Ayla
24-11-2008, 03:32 PM
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24691497-952,00.html
By Darrell Giles
November 23, 2008 12:00am
THE State Government has backed the right of parents to smack their children, despite growing calls Australia-wide for a ban.
In a controversial decision, Premier Anna Bligh said Queensland would not join 26 countries -- New Zealand the most recent -- to introduce anti-smacking laws.
Ms Bligh told The Sunday Mail yesterday that adults would be allowed to use "reasonable force" when disciplining their children.
But, she warned, parents would be punished if they used excessive violence.
The strong stance will put Ms Bligh and Attorney-General Kerry Shine offside with several Labor backbenchers who had campaigned for law changes.
Led by former attorney-general Dean Wells, the group had wanted Section 280 of the Queensland Criminal Code to be amended so it no longer operated as a defence to any kind of assault on a child.
In an exclusive Sunday Mail report in March, Mr Wells revealed that 700 parents a year were charged with assaulting their children, about 400 of those for serious assaults.
He believed many got off because they could legally claim -- under the "archaic and dangerous" Section 280 -- that they were using reasonable force.
Ms Bligh ordered a Justice Department review in May of all relevant cases with a view to changing the law if the audit showed prosecutions had failed.
The Premier said yesterday the review of almost 200 cases showed Section 280 was not being used as a loophole protecting violent parents and there would be no amendment.
"What this exhaustive review has shown conclusively is that the current system works," said Ms Bligh, a mother-of-two who had previously admitted smacking her children as toddlers.
"There is no excuse for using excessive violence towards a child, and under Queensland law there is nowhere for violent parents to hide."
Queensland's Council of Churches, parenting organisations and a group of prominent psychologists had lobbied the Government for a change to the law.
Other countries to outlaw the practice include Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Germany, Norway, Cyprus, Croatia and Latvia.
However, Ms Bligh said the review showed Section 280 was rarely used as a defence.
"I am confident that parents who assault their children will face the full force of the law," she said.
"At the same time, this review revealed some shocking cases involving parents using weapons or their fists to discipline or slapping their children about the head.
"It is not discipline, it is assault and appalling behaviour from any parent and police and the courts have responded accordingly."
This is my submitted comment, mainly copy/pasted from my Facebook cause Smacking Children is Violence (http://apps.facebook.com/causes/155431?m=7bf7bab2)
Husbands, do you hit your wives? That used to be acceptable in society. Women, if you saw a woman being hit in a shopping centre would you step in? Why wouldn't you do the same for a child? Consider the following example:
"My parents used to hit me and I'm okay. I knew that sometimes I didn't do as I was told and I deserved to be hit. I'm glad they hit me, it has made me who I am today."
"My husband used to hit me and I'm okay. I knew that sometimes I didn't do as I was told and I deserved to be hit. I'm glad my husband hit me, it has made me who I am today."
Yes, being hit HAS made you to the person you are today - someone who hits their kids! Stop the cycle of abuse. Make the commitment that you will never hit our most vulnerable members of society ever again. Join the growing numbers of parents who say NO to violence against children, and who wish to see this last socially-acceptable form of violence gone from our culture.
# Hitting children is violence and is not acceptable
# Using cutesy language like "smacking", "spanking", and "tapping" does not make violence against children acceptable
# The acceptance of violence against children belies a mentality that children are deserving of violence. No one is deserving of violence.
# An adult hitting a child is worse than an adult hitting an adult, but they do not share the same legal consequences
# Children cannot defend against violence, nor leave a violent home. We must protect children.
Catch up to the 21st century, Ms Bligh.
By Darrell Giles
November 23, 2008 12:00am
THE State Government has backed the right of parents to smack their children, despite growing calls Australia-wide for a ban.
In a controversial decision, Premier Anna Bligh said Queensland would not join 26 countries -- New Zealand the most recent -- to introduce anti-smacking laws.
Ms Bligh told The Sunday Mail yesterday that adults would be allowed to use "reasonable force" when disciplining their children.
But, she warned, parents would be punished if they used excessive violence.
The strong stance will put Ms Bligh and Attorney-General Kerry Shine offside with several Labor backbenchers who had campaigned for law changes.
Led by former attorney-general Dean Wells, the group had wanted Section 280 of the Queensland Criminal Code to be amended so it no longer operated as a defence to any kind of assault on a child.
In an exclusive Sunday Mail report in March, Mr Wells revealed that 700 parents a year were charged with assaulting their children, about 400 of those for serious assaults.
He believed many got off because they could legally claim -- under the "archaic and dangerous" Section 280 -- that they were using reasonable force.
Ms Bligh ordered a Justice Department review in May of all relevant cases with a view to changing the law if the audit showed prosecutions had failed.
The Premier said yesterday the review of almost 200 cases showed Section 280 was not being used as a loophole protecting violent parents and there would be no amendment.
"What this exhaustive review has shown conclusively is that the current system works," said Ms Bligh, a mother-of-two who had previously admitted smacking her children as toddlers.
"There is no excuse for using excessive violence towards a child, and under Queensland law there is nowhere for violent parents to hide."
Queensland's Council of Churches, parenting organisations and a group of prominent psychologists had lobbied the Government for a change to the law.
Other countries to outlaw the practice include Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Germany, Norway, Cyprus, Croatia and Latvia.
However, Ms Bligh said the review showed Section 280 was rarely used as a defence.
"I am confident that parents who assault their children will face the full force of the law," she said.
"At the same time, this review revealed some shocking cases involving parents using weapons or their fists to discipline or slapping their children about the head.
"It is not discipline, it is assault and appalling behaviour from any parent and police and the courts have responded accordingly."
This is my submitted comment, mainly copy/pasted from my Facebook cause Smacking Children is Violence (http://apps.facebook.com/causes/155431?m=7bf7bab2)
Husbands, do you hit your wives? That used to be acceptable in society. Women, if you saw a woman being hit in a shopping centre would you step in? Why wouldn't you do the same for a child? Consider the following example:
"My parents used to hit me and I'm okay. I knew that sometimes I didn't do as I was told and I deserved to be hit. I'm glad they hit me, it has made me who I am today."
"My husband used to hit me and I'm okay. I knew that sometimes I didn't do as I was told and I deserved to be hit. I'm glad my husband hit me, it has made me who I am today."
Yes, being hit HAS made you to the person you are today - someone who hits their kids! Stop the cycle of abuse. Make the commitment that you will never hit our most vulnerable members of society ever again. Join the growing numbers of parents who say NO to violence against children, and who wish to see this last socially-acceptable form of violence gone from our culture.
# Hitting children is violence and is not acceptable
# Using cutesy language like "smacking", "spanking", and "tapping" does not make violence against children acceptable
# The acceptance of violence against children belies a mentality that children are deserving of violence. No one is deserving of violence.
# An adult hitting a child is worse than an adult hitting an adult, but they do not share the same legal consequences
# Children cannot defend against violence, nor leave a violent home. We must protect children.
Catch up to the 21st century, Ms Bligh.