Written By: - Date published: 6:01 pm, September 14th, 2011 - 50 comments
The guys at RSA Animate provide their illustative talents to a quite brilliant and wide ranging lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on the topic of education. In the space of just over 10 minutes, he ranges from it’s industrial beginnings to its doped out, standardised present and argues finally, that educationally we’re heading in exactly the wrong direction and suggests alternatives.
Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, April 5th, 2011 - 41 comments
Under Key’s government we are seeing an escalation in violence committed by children. Why? TV and media violence hasn’t noticeably step-changed in the last year. More likely it is a symptom of the stress that families are under. Children are the canaries in the coal mine…
Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, September 10th, 2010 - 172 comments
The mind set of your typical far RWNJ (Right Wing Nut Job) reminds me of nothing so much as a spoiled greedy baby. Never more so than after reading a couple of notable tantrums from right wing politicians lately.
Written By: - Date published: 7:53 am, May 16th, 2010 - 24 comments
Family First have a history of trying to make political capital out of stacked questions. They’re are at it again, distorting the results of a survey question to push for bringing back corporal punishment in schools. They are aided and abetted by some spectacularly bad journalism.
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, April 14th, 2010 - 44 comments
Smacking and the reform of Section 59 was one of the big political issues of the last few years. Key’s position on facing down the appallingly worded “smacking referendum” remains one of the very few things that I can respect and applaud him on. Key will not want to revisit this issue, but the evidence from a new study suggests that he should…
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 20th, 2009 - 76 comments
Tomorrow the Christian Right are holding a self-styled ‘March for Democracy’ that’s been bankrolled to the tune of $500,000 by Auckland property developer Colin Craig. I’m sure you’ll have seen the TV ads, the newpaper full-pagers and the slick PR campaign. They’re even paying for free buses to and from the event. With that kind …
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, November 19th, 2009 - 27 comments
Did you see Brain Rudman’s article in the Herald yesterday? The quote says it all: It just reminds you what an absurd debate this is. Still at least we’re not arguing over whether ‘working dogs’ should be microchipped any more.
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, October 9th, 2009 - 21 comments
Sweden has had a smacking ban for 30 years. How is that working out? Stockholm When celebrating the 30th anniversary of the world’s first national ban on corporal punishment of children last month, Sweden’s social affairs minister, Göran Hägglund, claimed a dramatic success over something many Swedes now consider a scourge. “Colleagues from other countries …
Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, September 3rd, 2009 - 22 comments
This 2007 quote from John Key is doing the rounds among angry “No” voters: Labour shows contempt for New Zealanders The Labour Government has shown utter contempt for New Zealanders and the democratic process with its plan to railroad the anti-smacking bill through Parliament, says National Party Leader John Key. “The Labour-led Government knows the …
Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, August 31st, 2009 - 20 comments
In the aftermath of the “smacking” referendum I was struck (as I often am lately) by the range in quality of editorial / opinion piece writing on the subject. Compare and contrast. John Armstrong writes: The referendum’s opponents have naturally sought to downplay the 88 per cent “no” vote as not unexpected, arguing that people …
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, August 27th, 2009 - 40 comments
I must confess that Key’s position on the repeal of s59 has puzzled me from the moment he started cooperating with the Labour government to get it passed. It’s a principled and evidence based position in stark contrast to his usual ideological blinders and populist posturing. Or perhaps it’s based on a deeply personal conviction. …
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, August 27th, 2009 - 18 comments
In 2007, 113 MPs voted for the Bradford amendment to s59 of the Crime Act. Eight voted against it. One of them was Winston Peters. Flash forward to 2009. The referendum has shown widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo – it’s dissatisfaction based on myths but the dissatisfaction is real. And neither of the major …
Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, August 26th, 2009 - 104 comments
John Boscawen’s private members’ bill to amend s59 of the Crimes Act has been drawn from the ballot. Essentially it would take us back to square one in the smacking/child assault issue. The bill would allow parents and adults to assault* children for the purposes of correction as long as the level of the force …
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, August 26th, 2009 - 51 comments
Beating lobby spokesman Larry Baldock appears to be losing the plot now that it’s dawned on him that his gaming of the smacking referendum question has left him with no mandate for a law change. In a press release titled “Democracy in danger?” Baldock rants that because the Government changed the law after the MMP …
Written By: - Date published: 4:06 pm, August 24th, 2009 - 63 comments
John Key thinks there’s no need to change the law in the wake of the smacking referendum, but he does think there’s a need for ‘increased safeguards’ to prevent parents who mete out ‘inconsequential’ smacks from being prosecuted. He’s also stated that he agrees with the result of the referendum, stating that it is ‘totally …
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, August 22nd, 2009 - 223 comments
I can’t say I’m all that surprised about the results of the ‘smacking’ referendum. As any good pollster will tell you, if you ask a leading question you’ll get the result you want. And that’s exactly what we got. Contrary to what the beating lobby is claiming today, all this referendum tells us is that …
Written By: - Date published: 5:56 pm, August 20th, 2009 - 75 comments
Interesting times for Key. Rodney is trying to wag the dog over Maori seats. He’s also trying it on over the “smacking referendum” (memo to Rodney, you can only throw your toys out of the cot once). The “No” vote organiser “sickos” are already planning their victory party, and already arguing about “the next step”. …
Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, August 17th, 2009 - 41 comments
Anti-violence campaigners are urging Auckland parents to be especially vigilant in the wake of news that “Vote No” campaigner Larry Baldock is planning a referrendum victory party at a secret Auckland hotel. Local supermarkets have reported selling out of wooden spoons, extension cords and lengths of copper piping in the lead up to the event. …
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, August 10th, 2009 - 35 comments
Rodney Hide is increasingly becoming an embarrassment to the government. The perception that he has created is that he will back to the hilt any cranky right wing idea if he believes that there is political support. And MMP means that minor parties do not need significant support, an incensed small group of extremists will …
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, August 4th, 2009 - 22 comments
Late last week households around the country received their referendum envelope that asks “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence?” Leaving aside the ambiguity and lack of clarity in that question, the lack of opinion based on fact and any semblance of common sense apart from Chicken Licken Family …
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, July 8th, 2009 - 37 comments
www.should-a.com, a website “created for the express purpose of openly mocking the citizen’s initiated referendum aimed at The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007, popularly known as the Anti-smacking Amendment”. Awesome.
Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, June 25th, 2009 - 37 comments
Tuesday’s post, A Rankin headache started: There must be an automatic recoil on the Government benches when Christine Rankin’s name is mentioned. In the comments, “gobsmacked” makes the observation [abridged]: John Key has decided to respond by indulging in some very nasty mud-slinging. This what he said in the House on Tuesday: ‘When National was in …
Written By: - Date published: 7:14 pm, June 23rd, 2009 - 31 comments
There must be an automatic recoil on the Government benches when Christine Rankin’s name is mentioned. Even Bill Ralston has noticed the difficulty in which they find themselves with her latest embarassment: We now have the ludicrous position where a Families Commissioner appears to run a shadow campaign by proxy, through surrogates, completely contrary to …
Written By: - Date published: 3:06 pm, June 23rd, 2009 - 25 comments
Did anyone else detect a whiff of desperation in Family Fist’s PR offensive today championing the case of a man who lost control and repeatedly shoved his son to the ground because he refused to play in a rugby game? I mean, is this really the best they’ve got? A grown man who’s lost his …
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, June 22nd, 2009 - 102 comments
The child beating lobby launched its “Vote No” campaign site today. They’ve worked hard in this campaign to present themselves as regular Kiwis standing up for common sense values, so I find it interesting they’ve chosen to decorate the front page of their campaign with this racist, sexist cartoon: The cartoon is clearly designed to …
Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, June 18th, 2009 - 22 comments
It’s hard to argue with the idea of referenda. What could be more democratic than citizens deciding precisely what issues the New Zealand public should consider, and taking a vote on them? Won’t that process get people thinking, encourage participation in the democratic process and make politics more accessible? Isn’t it the kind of democracy …
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, June 18th, 2009 - 84 comments
I fully understand the political reasons for both Key and Goff not voting in the upcoming referendum. Neither want to have an official position that either puts them on the side of the child-beaters and against a law they recently voted for, or that puts them on the side that may well be heavily defeated. …
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, June 17th, 2009 - 97 comments
The folks at The Yes Vote point to a hilarious exchange this morning between Sean Plunket and Larry Baldock on Morning Report. Challenged repeatedly to come up with one single example of a parent who has been criminalised for smacking a child, Baldock fudged, then fudged some more, and then rounded it off with some …
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, June 16th, 2009 - 53 comments
Here’s a tip for the child beaters at Family Fist – if you’re going to whip up a storm of fear and misinformation about a piece of legislation you don’t like, don’t peg your hopes on waiting two years for a referendum to get your revenge. That’s just enough time for your entire dishonest campaign …
Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, June 10th, 2009 - 9 comments
From Linley Boniface in the Dom 0n Monday: …My kids love hearing about the teacher who used to soak his strap in warm water every morning; about the uncle who was regularly caned on the back of the legs for refusing to get a haircut; about the family friend whose secondary school had a tradition …
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, May 20th, 2009 - 21 comments
The Herald is currently asking its readers: “Is a conviction appropriate for punching a child?” Seriously, what the hell is wrong at the Herald when they think that’s a question that needs to be asked?
Comments