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Jigsaw advocates for non physical punishment of our children
Jigsaw and its member agencies work with parents and families to help them stop smacking their children and find other effective and safe ways to discipline their children.
On 16 May 2007, the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Act was passed by parliament. We supported the repeal of the old Section 59 of the Crimes Act because so many adults who had seriously assaulted children and young people and were appropriately charged by the Police, had used the clause relating to 'reasonable force' as a defence when they went to trial and were acquitted in court for crimes that, if perpetrated against an adult or an animal, would have resulted in a conviction.
Jigsaw does not expect that parents who smack but do not seriously harm their children will be prosecuted under the new legislation. So far (as at April 2008) only four people have been charged by Police under this new legislation and these have related to serious assault or patterns of assault.
What we encourage parents and caregivers to do, is to make a choice not to smack their children. If they need help to learn about other effective ways of managing their children's behaviour, their local Jigsaw or other parent support agency in their area is available help them. See below for information about 'Kids are unbeatable' a useful reference published by the Commissioner for Children's Office talking about ways to discipline your children effectively without smacking or hitting them.
So what does the new Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Act actually involve:
- It fully repeals the old section 59 'domestic discipline' or 'reasonable force' defence
- It introduces a specific ban on the use of force for the purpose of correcting children
- It ensures equal legal protection from assault for children as for adults
- It prohibits parents from administering physical punishment to their own children within a school context
- It achieves congruence with other recently passed child-related legislation in New Zealand
- It complies with New Zealand's international and domestic rights obligations for children's care and safety
- It provides legal protection for parents who restrain their children for the purpose of safety and care
- It affirms that the Police have the discretion not to prosecute when instances of minor parental assaults on children come to their notice.
When parliament passed this amendment to this legislation, it also decided that there would be a formal review of the effectiveness and additional impact of the new law after two years.
Why did Jigsaw support the amendment to Section 59 of the Crimes Act?
Children have told us that smacking hurts them and weakens their sense of trust and safety in their parents and caregivers.
You feel upset because they are hurting you and you love them so much and then all of a sudden they hit you and you feel like as though they don't care about you because they are hurting you - 13-year-old girl.
Jigsaw seeks to build communities where all children feel safe and nurtured in their families and where everyone is safe from physical punishment and the emotional hurt associated with it.
Physical punishment of children is ineffective in showing children how to behave well.
If it's explained to them (children) they should understand but if it's not then how are they (children) supposed to know - 13-year-old girl.
There is lots of credible research that shows that physical punishment of children is ineffective in showing children how to behave well. Research also shows that children who behave well because they have internalised parent's behavioral values (as opposed to because they have felt fear or pain) have far more positive outcomes in the long-term.
Physical punishment of children often results in worsened behaviour and a matching escalation in the force used by the adult.
You can't have a say when they are angry and are hitting you, it's too late for that - 9-year-old boy.
Children are natural mimics. Physical punishment models a form of violence to children and normalizes the use of violence as a way to express anger or to resolve conflict.
Physical punishment has a tendency to escalate and whether they mean to or not, a parent who hits a child is at risk of hitting harder than intended if their own anger escalates. If the child complies, the punishment may not worsen immediately but over time, as the child normalizes the punishment then the parent is left few options but to inflict harder levels to get compliance.
Children have a right to the same protection by the legal system as adults have.
Under the previous legislation children were the only group in society that could be legally assaulted by adults.
Because 'reasonable force' in the circumstances could not be defined, there were a number of cases where serious assaults, resulting in serious, visible and permanent injuries, have been excused. This sent a confusing message to parents and caregivers that hitting children was permissible because the law said so.
The previous Section 59 provision violated UNCROC article 19
New Zealand is part of an international community that has committed to the rights and well being of children by signing and then ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC).
UNCROC Article 19 states that children should be protected 'from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation'. The old Section 59 violated this article in that it authorised physical force against children when defined as punishment by a parent or caregiver, providing a statutory defence in law.
Social and community attitudes change when the law changes
The criminal defence to physical punishment (our equivalent to s59) was repealed in 1957 in Sweden. In 1979 this was followed by an explicit ban on physical punishment. Eight years after repeal, more than half the population still believed that physical punishment of children was necessary.
By 1981 only 26% believed that it was necessary and by 1995 only 11% agreed with only 'mild forms' of physical punishment. Virtually no children in Sweden ever die as a result of physical abuse. Germany repealed their laws in 2000 and the same shift in attitudes has occurred. Change in the law leads to change in behaviour.
Law reform alone will not achieve the social change we are seeking in the way parents discipline their children. We need to help our parents and families learn alternative ways to manage their children's behaviour, ways that build respect and help children grow into responsible adults who in turn raise their children without smacking or hitting them.
What about the public protest and the fears that many good and loving parents have that they will be charged by the Police for smacking their children?
The fears that have been generated about the repeal of this legislation are the result of a lack of information or misinformation about how the Police will act if they learn that a parent has lightly smacked their child.
Realistically, complaints to the Police are most unlikely to be made in cases of minor assault to children and if they are made, we would not expect the Police to prosecute.
The Police do not prosecute in cases where there are minor adult to adult assaults but they usually offer help and suggest a referral to a community organization that helps parents with parenting, for example a Jigsaw member agency. The role of that agency is to get alongside the parents in a supportive way, help them learn about non physical ways to effectively manage their children's behaviour and help them enjoy being confident safe parents.
April 2008 Media Kit
Click here to view a media kit developed by a collaboration of organisations that support the law. The media kit explains how the law is working and why it had to be changed last year.
A very helpful resource for help parents looking for non physical ways to discipline their children.
"Children are unbeatable - Seven very good reasons not to hit children" by Rhonda Pritchard
Ordering information for the book can be found by clicking here
For more information about the 2007 amendments to Section 59 of the Crimes Act refer to
"Unreasonable Force - New Zealand's journey towards banning the physical punishment of children" Wood, B., Hassall, I. and Hook, G. Save the Children New Zealand, 2008.
This is the story of how the Sue Bradford's member's bill was passed. It details what happened to enable the bill to be passed as well as looking toward the future to see what the law means for children in New Zealand.
Ordering information for the book can be found by clicking here
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