, 2008
New Social Development Minister Paula Bennett wants a national debate over whether mothers are being pushed to go back to work too soon after having children. Ms Bennett, a solo mother herself, went back on the domestic purposes benefit (DPB) when she “fell apart” with exhaustion trying to do two jobs in about 1989 when her then 2-year-old daughter was in childcare. She told the Weekend Herald that the country had debated child abuse but needed a similar debate about getting the balance right between parenting and paid work. “I don’t think we’ve had one so much on what it means for parents to go back to work earlier and the length of time that children are spending in early childhood education and daycare,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve had the debate as a society about women having their careers and having their babies later. I don’t think we’ve had the debate about what that means.”
,…Bob McCoskrie of the Family First lobby group said Ms Bennett’s call for debate on the issue was “brilliant”. “We want tax breaks for stay-at-home parents,” he said. READ MORE

11. Inside the chaotic home of Nia Glassie

Dave Crampton Big News Blog 19 November 08
“Over a year ago Children’s Commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro said she was “keeping her finger on the pulse” of the Glassie case, but would not begin any investigation of her own until the police inquiry and court action were completed. Well, it’s finished now. Let’s see if she can find her finger. Had she investigated Lisa Kuku several years ago when CYFS took away one of her children after she suffered a head injury, this whole sorry episode may not have happened. Not one of the people who lived in that house who got themselves into relationships are married. None of the adults currently live with their partners. Now, not one of their children live with their mother or their father.” READ MORE

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