Posts by Hilary Stace
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Hard News: Making it up on smacking, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
Boys’ schools were some of the most conservative on the issue. Many had entrenched cultures of violence and little knowledge or practice of alternatives. On social issues like this many people vote for what they know as there is a fear of change or the unknown.
I doubt you would get primary or secondary schools students supporting hitting these days. -
Hard News: Making it up on smacking, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
Oh well, right government at least. It was a big issue at the time.
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As mentioned once before it took 50 years after the death penalty had been stopped for a majority of the NZ adult population to support that legislative change. So it will take a few more decades for majority support for not hitting children (although of course the children themselves are never polled). It is hard and scary for people to face and change their entrenched views about these issues.
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Hard News: Making it up on smacking, in reply to Chris Waugh,
I'm pretty sure it was 1989. When Phil Goff was Minister of Education. (He did some very good things as Minister such as getting playcentres funded on a similar basis to other preschools). Probably by then some more liberal schools had stopped the practice, but there was still a huge backlash against the legislation. Like the section 59 legislation. And like we are seeing now. I have already heard calls to bring back corporal punishment in schools in this current discussion.
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It is a generational thing. Sweden apparently banned hitting children in the 1970s and it has taken that long for cultural change to catch up with legislation. One of the best aspects of our legislation is that children themselves now know it is illegal to hit them, so are apparently telling authorities about their friends and family members who are being beaten.
I was involved in the campaign to stop corporal punishment in schools. It was hard work back in the early 1970s persuading people to sign petitions etc. But if you tell today's students that male teachers were given straps to thrash their students as part of their graduation from teacher's college, and many teachers - and even prefects - beat kids regularly, up until the 1989 law change, they are incredulous.
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Nice to hear Jackie and her real human voice on Morning Report just now talking about the cause and the role of the #twitteraunties
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Cathy Casey says on Facebook that she was horrified to see her name on the list of non-declarers, as she did and even remembered the date she did. Turns out putting her name on the list was a mistake.
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Jackie, happy to help (from a distance, if I can) if there are any disability issues.
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Most refuges aren't accessible, apparently. Not their fault and they are unlikely to have any spare funds to make them so. We need universal design so that accessibility for all is just a normal part of all and any building.
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Thank you Jackie. You are a good woman, and I love what you are doing.
I was wondering whether there are any disabled children who might have extra needs? Not sure how I can help from here - and support is probably very person specific - but maybe helping source specialist equipment, linking with local disability support networks, correct advice about the child disability allowance, child appropriate counselling etc?