Opinion and Dissent from Alan Charman

390,000 Dead Shits

Our society in New Zealand contains at least 390,000 dead shits.

This is easily verifiable by simply counting those who have signed the petition seeking to overturn the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act - i.e. the "anti-smacking" legislation.

Amidst dire predictions of parents being hauled up in court for administering the odd slap on the leg from a mum when the toddler is having a tantrum and nothing else works, a clear majority of people did not support Sue Bradford's amendment. Yet the country's politicians voted overwhelmingly to pass the changes and the law has now been with us for almost a year, so one could reasonably expect that those dire predictions would have plenty of evidence of problems caused by those changes we didn't want.

So, where are those parents whose child was taken away by CYF because dad smacked a bottom? Where are the prosecutions for mum flicking a recalcitrant child with a wet dishrag? (stings, that!) Hmm? Anyone? Oh yeah, there was one bloke who got hauled up for doing something to his kid which he claimed was pretty minor. Odd then, that in a nation so pro-smacking, three separate people rang the cops, disturbed at his behaviour?

This is simple - the people who are "pro-smacking", just like the "anti-gay" voice from some years ago, are the lunatic fringe of our society. I'd bet large amounts that many of the same 390,000 dead shits appear on both lists. Heavily fundamental christian in makeup, this list of dead-shits are the sort of people who are not worried about administering one slap, they are the people who want daddy to come home and administer six of the best with his purpose-built belt for some indiscretion.

Broken down to the lowest common denominator, the 390,000 dead-shits want to allow corporal punishment by parents. Very 21st century thinking, people.

I will accept that some of the 390,000 signatures are on the list through ignorance rather than desire to strap children - people who haven't stopped long enough to think about it and realise that the family has not and will not break down thanks to repeal of S59.

Update: February 2010

And in hindsight, where do we sit? The number of people who felt strongly enough to attend one of the marches was about a whole 2000.

Parents are not being dragged off to jail for giving kids a swipe when necessary, and the fabric - such as it is - of NZ society, has not fallen to bits.

I'll take an "I told you so" on that!

Alan Charman