Family Integrity

Tag: Child Abuse

  • National Adopts ‘We Know Better Than You’ Attitude

    MEDIA RELEASE

    22 October 2008

    National Adopts ‘We Know Better Than You’ Attitude

    Family First NZ is labeling comments made by National leader John Key in the Dominion Post today regarding the anti-smacking law and Referendum as disappointing and deaf to the views of the overwhelming majority of NZ parents.

    “It was hoped that National would respect the views of parents both when the law change was being discussed and when the 300,000-plus voters signed the petition demanding a change to the law and a Referendum,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “However Key’s comments today suggest that the attitude of ‘politicians know best’ is rampant not only in the Labour and Greens parties but also the National party now.”

    In the interview, Key said “We’ll have respect for what the referendum says, but it wouldn’t make us change our mind” and we’ll “change the law if the law isn’t administered in the way that I think this Parliament intended it to be.”

    “The problem is that what Parliament did under the orders of both Helen Clark and John Key was to vote against the will and mind of the huge majority of NZ’ers.”

    “Polls continue to show overwhelming opposition to the anti-smacking law because it has failed to deal with actual child abuse, has targeted good families with investigation, prosecutions and persecution, yet has been trumpeted by supporters as a success because nobody has been imprisoned.”

    “NZ needs laws that target actual child abuse, prevent child abuse deaths, and that target the major contributing causes including drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown, and rotten parents – as highlighted by the tragic Nia Glassie case.”

    Family First has already provided documented evidence to John Key that good families are being both persecuted and in some cases prosecuted as a result of the anti-smacking law.

  • Another Smacking Poll – Same Response

    MEDIA RELEASE

    29 September 2008

    Another Smacking Poll – Same Response

    Family First NZ says that the NZ Herald poll showing 86% opposition to the anti-smacking law is further proof that the law is fundamentally wrong and should be changed.

    “This is not 86% of NZ’ers who want to ‘thrash and beat’ their children as was suggested by the prime minister last year,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “This is simply NZ’ers saying that a law supposedly designed to tackle child abuse should not end up targeting good parents raising great kids.”

    “Appropriate smacking for the purpose of correcting, training and teaching should never be a crime exposing parents to possible police investigation and CYF intervention.”

    “The law is fundamentally flawed because it fails to deal with the problem it was supposed to – child abuse – and implicates law-abiding parents in the process.”

    The latest poll follows a string of similar polls in 2008 including:

    u 74% parents should be able to smack Research International Feb 2008

    u 85% want law changed to allow light smacking Curia Research – poll commissioned by Family First May 08

    u 85% anti-smacking law should be scrapped TVNZ Website poll June 08

    u 81% say there should be referendum on smacking legislation at this year’s election NZ Herald Poll 25 June 2008 Total Votes: 4624

    u One year on, do you think the anti-smacking Bill has proved to be effective? No 87% Unsure 7% Yes 7% Littlies Magazine online poll July 2008

    “The guarded support for the ‘compromise’ amendment is parents simply hoping that the police may use some common sense in applying this flawed law. Yet evidence has shown that this is not the case, and many parents are more concerned about the way CYF are using the law for unwarranted intervention in good families.”

    “The message is loud and clear to the politicians,” says Mr McCoskrie. “We don’t need a costly referendum to tell us what we already know. Simply change the law so that good parents are not criminalised, and then start targeting the real causes of child abuse including drug and alcohol abuse and family breakdown.”

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie JP – National Director

    Tel. 09 261 2426 | Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Family policies released at Family First Forum

    Family policies released at Family First Forum

    Monday, 8 September 2008, 11:00 am
    Press Release: The Kiwi Party

    Kiwi Party Leader Larry Baldock released the party’s Family Policy brochure at the Family First Forum today.

    Speaking to the forum delegates Mr Baldock said, “This brochure brings together our policies from a wide range of portfolios which will, we believe, impact positively on New Zealand families.

    Of course our number one priority is to ensure that the referendum on the anti-smacking law is respected and that law repealed to return parental authority back to the homes of good parents all over this country.”

    “This list of family policies makes it abundantly clear that our vision for the strengthening of family life in New Zealand does not rest on one issue alone. The Kiwi party is not a single issue party. The truth is our nation’s families have been negatively affected by so many government policies and laws over the past few decades. These now need to be rectified and we have a huge amount of work ahead of us in that regard. It is difficult to prioritise just the “top ten” when they are all so important to the health of our nation.

    “What we can be clear about is that the top ten priorities released by the National party at their conference last month do not have a single item that addresses the social engineering of Labour’s last nine years.

    “We believe it is vitally important that we establish a Royal Commission to begin ‘understanding and addressing the wider causes of family breakdown, family violence and child abuse.’ We have already written comprehensive draft terms of reference for that Commission’s task, which would also include reviewing the impact of the DPB as part of welfare reform.

    “As partner to the next government we would immediately begin investing in pre-marriage, marriage enrichment and parenting education programmes to put the nation on a path towards rebuilding stronger families.

    “Our family policies will make a very positive difference to the quality of life for current and future generations of Kiwis. We look forward to the support of the family organisations represented at this important Forum, as we embark on our election campaign over the next 8 -10 weeks” said the Kiwi Party leader.
    ENDS
    Attachments:

    Family_policy.pdf
    Draft_Terms_of_reference_for_Royal_Commission-1.pdf

  • Family First Welcomes Comments by Key on Smacking Referendum

    MEDIA RELEASE

    9 September 2008

    Family First Welcomes Comments by Key on Smacking Referendum

    Family First NZ is welcoming comments made by National leader John Key at the Forum on the Family in Auckland yesterday that National will listen to the results of a Referendum on the anti-smacking law.

    “The large majority of politicians ignored the overwhelming majority of NZ’ers who were opposed to the legislation in the first place. Labour is now trying to ‘bury’ the Referendum for political expediency. And there is no guarantee that any party will even listen to the result of the Referendum,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “This is the first indication that National will acknowledge the voice of NZ’ers on this contentious issue.”

    “Polls continue to show overwhelming opposition to the anti-smacking law because it has failed to deal with actual child abuse, has targeted good families with investigation, prosecutions and persecution, yet has been trumpeted by supporters as a success because nobody has been imprisoned.”

    “NZ needs laws that target actual child abuse, prevent child abuse deaths, and that target the major contributing causes including drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown, and rotten parents.”

    “Voters should never have had to resort to a Referendum in the first place to be heard. The message was clear to politicians.”

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie JP – National Director

    Tel. 09 261 2426 | Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Mum who beat son with gumboots bailed

    This is Child Abuse not reasonable force by way of correction:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4686614a11.html

    Mum who beat son with gumboots bailed

    Tuesday, 09 September 2008

    A judge has called for a victim impact report on a six-year-old boy who was lifted by the ears and beaten with a gumboot by his 28-year-old mother.

    Helen Dawn Jones admitted both the charges of assault on a child when she appeared before Judge Stephen Erber in Christchurch District Court today.

    Police prosecutor Trudi Aickin told the court both assaults occurred between June 7 and 10 at the mother’s Christchurch home.

    On the first occasion the boy ignored his mother who had asked him to go to his room.

    Jones grabbed him by the ears and pulled him up, leaving the ears bruised and bleeding.

    A health nurse later noticed blood behind the ears and bruising.

    A few days later, the boy threw a gumboot at his mother. She then beat him with the gumboot on the back of his legs and feet. The significant bruising was noticed by a caregiver when she was bathing the boy, Miss Aickin said.

    Judge Erber remanded Jones on bail to November 17 for a probation report and sentence and also ordered a victim impact report on the boy.

    Defence counsel Andrew Riches asked for a variation of Jones’ bail conditions so that she could have contact with the boy who was now in Child, Youth and Family care.

    Judge Erber altered her bail to allow the contact.

  • Investment in prevention to reduce intervention

    United Future news and views with Judy Turner MP

    \
    Straight talk…

    In the six years I have been in Parliament I have never been able to shake off a deep-seated disquiet about the way we approach child protection in New Zealand.

    I continue to have more questions than answers and remain convinced that those involved are very well intended.

    Our system is based on notifications being investigated and where abuse is substantiated there follows an intervention. Every year in New Zealand notifications go up by about 15% and of course the number of children taken in to care from substantiated cases is on the increase.

    The burden of such high levels of notifications and removals impact not only on the children and their families but also on the system which is trying to resource them. The work overload can result in high numbers of unallocated cases, hasty assessments, high staff turn over and workforce shortages, premature case closure, and inadequate monitoring of children in placement.

    Children taken in to care often experience multiple placements which pose risks to their mental health and emotional wellbeing. There is even emerging overseas research suggesting that children in foster care could be more damaged by being removed from their parents and being subject to multiple placements than had they remained with their families.

    I have had contact with lots of parents and caregivers seriously traumatised by investigations.

    This week I have read an interesting paper from Australia suggesting that if we want to reduce child abuse and neglect then there are some lessons to be learnt from the preventative approach of our Public Health System.

    The authors suggest that there needs to be primary, secondary and tertiary prevention initiatives that include:

    · Universal services for children and their families at the primary level

    · Targeted prevention services for identified vulnerable families at the secondary level

    · Tertiary interventions for children in need of protection.

    Investment in prevention to reduce intervention …. Sounds good to me!

    QUOTE:

    “ … universal prevention activities not only have the potential for preventing abuse and neglect; they also enhance child health and well-being overall by improving behaviour problems and school readiness”

    Triple P Parenting programme

  • Anti-Smacking Law Wasting CYF Time – Missing Real Abuse

    MEDIA RELEASE

    1 August 2008

    Anti-Smacking Law Wasting CYF Time – Missing Real Abuse

    Family First NZ says there is further evidence that CYF’s limited resources are being wasted, with a ‘blow-out’ in CYF notifications but the levels of actual abuse not increasing, or at worst not being caught.

    Waikato figures reported in the Waikato Times today, show an increase of notifications from 5,973 to 8,629 but those requiring further action have fallen significantly from 3729 to 3308 that same year.

    “This is a 44% increase in the demand on CYF services yet the identification of actual child abuse has dropped 11%. This is consistent with a disturbing trend nationwide,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

    “This is perfect proof that the ideologically flawed anti-smacking law has resulted in unwarranted reports of good parents which is a waste of the limited resources of CYF.”

    Figures from CYF’s national 2007/08 Third Quarter report show a 32% increase in notifications over the previous 12 months but numbers requiring further action remaining the same.

    “If the figures could be attributed to a rising intolerance to child abuse and domestic violence, we would be seeing an increasing rate of cases requiring further action – but we are not. That is simply because of a misguided law,” says Mr McCoskrie.

    “CYF resources are being wasted because of a law that labels good parents as potential child abusers, and distracts CYF and Police from dealing with the real causes of child abuse and actual child abuse.”

    Family First NZ continues to call on the politicians to change the law so that non-abusive smacking is not a crime (as wanted by 85% of NZ’ers according to recent research).

    ENDS

    For More Information and Media Interviews, contact Family First:

    Bob McCoskrie – National Director

    Mob. 027 55 555 42

  • Kiwi Party leader outlines first five pledges.

    Addressing his party’s annual conference today, party leader Larry Baldock announced their first five priorities for action they would be working on after the election.

    “Our number one priority is of course to stop the criminalisation of good parents by repealing the anti-smacking law. This has to be the most anti-family socially destructive legislation parliament has passed in a long while. Completing the petition to force a referendum was always only going to be the first stage of the battle,” said Mr Baldock

    “It is simply not good enough for John Key to say he supports the peoples’ right to have their voice heard in a referendum without committing his Government to abide by the result.

    “In fact when National’s leader John Key announced their pledge of 10 policy items at their conference last weekend not a single one of them addresses any of the social engineering Labour has forced upon the nation in the past 6 -9 years.

    National surely is the party to maintain the status quo, easy she goes, don’t rock the boat.
    It is essential therefore that the Kiwi party is able to exercise influence over National after this years election if voters want to see the social engineering of Labour repealed.

    “Our message to the voters in this election is this, give the Kiwi party your support on Election Day and the Bradford anti-smacking law will be gone by lunchtime. Once the law has been repealed we must then get serious about the nations child abuse by appointing a Royal Commission  to understand and address the wider causes of family breakdown, family violence and child abuse in response to the more than 300, 000 kiwis that signed our petition on this matter.

    “Then we must restore our democracy by ensuring that we can have binding referenda on controversial issues. It must never happen again that more than 90% of our elected representatives could ignore 80% of the population ever again……….

    Contact Larry Baldock
    Party Leader
    021864833

    www.thekiwiparty.org.nz

  • Baby fighting for life after incident at home: abuse suspected

    This is not Reasonable Force by way of correction it is child Abuse:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4643858a11.html

    Baby fighting for life after incident at home

    By SALLY FRENCH – Stuff.co.nz | Tuesday, 05 August 2008
    SHANE WENZLICK/Surburban Newspapers

    INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY: A police cordon surrounds the house in Papakura.

    A baby is fighting for his life in Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital after suffering non-accidental head injuries.

    Counties Manukau detective inspector John Tims said the Papakura child was taken to Middlemore Hospital by ambulance about 9.30pm on Saturday before being transferred to Starship Hospital.

    Tims said police were advised the injuries are non-accidental and potentially life threatening.

    He said the baby’s parents and maternal grandmother have all provided statements to police.

    “We want to acknowledge the family are co-operating with us.

    “The parents are at their son’s bedside and we are working with them,” Tims said.

    The boy lived at his parent’s home with his 18-month-old brother, and maternal grandmother.  The parents are aged 18 and 19.

    Tims said Children and Young Persons have been advised of the situation, and are working with Police in regards to the boy’s elder sibling.

    A specialist child abuse investigative team are conducting a scene examination at the baby’s Papakura home today, assisted by ESR specialists.

    Tims said police are in constant liaison with a paediatrician at Starship Hospital.

    “We will provide an update on the baby’s medical condition should there be any changes,” he said..

    More on this:

    http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/16315/infant-fights-life-abuse-suspected

    Infant fights for life: abuse suspected

    A 4-month-old boy is in a critical condition in Starship Hospital after suffering head injuries at his South Auckland home.

    The baby was rushed to hospital on Saturday night before undergoing surgery on Sunday for what police believe are “non-accidental” head injuries received at his Papakura home.

    The Housing NZ home was yesterday cordoned off while police began investigations into what is suspected to be a case of serious child abuse……………..

    Neighbours yesterday knew little about the family who lived at the run-down home.

    One woman said parties were always being held there and people came and went at all hours.

    Another woman said police had arrived at the house about six months ago.

    Moments after they arrived, all the people in the house came out with their hands above their heads.

    She believed it was in relation to drug dealing at the house.

    Yesterday, an alcohol box and several empty beer bottles lay on the unmowed lawn, alongside other bits of rubbish.

    The front window was smashed and shards of glass lay on the ground.

    A child’s stroller could be seen behind a net curtain next to the broken window.

    Children’s Commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro said she was shocked and saddened to hear another child had been injured.

    “It’s terrible. Can you just imagine what these kids go through? Often it’s not the first time. There’s often a whole lot of precipitating things that lead up to the last incident where the child or baby is being abused,” she said.

    Dr Kiro is due to present a package of actions to tackle child abuse to a family violence taskforce this week.

    New Zealand has the third highest rate of infanticide of all the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

  • Ban-smacking? – read on computer

    For Reading on your Computer:

    ban-smacking?

    What Does the Law Really Say?
    Is Smacking the Same as Abuse?
    Will Parents’ Authority Be Taken Away?
    Will This Turn Parents into Criminals?
    Questions….and Answers

    When we changed websites these brochures were lost in the change. Sorry this was not picked up until now. We have been asked to put these back on our website. These brochures were written before Sue Bradford’s Section 59 Bill was pulled out of the Ballot.