Strangers Can but Parents Can't

Bradford's misguided Bill to repeal Section 59 is incredibly short
sighted in a number of ways. One is that she failed to notice Section 60
of the Crimes Act, right next door to Section 59. Section 60 justifies
the use of "reasonable force" toward children, elderly and anyone else
at the captain's or pilot's command by even passengers and crew on a
ship or aircraft "for the purpose of maintaining good order and
discipline".

Will that force be considered justified if used by parents in the home,
in the car or in the shopping trolley? Isn't "maintaining good order and
discipline" also "incidental to good care and parenting" (which Bradford
says is to be legal), or will it be defined as correction (which
Bradford will insist makes it a crime)?

It is not at all clear what Bradford means by "correction". Is it not
reasonable that parents should have as much authority in their homes and
vehicles and shopping trolleys as captains and pilots have on their
craft? Or will this Bill land us in the situation where strangers in the
form of passengers and crew can use reasonable force on my children to
maintain good order and discipline on the ferry ship in the calms of
Wellington harbour, but my wife and I are not allowed to use it on our
own children in our own van to maintain good order and discipline while
driving through the chaos of Wellington highways.

This ridiculous Bill is focused on criminalizing the benign corrective
force used by nearly every good and caring parent in the
country.....while doing nothing whatsoever to weed out the dysfunctional
child abusing households. Dump the Bill.

Craig Smith, Family Integrity www.familyintegrity.org.nz