-- THE ARCHIVE --

NEW ZEALAND
Domestic CP - November 1999

The Press, Christchurch, 26 November 1999

Candidate calls for smacking

BLENHEIM -- The Christian Heritage Party's Kaikoura candidate says New Zealanders have gone soft in disciplining their children and calls for smacking and corporal punishment to be allowed.

Don Moore said society was letting children get away with too much. Physical discipline was needed when there was deliberate defiance of a parent. He drew his belief from the Bible's Old Testament, which he said was just as relevant now as when it was written thousands of years ago.

Mr Moore quoted a paraphrased Proverbs 13:24: "If you refuse to discipline your son it proves you don't love him, for if you love him you will be prompt to punish him." He said a wooden spoon was an effective implement for smacking children rather than a parent's hand, which should be for showing love.

Mr Moore said it was a backward move to cut corporal punishment from schools. By removing discipline, respect was also removed.

Mr Moore's position was dismissed by Labour candidate Brian McNamara, a schoolteacher. He said there were many ways to sanction children without hitting them, and corporal punishment had no place in schools.--NZPA