Family Integrity

Author: HEF Admin

  • FAMILY FIRST NZ – Massive support for law change

    Press Release from Family First NZ

    We thought you’d be interested in our (Family First NZ) latest Media Release. Feel free to forward it on to your local MP and others on your Contacts list.
    PS If you support the work and ‘voice’ of Family First NZ and would be willing to contribute towards the cost of this research, we would greatly appreciate it! DONATE HERE Thank you!

    Family First Media Release 18 March 2009

    83% Still Want


    Smacking


    Law Fixed – Poll


    Almost two years after the passing of the controversial anti-smacking law, more than 80% of NZ’ers still want the law changed and 77% say that the law won’t have any effect on our unacceptable child abuse rate.

    These are the key finding of research commissioned by Family First NZ, following on from similar research in 2007 and 2008. The Curia Market Research poll surveyed 1,000 people, and also found huge confusion over the legal effect of the law.

    83% said that the new law should be changed to state explicitly that parents who give their children a smack that is reasonable and for the purpose of correction are not breaking the law (85% in 2008, 82% in 2007).

    _________________________________________________________________
    KEY FINDINGS
    83% say the law should be changed – only 13% say to keep it as is
    77% says the law won’t help reduce the rate of child abuse in NZ
    Less than one third of respondents actually understand the law
    _________________________________________________________________

    “This is essentially the same question that will be put to NZ’ers in the Referendum at the end of July. The government can save $8 million of taxpayer funding towards the cost of running the Referendum during a recession, and amend the law now,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    Respondents were also asked whether the new law makes it always illegal for parents to give their children a light smack. 55% said yes, 31% said no, and 14% didn’t know.

    “This proves just how confusing the law is to parents and it is this confusion that is causing huge harm. Parents have been given conflicting messages by the promoters of the law, legal opinions have contradicted each other, and on top of that is police discretion but not CYF discretion to investigate.”

    “Parents have a right to know whether they are parenting within the law or not. This law has just created confusion and as a result, good parents are being victimised,” says Mr McCoskrie. “Meanwhile, the rate of child abuse continues. This flawed law must be fixed and the real causes of child abuse confronted.”

    The poll was conducted during the week beginning March 9, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.2%.

    ENDS

    www.familyfirst.org.nz | About us | Media Centre | Contact Us | Support Us

  • School Bullying Expected Outcome of Social Agenda

    MEDIA RELEASE 16 March 2009

    School Bullying Expected Outcome of Social Agenda

    Family First NZ says that concerns about school bullying are a simple result of the culture we have experimented with, which includes children’s rights, media standards, undermining the role of parents, and removing consequences.

    “Why are we surprised by bullying and violence in our schools when children are fed this material through the media constantly,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “Kids are bullying each other, kids are bullying teachers, kids are bullying parents. Bullying is not just a school problem, and it’s not just a youth problem.”

    “We cannot continue to feed the minds of our young people with the level of violence, sexual content and disrespect for authority that is prevalent in the media and our culture without it affecting the minds of some of our most impressionable and at-risk teenagers and children.”

    “But schools are suffering in particular because they are being forced by the Ministry of Education to put up with increasing levels of unacceptable behaviour and are being criticised for suspending these students.”

    “It is also significant that as schools have removed corporal punishment, schools have become more dangerous. School yard bullying by pupils on other pupils and staff is now the new form of ‘corporal punishment’ in schools.”

    “All of these young people have entered a system of education and society where discipline and responsibility are being replaced by the politically correct nonsense of children’s rights. Ironically, this has been pushed by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner who is now crying foul.”

    “The anti-smacking law has also undermined the role of parents, has failed to understand the special relationship and functioning of families, and has communicated to some children that they are now in the ‘driving seat’ and parents should be put in their place.”

    Sweden, one of the first countries to ban smacking in 1979 suffered a similar fate with assaults by kids increasing 672% in the 13 years following the ban. A recent UN report on European Crime and Safety found that Sweden had one of the worst assault and sexual violence rates in EU.

    “Student behaviour and bullying will continue to deteriorate for as long as we tell them that their rights are more important than their responsibilities, that proper parental authority is undermined by politicians and subject to the rights of their children, and that there will be no consequences of any significance or effectiveness for what they do,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Infant to be buried today

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2253294/Infant-to-be-buried-today

  • Child Abuse Death Rate Is Killing Us

    MEDIA RELEASE

    11 March 2009

    Child Abuse Death Rate Is Killing Us

    Family First NZ says that the police announcement of a homicide investigation into the death of Taupo five-week-old Jayrhis Ian Te Koha Lock-Tata is a tragic reminder that the rate of child abuse deaths has continued at the same rate as before the flawed anti-smacking law and we are failing to identify and tackle the real causes.

    “While good families are being investigated and thrown under suspicion because of the extremist anti-smacking law, child abuse has continued at the same rate and the same old underlying issues of drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown and dysfunction, the presence of non-biological adults in the house, low maternal age, poverty and single parenthood continue to be downplayed,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “Before Bradford’s anti-smacking law was passed, there were an average of 7 child abuse deaths per year since 2000. Since the anti-smacking law was passed 20 months ago, there has been 12 child abuse deaths.”

    The ‘roll of horror’ of child abuse deaths includes 2 year old Jhia Te Tua, 16 month old Sachin Dhani, 22-month-old Tyla-Maree Flynn, 3 year old Nia Glassie, Ten-month-old Jyniah Te Awa, Two-month-old Tahani Mahomed, 3 year old Dylan Rimoni, 7-year-old Duwayne Pailegutu, 16-month-old Riley Osborne, 3-year-old Cherish Tahuri-Wright, and now little Jayrhis.

    “NZ’ers are sick of our leaders ‘fluffing’ around the real issues of child abuse,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    Family First has a 5 point Action plan to tackle child abuse – www.stoptheabuse.org.nz

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • More new babies taken from mothers

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4864585a11.html

    More new babies taken from mothers

    Custody orders have doubled in five years

    By REBECCA PALMER – The Dominion Post | Monday, 02 March 2009

    Dozens of newborns are being taken from their mothers every year because of fears for their safety.

    Child, Youth and Family took 66 at-risk babies less than a month old into its care last year and 15 of them were taken the day they were born.

    In more than half of the cases, older brothers and sisters were already in care, figures provided to The Dominion Post under the Official Information Act show.

    The number of custody orders involving newborns has more than doubled in the past five years. In the 2003-04 year, 32 were taken into state care.

    Those taken last year include the newborn daughter of convicted baby-killer Tania Witika, who gave birth in Christchurch. CYF obtained custody when it heard she was pregnant.

    The horrific death of Witika’s daughter Delcelia, 2, in 1991 was one of the worst child-abuse cases to go before New Zealand courts. She and her partner at the time were each sentenced to 16 years’ jail for Delcelia’s torture and death.

    The rise in newborn custody orders coincides with a doubling in care and protection notifications involving babies still in their mothers’ wombs. Last year Child, Youth and Family received 215 notifications from people worried about the welfare of unborn children, compared with 96 five years earlier.

    Nearly half the alerts came from health professionals. Police, family members, courts, schools and others also reported concerns.

    Social Development Ministry chief executive Peter Hughes said the agency had been working to create an environment in which abuse and neglect were not tolerated. “In recent years, we have made significant progress in raising awareness of family violence and this is reflected in the increase in the number of notifications.”

    He said no child was taken from its parents unless concerns were of “an extreme nature”. They could include history of family violence, mental health problems, addiction, neglect and previous abuse of children. “Removal of children at such a young age is the last resort.”

    Children’s Commissioner Cindy Kiro agreed improved awareness was a big factor behind the increased numbers. “It’s part of a bigger pattern of increasing notifications, particularly off the back of high-profile cases like Nia Glassie.” Nia, 3, died in Auckland’s Starship children’s hospital in 2007, after repeated abuse that included being tumbled in a clothes drier, spun on a clothesline and kicked in the head.

    Dr Kiro said the health sector had become more proactive in watching for signs of abuse and reporting them.

    She suspected most of the health notifications came from hospitals. Pregnant women who had been abusing alcohol or drugs were more likely to experience complications.

    The number of notifications involving unborn children was likely to keep growing, she said.

    Paediatric Society president Rosemary Marks, who works at Starship, said most, if not all, district health boards now had a family violence co-ordinator. “We have had a real emphasis on training health professionals to be aware and to ask people about family violence.”

    That meant there was an opportunity to help if a pregnant woman said her partner was abusing her. “We can intervene earlier and hopefully interrupt the cycle of violence.”

  • Mum jailed for stabbing son

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4861032a11.html

    JOHN SELKIRK/Dominion Post

    ATTEMPTED INFANTICIDE: Kim Knoll has been jailed for three years for attempting to kill her young son, first with a boning knife and then with a pillow.

    Mum jailed for stabbing son

    By CLIO FRANCIS – Stuff.co.nz | Thursday, 26 February 2009

    Kim Knoll let out a small gasp as she was this morning jailed for three years for attempting to murder her young son.

    Knoll, 20, was overcome by tears when Justice Pamela Andrews handed down her sentence at the High Court in Auckland this morning.

    Crown prosecutor Ross Douche said the reasons behind why Knoll had stabbed her two-year-old boy with a boning knife would never fully be understood.

    “For whatever reason, and that is still not clear, she determined to take steps to end the life of her child,” Douche said.

    During the trial the Crown said that Knoll had also tried to suffocate her son with a pillow during the incident at their Te Aroha home in May last year.

    Only the arrival of Knoll’s brother interrupted her actions and saved the life of the child, Douche said.

    Defence lawyer Michael McIvor said his client now accepted she was responsible for her son’s injuries.

    “It’s only really now that this has happened and at the end of the day she’s accepted it.”

    He did not accept a probation officer’s report which said Knoll showed no remorse or empathy towards her son.

    “What she wants to do is be reunited with her child,” he said.

    Mr McIvor told the court that Knoll had a very supportive family.

    “This has been a huge setback for the family, who came out from South Africa for a better life,” he said.

    Justice Andrews said she had received a letter from Knoll’s parents.

    “They said you were always a loving and caring mother to Lashawn. Understandably they have found this whole matter very difficult and confusing.

    “None of them can believe that you were responsible for what happened.

    “You are his mother and he ought to be able to trust you completely,” she said.

    Justice Andrews said mitigating factors for Knoll’s sentence included her lack of previous convictions, her young age, her parental role, her traumatic background and the letter she had written expressing remorse.

  • Fitzsimons to resign as Greens co-leader

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4856034a6160.html

    Fitzsimons to resign as Greens co-leader

    By ANTHONY HUBBARD – Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 22 February 2009

    Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is about to announce her resignation from the post. She will stand down to allow a new co-leader time to make her mark before the 2011 election.

    The veteran Green, co-leader since 1995, is expected to serve out the parliamentary term as a list MP.

    The main candidates for her job, which under Green Party rules must be held by a woman, are MPs Sue Bradford and Metiria Turei. The new leader is likely to be announced at the party annual conference in June.

    Fitzsimons, who had earlier indicated she would probably retire at the next election, refused to comment yesterday. Co-leader Russel Norman also refused to discuss her future.

    Fitzsimons’ departure will leave a difficult problem for the party. She is a widely liked and admired politician, with appeal across the political spectrum.

    Neither Bradford nor Turei has similar appeal. Bradford, once a fiery Marxist radical, has softened her image, but her sponsorship of the anti-smacking bill drew much flak.

    Turei has the progressive appeal of being a Maori woman, but she may be seen as too radical to have wide appeal.

    It is not known if Catherine Delahunty, elected to parliament at last year’s general election, will be a candidate for the co-leadership. Her lack of parliamentary experience could count against her.

    It is understood that veteran Green MP Sue Kedgley is not seeking the post.

    Auckland University political scientist Raymond Miller said the resignation was a serious blow to the Greens. “Jeanette was a conservative and moderate figure who reassured people who might otherwise think of the Greens as an extremist party.”

  • 12-year-old steals day with pro-life speech

    http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89135

    THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

    12-year-old steals day with pro-life speech

    Teachers threaten disqualification, but girl chooses to speak against abortion

    Posted: February 16, 2009
    8:36 pm Eastern

    By Chelsea Schilling
    © 2009 WorldNetDaily

    Despite facing threats of disqualification, a 12-year-old girl took first place in a speech contest when she eloquently argued for the rights of unborn children – after an offended judge quit.

    “What if I told you that right now, someone was choosing if you were going to live or die?” the seventh-grader begins in a video recording of her speech on YouTube. “What if I told you that this choice wasn’t based on what you could or couldn’t do, what you’d done in the past or what you would do in the future? And what if I told you, you could do nothing about it?”

    The girl, a student at a Toronto school identified only as “Lia,” continued:

    “Fellow students and teachers, thousands of children are right now in that very situation. Someone is choosing without even knowing them whether they are going to live or die.

    “That someone is their mother. And that choice is abortion.”

    But what made the 12-year-old choose to speak about abortion?

    “It was really a family thing,” her mother explained on the blog Moral Outcry. “I saw Lou [Engle] speak at a conference several years ago. I came back to my family with the Life Bands, and we all wore them, made our covenant, and prayed the prayer for abortion to end. … We were invited to participate in a ‘Life Tape Siege.’ Once my kids heard of this invitation, they all agreed: ‘We have to do that!’ Since then, Lia’s passion for seeing abortion end has continued.”

    Despite Lia’s enthusiasm for her topic, her teacher “strongly encouraged” her to select a different one for her class presentation or she would be considered ineligible for an upcoming speech contest.

    “[S]everal teachers discouraged her from picking the topic of abortion; she was told it was ‘too big,’ ‘too mature’ and ‘too controversial,’” her mother wrote. “She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition.”

    Lia’s mother continued, “Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about.”

    Lia’s teacher was so impressed by the speech that she allowed her student to advance as the winner. Lia presented her speech to judges in front of her entire school on Feb. 10.

    The school principal and teachers called Lia’s presentation the “obvious winner” – but the judges suddenly disqualified her the following day “because of the topic and her position on abortion,” her mother said.

    Lia’s father later revealed that the judges had a “big disagreement.” One was offended by the speech and voluntarily stepped down while the others reversed their earlier decision – declaring her the winner.

    Now Lia plans to take her message of life to a regional speech competition, and more than 130,000 visitors have viewed her presentation online.

    “Why do we think that just because a fetus can’t talk or do what we do, it isn’t a human being yet?” She asks in the video. “Some babies are born after only five months. Is this baby not human?

    “We would never say that. Yet abortions are performed on 5-month-old fetuses all the time. Or do we only call them humans if they’re wanted?”

    She continues, “No, fetuses are definitely humans – knit together in their mother’s womb by their wonderful Creator who knows them all by name.”