In April - July 2009, Barnardos New Zealand did a survey about what children thought about the referendum. They asked over 5000 children the question: "Do you think that adults who are taken to court for hitting a child should be let off if they say they were disciplining the child?" Over half the children did not think that adults should be let off. Read more about the survey (opens .pdf file).

In 2005, during the original campaign to make corporal punishment illegal, an important piece of research into what children think about family discipline was published. More than nine out of ten (92%) of the 80 children aged between five and 14 years interviewed for the study said they had been or that they believed children were smacked. Read more about the study on the YesVote campaign website. When the law against corporal punishment was debated in Parliament, the things the children said in this piece of research were often quoted. At the same time, a few young people spoke and wrote to politicians about their views on corporal punishment.

In 2003, young people working with Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa made a video as part of their report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, including lots of information about children’s views on corporal punishment.

Read more about actions children in New Zealand have taken against corporal punishment.

Search our site

Tag cloud:

Click on a subject to read more.