Help our kids!

Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, December 10th, 2012 - 4 comments
Categories: families, health, poverty, religion - Tags: , , ,

Irish has already covered the appalling statistics from the Children’s Social Health Monitor.

What struck me was the paucity of the Government’s response. Tony Ryall – unavailable for comment – merely put out a statement saying the Government was doing plenty as 33% of the budget went on social security and similar things.  One might point out that it could spend a lot less if it actually got people into jobs; or that it’s not what we put in that counts, but what the results are.

And the results are 600 dead Kiwi kids in the last 5 years.

They seem to trust that if they don’t comment, the media focus will move onto something new.

There were 2 other stories on our children this morning in the Herald as well.  One was very similar, as it looked at how much damage the widespread obesity in our society is causing.  Of course the headline is the cost to productivity, but there’s unnecessarily dead Kiwis here too.  The research that was being covered had a 6 point-plan for the Government to deal with the problem:

1. Reduce junk-food ads aimed at children.
2. Traffic-light labelling to identify healthy and unhealthy foods.
3. Remove GST from healthy foods.
4. Require government departments and hospitals to have healthy-food policies.
5. Prevent schools from selling unhealthy foods.
6. Extend Waikato’s Project Energize to all primary schools.

Tony Ryall’s response was to avoid the nanny-state Labour policies of restricting junk-food in schools and cutting GST off fruit and vege and possibly just implement number 6 if we’re lucky.  Government inaction and let the media move on…

The other story was much more positive – and didn’t involve the Government. The faith community is uniting religions to stand up against family violence. With organisation from the Children’s Commissioner, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Hindu and others have put out a statement saying no religion should be used to try and justify violence against women and children. (Incidentally the Children’s Commissioner’s front page is about dealing with child poverty).

Nice to see someone looking out for our kids.

—-

2 unrelated things, but not enough for a blog post:

– Go read the Hand Mirror’s review of the Transtasman MP rankings. In short 1/ Male, white, right, not John Banks? High Score! 2/ have you noticed anything similar about the folks at the top of our politics and political media?

– Did anyone else notice Key’s comments on waka-jumping at the bottom of this article?

“Everyone understands that one but it becomes shades of grey. It’s like pornography, you know it when you see it but everyone has a different definition of it.”

Stay classy John.

4 comments on “Help our kids! ”

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  1. xtasy 1
    10 December 2012 at 7:15 pm

    National’s policy on hungry school kids is:

    Leave it to Fonterra, Kids-can and others to do the job.

    Apart from that, for those kids that have a bit of pocket money, there are plenty of pies, fries and sugar coated buns to buy on the way.

    Just a year or two ago, down from where I live, a large lunch bar opened, where none ever was. It is just down from two major schools. They are doing a roaring trade every day, as the bulk of their “customers” are school kids, who buy pies, chips, sugary and creamy buns, and cans of coke from their parent’s pocket money, enjoying the changed, “freed up” policies regarding healthy school kid’s diet.

    I am sure for those that go without, there is a bit offered at the schools. How healthy that is, I have no clue. But it is disgusting what has happened.

    No wonder Ryall is nowhere to be seen.

    He is busy preparing the next media release on new great successes in “elective surgery”!

  2. David Viperious H 2
    11 December 2012 at 7:48 am

    They would rather give the money to their mates in Tax Cuts, and other rorts. Wankers

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/8061340/Crown-cold-on-2b-plan-to-cut-child-poverty

  3. Chris 3
    11 December 2012 at 9:36 am

    Good Grief. rusty keys house looks as boring and bland as he is!

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