I voted against legislation to ban smacking and I will keep voting against any law that makes a parent potentially criminal for appropriate smacking of a child.

The best protection for a child is a functional family and this legislation will make a difficult job harder for parents without any benefits for children at risk of violence.

The government and its agents such as police and social workers should not interfere in the relationship between functional parents and thriving children.  People justify this interference with two flawed arguments.

The first is that the country needs to make a statement about child abuse. Apparently the way to stop people killing children is to attack normal functional parents.  This is like saying we’ll make a statement against arsonists by banning the use of fire.

The best protection against child abuse is a functional family and a community that supports families.  Why undermine the authority and judgement of parents in functional families who do not abuse their children just to “make a statement”?

The second argument for the smacking ban is that children deserve the same protection as adults. This argument ignores the fact that the relationship between parent and child is completely different from the relationships between adults.  Of course children deserve protection, but they also need direction and discipline. I don’t tell other adults to get out of bed, do the dishes, or be polite because I have no legal or moral responsibility to do so.

However, I am totally responsible for my children’s physical and moral welfare. The law reinforces my obligations to make sure my children have enough to eat and that they go to school.  In fact too many parents these days lack confidence in their ability to treat their children as children and give them direction. Other influences like the peer group and the media seem to take over at a younger and younger age.

This anti-smacking ban reflects the current philosophy that parents don’t know what they’re doing.  The government seems to believe every parent needs to be a qualified child psychologist and teacher as well as an expert on occupational health and safety legislation operating from licensed premises under regular inspection.

Most parents do a good job of bringing up their children. The smacking ban makes many of them potential criminals and it won’t make any difference to child abuse.

Parliament is out of line with public opinion on the anti-smacking legislation.  There’s only a few weeks to pull them back. So let the politicians know your opinion.