Media Release
3 July 2009
Youth Against Child Abuse (YACA) is surprised that the Nelson Mail would publish an opinion piece from Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) given that it shows such an evident lack of research or factual accuracy.
“The well-intentioned Johny O’Donnel who is the founder of SAVE states in the article that the referendum question ‘is not going to reflect real public opinions’. The members of youth-based child-abuse action group YACA believe that the current law itself does not reflect ‘real public opinions’, and as such should be turfed out as the polls are so clearly indicating,” says YACA spokesperson Rachel Thompson.
“Johny is correct when he acknowledges that the law has ’seen a huge backlash from the public’. However further down in the article Johny writes, ‘No parents have got away which child abuse… since the law came in’. To this YACA simply responds that this was virtually the same scenario under the old law,” she says. “Only 7 or 8 cases viewed as possible child abuse cases were ever excused by a jury during the life of the original Section 59 of the Crimes Act. It therefore comes as no surprise that to date no parents have got away with child abuse since the inception of the new law.”
While it is true that ‘there is not one parent behind bars for smacking’, SAVE is ignoring the question that 83% of Kiwis are crying out to be heard, “why are parents being criminalised for giving a corrective smack?”
“YACA continues to represent the majority of Kiwi youth who believe that a yes vote will not help lower child abuse in New Zealand,” she says. “Voting NO will send a clear message that we want Parliament to address the real causes of child abuse.”
ENDS
Email: nzyaca@gmail.com
Phone: 021 0272 4242
Tags: referendum, smack
Ok so lets clear this up fact by fact/ False claim by false claim
A) It was an opinion piece and made no reference to factual info
B) Under the old law parents got away with child abuse! Above and beyond a light smack right through to belt whippings and hose pipe beatings- YACA seem to be ok with this
C) But not one parent is behind bars so they are not being criminilised and Larry Baldocks fear tactics have simply failed!
You know whats interesting since starting your website all you have done is attack other groups and other peoples honest opinions you are ignoring the fact that 69% of young people voted yes in a survey to the referendum question!
You are not Youth Against Child Abuse
You are youth against other decent groups doing the right thing and protecting our children
That’s 69% of young people who visited an the website of a group openly opposed to smacking you mean… This survey cannot even pretend to be scientific and should not be quoted as representative of youth.
Correct Emz. We haven’t yet responded to your survey Johny, however it is clear at even a cursory glance that while the survey was well constructed, it’s results are not representative of the majority of NZ youth.
Your results are what is known as a “rogue poll”, that is, a result that is unusual given the vast majority of other polling out there which is in disagreement to your result…
You just need to look at the consistent polling since 2005 which indicates strongly that 80%+ of the population believe there is a big difference between a corrective smack, and child abuse.
Listen you are very good at making false claims I will give you that but you wil clearly find that our group members didn’t take the survey!!
The people who took the survey were the ones who clicked on our Facebook Advertisement that ran for three days.
So YACA wrong again
I dont think YACA have any idea about real child abuse SAVE actually deal with it.
I got an email the other day saying “I was disturbed by Youth Against Child Abuses releases about SAVE and I am opposed to the anti-smacking bill yet criticising your group isn’t helping at all, so now I want to join SAVE”
17 year old boy
Well there it goes the referendum 87%, well done!
This is not a reflection of youth opinions