An
international psychology expert is adding to pressure for changes
to New Zealand's smacking laws.
Canadian Joan Durrant says recent research shows that physical
force causes long term behavioural problems and increases the risk
of child abuse.
"That child starts to feel hostility towards the parent and they harbour anger and resentment," says Durrant.
She says parents should leave smacking behind and seek out new ways of interacting with their children and resolving conflicts.
New Zealand has got one of the highest rates of child abuse deaths in the world while Sweden, with its ban on smacking, has one of the lowest.
"Mild smacking has a very high risk of escalating and the more it escalates the more chance there is the child will be injured or killed," says Durrant.
Green MP
Sue Bradford wants to remove the legal defence allowing parents to
use reasonable force on their children.
"All I am trying to do is get rid of a law that says it's okay to
beat your children," says Bradford.
But National MP Judith Collins says there is a fear this will turn good parents into criminals.
"I think it is important we have reasonable defences available to parents. Parenting is not an academic science," says Collins.
Submissions for the controversial anti-smacking bill close this month and it's expected to be debated in parliament later this year.
