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Recent News  Sex creeps into early prime time TV NZ Herald Friday Sep 3, 2010 A respected children's media expert is lamenting that kids have been sacrificed to sleaze under New Zealand's TV standards system. Ruth Zanker is a lecturer at Christchurch Polytechnic and a researcher who has specialised in children and the media. She has noted a change. "There is a general sexualising that has gone on with tabloidisation of media - sex is the easy way of making a hit and it boosts ratings. Children are being sacrificed on the altar of ratings," she says. Zanker has noted an increasing level of sexuality creeping into early prime time as the TV networks chase ratings. It is a difficult time and parents are either unwilling or unable to police their kids' viewing. Zanker says New Zealand's broadcasting laws have created the problem. The Broadcasting Standards Authority acts on complaints. But few complain and the BSA has steered at freedom of speech rather the protection of children, she says. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10670696  Too little sleep bad for teenagers' diets: study Reuters 2 Sep 2010 Teenagers who sleep less than eight hours a night on weeknights eat more fatty foods and snacks than those who get more than eight hours of sleep a night, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. They said getting too little sleep can result in chronic changes in the diet that can increase the risk of obesity, especially in girls. Prior studies have shown that too little sleep can lead to weight gain, but the new findings show where the extra calories come from. Increasing intake of fatty foods, which are typically high in calories, can increase the overall daily caloric intake, and if it happens routinely, it can lead to excess fat. "The demonstration of chronically altered dietary patterns in adolescents with shorter sleep provides insight into why shorter sleep has been associated with obesity in prior experimental and observational studies," said Dr. Susan Redline of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, whose study appears in the journal Sleep. Redline and colleagues studied 240 teenagers aged 16 to 19 taking part in an ongoing sleep study. Their sleep was monitored at home by a wrist band device and food intake was measured with interviews done by trained staff. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6807PW20100902 Scottish government to tackle alcohol abuse with price hike guardian.co.uk 2 September 2010 The dispute over the need for controls on the cost of alcohol intensified today after the Scottish government unveiled formal plans to fix a minimum price for all alcoholic drinks at 45p per unit. That would double or treble the cost of the cheapest super-strength ciders sold by major supermarkets, and raise the cost of cheap supermarket vodka by nearly £4 a bottle. Some own-brand whiskies would cost £3.40 more. Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health secretary, said a minimum price was essential to help tackle the high death toll and health burden from alcohol abuse in Scotland, which drinks 25% more per head of population than the rest of the UK. Raising the cost to 45p a unit would immediately save about 50 lives a year, cut hospital admissions by 1,200 a year and mean nearly 23,000 fewer days lost from work in the first year. Within a decade, nearly 225 lives a year would be saved. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/02/scotland-alcohol-abuse-price-rise Children most at risk of harm 'fall under radar' The Dominion Post 03/09/2010 The children most likely to die from neglect and abuse are falling under the radar of the government agencies that should be protecting them, research shows. A study of Masterton families that rely on social services found support was failing to reach those most at risk. The research, commissioned by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, showed most families were resilient and used social services to make themselves stronger. The Families Commission study focused on Masterton and looked at 400 families and 33 social service agencies. High-risk, dysfunctional families were among those interviewed. But the most severe cases – families in which children had died – avoided contact with social services and fell under the radar, the report said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/4090183/Children-most-at-risk-of-harm-fall-under-radar Doctor suspended over child sex images TVNZ/NZPA 02/09/2010 Family First is outraged that a doctor who had thousands of images of child porn on his computer, has had his name suppressed in sentencing today. A doctor has been suspended from practising for nine months after pleading guilty to possessing images of child sex abuse. The doctor, whose name is suppressed, was sentenced to four months' home detention after admitting 25 charges of possessing objectionable material and one charge of distributing an objectionable publication. The material was found on the doctor's computer and an external hard drive which contained over 400,000 files, 290,000 of which related to images of young girls in explicit sexual poses. In a decision released by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal today, the doctor had his registration suspended for nine months from the date of the hearing - July 26, 2010. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/child-porn-doctor-given-name-suppression-3755747 http://www.3news.co.nz/Guilty-doctor-should-be-named---Family-First/tabid/423/articleID/173968/Default.aspx#top Child support payments 'to be fairer' NZPA/ONE News September 02, 2010 Both parents' incomes could be taken into account when child care payments are set, under proposed changes by the government. Revenue Minister Peter Dunne today released a discussion document, Supporting Children, outlining wide-ranging proposals to change the system. The scheme arranges financial support for the care of 210,000 children and parents owe about $2 billion in unpaid child care payments and penalties. Dunne said it needed to be fairer. "The options in the discussion document also seek to get a balance between the welfare of the parent who receives child support and the obligations of the parent who pays it," he said. "In keeping with the need for this balance, the document asks whether child support payments should be automatically deducted from employees' income, and whether the penalty and write-off rules for child support need to be amended to provide better and more effective incentives to pay." http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/child-support-payments-fairer-3753859  Judges 'treat violent women differently' The Dominion Post 01/09/2010 A woman's eight-year jail term for murdering her partner reflects the judiciary's lack of understanding towards male victims of domestic violence, a men's rights spokesman says. Hastings GP Viv Roberts was commenting on Monday's sentencing of Jacqueline Wihongi, 33, in the High Court at Napier. The mother of six stabbed her partner of 17 years, Vivian Hirini, in the chest with a kitchen knife in June last year. In sentencing, Justice John Wild said Wihongi had a tragic "history of victimhood" and it would have been "manifestly unjust" to have given her life imprisonment. The couple had a violent relationship and frequently assaulted each other. Mr Hirini had been stabbed previously by Wihongi and had lost an eye when she hit him with a bottle. The court was shown a ringbinder containing about 500 pages of police reports on domestic callouts involving the couple. Women's Refuge spokeswoman Kiri Hannifin praised the judge for considering the "appalling violence" Wihongi had suffered. But Dr Roberts said this was "clearly a case where there has been a lot of violence both ways", which the system had failed to address. "Men are frequently the victims in domestic violence and, even when they end up dead, the perpetrator of the violence is treated differently if they happen to be female. "Mr Hirini is not available to tell his side of the story but, if he were, the story he would tell may well paint a different picture to that painted by Ms Wihongi's defence team." A 2006 report by the Dunedin Multi-Disciplinary Health and Development Study (The Dunedin Study) said there was "a tendency to discount the harm attributed to violence carried out by women ... but the argument of the relative benignity of female violence does not match our data on distress, nor our informal data on severity". Dr Roberts said police figures on reported incidents were not an accurate picture of the perpetrators as studies had shown men victims reported less than 5 per cent of violence and women about 30 per cent. A quote from American author Patricia Pearson's book When She Was Bad: How and Why Women Get Away with Murder best summed up his thoughts. "She wrote, `the denial of women's aggression profoundly undermines our attempt as a culture to understand violence, to trace its causes and quell them'. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4081572/Judges-treat-violent-women-differently  Study shows new mums do get enough sleep Reuters 01/09/2010 It may come as news to new parents but a US study has found that mothers do get enough sleep in their babies' first few months - it's just not good quality. Researchers from West Virginia University in Morgantown followed a group of new mothers and found, on average, the women got just over 7 hours of sleep a night during their babies' first four months. That amount is generally what is recommended for adults, and, based on past studies, more than the average American gets. But the study found that sleep is also frequently disrupted with the women typically being awake for a total of two hours a night which was worrying as sleep problems and exhaustion may contribute to postpartum depression and impact work performance. Researcher Dr Hawley Montgomery-Downs, an assistant professor of psychology, said the study challenges a central assumption about new mothers' typical sleep patterns. She told Reuters Health that the general assumption had been that most new mothers are not getting enough hours of sleep so the advice on how to combat daytime fatigue has focused on countering sleep deprivation, such as nap when your baby naps. The current results, reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, suggest that new mothers' highly fragmented sleep is the cause of daytime fatigue. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/4080443/Study-shows-new-mums-do-get-enough-sleep Lack of sleep linked to mental illness in young The Age (Australia) September 1, 2010 YOUNG people who get very little sleep are much more likely to become mentally ill, Australian research shows. Lack of sleep might help explain the puzzling increase in mental illness among young people over the past decades, said research leader Nicholas Glozier. He said late-night internet use might be one reason young people were sleeping less. The study of nearly 20,000 people aged 17-24 found those who slept less than five hours a night were three times more likely than normal sleepers to become psychologically distressed in the next year. Each hour of sleep lost was linked to a 14 per cent higher risk of distress. ''Sleep disturbance and in particular insomnia is a predictor of later development of depression and possibly anxiety,'' said Professor Glozier. http://www.theage.com.au/national/lack-of-sleep-linked-to-mental-illness-in-young-20100831-14fkc.html  Family key to women's happiness Canterbury Star 31st August 2010 Statistics show traditional families are on the decline, with more women choosing not to have children. A recent happiness survey asked 2000 Kiwis aged 15 and over to rate factors that contributed to their personal happiness. Eighty-two per cent of women said they gained the most happiness from their family, while for men, freedom came out on top. Figures from Statistics New Zealand show that couples without children at home overtook couples with children in 2008 - the first time since World War 2. The changes are mainly driven by the ageing population caused by plunging birth and death rates over the past 50 years. ....Census figures show that 15 per cent of women born in 1965 had not had children by the time they were 40. Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said the projections were a warning shot for the country. "We should be doing everything we can to promote stable two-parent homes for the sake of the kids, and for the sake of the adults having the support they need to bring up the kids." The happiness survey, commissioned by Coca-Cola, also found that being intimate did not rank highly with either males or females, with both choosing rest, 31 per cent, over intimacy, 1 per cent, as the happiest moment of the day. http://www.starcanterbury.co.nz/local/news/family-key-to-womens-happiness/3920779/  Breastfeeding babies benefits mother, too Sydney Morning Herald August 31, 2010 Women who do not breastfeed their babies are at greater risk of diabetes, research shows. Mothers who never breastfed were 50 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who did. And they had almost twice the risk of women who had never given birth, according to the study of more than 2230 US women. Breastfeeding may lower diabetes risk by helping women lose their ''baby belly'', the fat that accumulates around their abdomen during pregnancy. As little as one month spent exclusively feeding with breast milk seemed to decrease the diabetes risk, although the average was six months of at least partial breastfeeding, the study authors wrote in the American Journal of Medicine. The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends babies be breastfed exclusively until six months but the most recent Australian survey found only 14 per cent were. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/breastfeeding-babies-benefits-mother-too-20100830-147ej.html Cutting short jail sentences 'will not reduce crime' BBC News 28 August 2010  Government plans to lock up fewer criminals would not reduce offending or cut costs, a report says. Ex-Home Office criminologist Professor Ken Pease said community sentences have no evident effect on reconviction rates in their current form. His report, Prison, Community Sentencing and Crime, has been released by the think-tank Civitas. It follows Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's call for alternatives to jail to be developed. Prof Pease said it was important for any move away from the use of custody "to be based on something more than short-term political exigency". He said using community sentences to replace short prison sentences simply "freed the group most likely to reoffend to do so sooner, with no evidence of a current treatment benefit from community sanctions to offset that." Prof Pease said arguments for fewer short sentences failed to take into account that jailing persistent offenders gave the public a respite from crime. * Existing community sentences, compared with prison sentences, have no apparent impact on re-offending rates. (p. 7) * Offenders are prevented from committing crimes against the general public while in prison. (p. 4) * The number of crimes committed by offenders is much larger than the number for which they are eventually convicted; for example one estimate suggested as many as 136 burglaries per conviction for burglary. (p. 9) * The substantial economic costs associated with each offence that have to be borne by individuals, businesses and public services. For example, a single theft (on average) is estimated to cost £1,000, a serious wounding £21,000. (p. 9) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11112204 Criminals in our classrooms Sunday Star Times 29/08/2010  Convicted criminals are teaching in New Zealand classrooms and Education Minister Anne Tolley has ordered an inquiry. Teachers have remained in our classrooms despite convictions for indecent assault on a student, threatening to kill, assault on a female and other acts of violence. Tolley has ordered an investigation, saying the safety of students must take priority, and that she is in discussions with the Teachers Council. "The safety and wellbeing of students must be a priority for everyone involved in education," she said. The council investigates all complaints about teacher behaviour and competency – from parents and schools – and looks into all teachers convicted of an offence punishable by more than three months in prison. In the last two years, 58 teachers have self-reported such a conviction to the council, including: * A teacher convicted of indecent assault against a teenage girl aged 14-16, in 2006. Sentenced to 200 hours' community work last year, he has full registration, subject to conditions. * A male convicted of assault with a blunt instrument and male assaults female. He was fined $2000 and sentenced to 100 hours' community work and also maintained full registration. * A male teacher convicted of possession of an objectionable publication is yet to be sentenced. He has full registration. * A teacher who was convicted of threatening to kill, and male assaults female, and sentenced to 300 hours' community work and six months' supervision, was granted registration but his practising certificate is pending. * A female convicted of grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard, and wounding with reckless disregard in 2008 was registered, but her practising certificate is also pending. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/4072447/Criminals-in-our-classrooms Supermarkets are drug pushers, says lobbyist NZ Herald Aug 30, 2010 Supermarkets are drug "pushers" who are selling high quantities of discounted wine and should be viewed the same as dealers dishing out Ecstasy pills or morphine. It may seem extreme but it's a view that Professor Doug Sellman, director of the National Addiction Centre and spokesman for the Alcohol Action Group, is taking quite seriously. Professor Sellman believes the Government should remove alcohol from supermarket shelves and limit the amount of advertising operators are allowed for liquor, among many changes he hopes might alter people's attitudes to drinking. Think it's over the top? He will tell you that's because you have been brainwashed into downplaying our excessive consumption of alcohol. In a three-month study of advertising in the Herald, the Dominion Post, the Press and the Otago Daily Times, Professor Sellman said New World was the country's biggest "drug pusher" because it had the most alcohol-related advertising. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10669822 Sperm-donors' kids seek more rights and respect Washington Post August 16, 2010; 12:00 AM Katrina Clark and Lindsay Greenawalt have much in common. Bright women in their 20s, raised by single mothers, keenly curious about the men whose donated sperm helped give them life. They want to transform the dynamics of sperm donation so the children's interests are given more weight and it becomes easier to learn about their biological fathers. One specific goal - a ban on anonymous sperm donations - seems far-off in the United States, although Britain and several other European countries have taken that step. But the voices of donor offspring are being heard more widely and clearly than ever, thanks to Internet-based social networking and other recent developments. A new film, "The Kids Are All Right," depicts two teenage siblings who track down their sperm-donor father and introduce him to their lesbian moms. Complications ensue, but the teens' yearning to meet their dad is portrayed empathetically. The film opened just weeks after the release of a provocative study by the Commission on Parenthood's Future, titled "My Daddy's Name is Donor." It surveyed 485 donor offspring, concluded they were more troubled and depression-prone than other young adults in comparison groups, and recommended an end to anonymous sperm donation. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/15/AR2010081501528.html Phoney booze war lacks fire power - Garth George NZ Herald Aug 26, 2010 If the Government's proposals for changes to the liquor laws are, as it says, an "all-out war on youth binge drinking", then it's destined to have about as much success as the campaign to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in World War I. But in the meantime it's going to be a phoney war, even longer than the one between Britain and Germany in 1939 and 1940. That lasted nine months, but our phoney war against the depredations of alcohol overindulgence is set to last at least a year if not longer. For none of the provisions proposed this week are scheduled to come into effect until after the Rugby World Cup in September-October next year. Meanwhile, thousands of New Zealanders, young and old, will fall victim, through road carnage, murder, violence, crime, suicide and alcohol-induced illnesses, to a booze culture which has long been running right out of control. ..Yet these are all things which would have a salutary effect on our rampant booze culture and would show positive results in a relatively short time. As Family First director Bob McCoskrie says: "At a time when we're trying to tackle domestic violence and child abuse, which is far too often fuelled by alcohol abuse, the measures announced will make little difference ... populist policies that fail to rock the boat and fail to tackle the problem." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10668825  Teenage promiscuity and abortions is linked to women's binge drinking Daily Mail (UK) 21st August 2010 The devastating effects of excess alcohol on young women have been spelled out by a major study. The study, the most extensive of its kind, paints a disturbing picture of girls having casual, unprotected sex under the influence of alcohol which they often regret as soon as they sober up. It also shows that the number of people of both sexes drinking to excess has tripled in a decade. At the same time, official statistics show that the number of abortions has soared to make Britain the termination capital of Europe. Doctors, meanwhile, are seeing more and more girls wanting the morning-after pill after a night of drunken, unprotected sex. Researchers from University College London examined the alcohol consumption and sexual activity of almost 25,000 individuals aged 16 to 44 over a ten-year period. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304833/The-Legacy-ladette-binge-drinking-women-linked-rise-casual-sex-abortions-prescriptions-morning-pill.html#ixzz0xYVl9lMn Mum and Dad to decide if young Johnny gets booze NZ Herald Aug 24, 2010 Under-18s wanting to drink at a private party, including after-balls, will need their parents' permission under the Government's alcohol reform package, and the host will need to police the level of drunkenness. Hosts supplying booze without the consent of the parents or failing to supervise the party adequately will incur a criminal conviction and a fine up to $2000. The proposal is one of several measures of the package, released yesterday following a comprehensive report from the Law Commission. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10668420  Alcohol reforms labelled half-hearted ONE News August 23, 2010 Community groups say the government's alcohol reforms announced today will do nothing to curb binge drinking and the problems it causes in society. The government will introduce a graduated approach to purchasing alcohol - 18 years of age for on-licences and 20 years of age for off-licences. It will be an offence for anyone other than a parent or guardian to provide alcohol to an under-18-year-old without a parent or guardian's consent. RTDs will be restricted to 5% alcohol content and will be limited to containers holding no more than 1.5 standard drinks. And the Minister of Justice, in consultation with the Minister of Health, will be able to ban alcohol products which are particularly appealing to minors or particularly dangerous to health. "We Know Better" Family First NZ said the government had adopted a "we know better" attitude to community concerns expressed on the issue of alcohol abuse in the community, and as a result the problems of domestic violence, child abuse, underage drinking and binge drinking would continue. "The government has tackled the festering sore of alcohol harm with a tickle, and in the process ignored the overwhelming voice of New Zealanders and groups representing families and communities who made submissions to the Law Commission," said Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First. "The proposals announced today will only have a small effect, if any, on excessive consumption and underage drinking. "Polls over the last couple of years have shown that two thirds or more of New Zealanders want the drinking age raised to at least 20, instant fines for public drunkenness, on-license premises to close by 2am, and the legal blood-alcohol limit lowered to 50. "These opinions have been ignored. The government says they are listening - the question is to who?" The split drinking age sent a mixed message and also ignored the growing body of medical evidence regarding the harms of alcohol to teenagers and young people, he said. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/alcohol-reforms-labelled-half-hearted-3727956 HOW THE MP'S PLAN TO VOTE ON THE DRINKING AGE http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/document/pdf/NZHBA30AUG10A004.pdf Children 'at risk from pop charts porn': Top producer Mike Stock blasts his own industry Daily Mail (UK) 11th August 2010 The man who helped launch the career of Kylie Minogue yesterday condemned modern pop culture for 'sexualising' youngsters. Mike Stock, one third of the legendary pop factory Stock, Aitken and Waterman, said: 'The music industry has gone too far. It's not about me being old fashioned. It's about keeping values that are important in the modern world. 'These days you can't watch modern stars - like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga - with a two-year-old. Ninety-nine per cent of the charts is R 'n' B and 99 per cent of that is soft pornography.' He continued: 'Kids are being forced to grow up too young. Look at the videos. I wouldn't necessarily want my young kids to watch them. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1301974/Mike-Stock-Pop-charts-porn-putting-children-risk.html  Public divided over euthanasia The Dominion Post 23/08/2010 Public opinion remains divided over whether assisted suicide should be permitted, a poll shows. Research New Zealand polled 500 people aged over 15 on whether euthanasia should be legalised in New Zealand and found that 47 per cent supported assisted suicide and 44 per cent were opposed to it. Support for euthanasia was highest among older age groups. While just 39 per cent of 15 to 34-year-olds felt that assisted suicide should be permitted, more than 51 per cent of those aged 35 and over were in favour of the proposal. "The older people and those who have older relatives clearly feel differently about this issue than do the younger people," Research New Zealand director Emanuel Kalafatelis said. Among Maori and Pacific Island respondents, 37 per cent supported assisted suicide – significantly less than among the European population, in which 49 per cent voiced support. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/4048840/Public-divided-over-euthanasia Public want income splitting: Dunne NZ Herald 17 August 2010 United Future leader Peter Dunne says he is confident public support for his "income sharing" policy will force the Government to back it despite widespread criticism the scheme is expensive and poorly targeted. Mr Dunne yesterday introduced legislation to give effect to his long-standing income sharing proposal that will allow couples with children under 18 to combine their income and then split it for tax purposes, reducing their overall tax bill. The policy would see a family with one income earner on $50,000 a year receive a $1230 annual credit but a single income family earning $140,000 a year would be $9080 better off. If the scheme was picked up by the estimated 310,000 families who would be eligible, it is expected to cost $450 million a year. However in echoes of recent comments from Finance Minister Bill English, the proposal was widely panned as poorly targeted. Labour MP Stuart Nash said his party would not support it as the scheme favoured wealthy parents over families that really needed extra support. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666605 MPs lean toward split drinking age NZ Herald Aug 18, 2010 MPs given a conscience vote on the legal drinking age would probably allow 18-year-olds into bars and pubs but return the off-licence purchase age to 20. The National Party caucus yesterday decided that the vote on raising the drinking or alcohol purchase age from 18 to 20 will be up to individual MPs in a conscience vote. But National would vote as a party on other alcohol reforms in legislation expected to have its first reading late this year. The caucus meeting also decided that any votes on drink-driving laws, including Labour MP Darren Hughes' private member's bill to reduce the blood-alcohol limit, would also be along party lines rather than a conscience vote as suggested by Prime Minister John Key last week. Asked how they intended to vote on the alcohol purchase age, many MPs, including Mr Key and Opposition leader Phil Goff, said they were likely to vote for a split age which would keep the purchase age on licensed premises at 18, but raise the purchase age at liquor stores, supermarkets and other off-licence premises to 20. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666902 Toddler beats hospital death sentence Herald Sun August 16, 2010 A seriously ill toddler whose parents went to court to lift a hospital's effective death sentence is now defying the odds. The parents of Child X, 3, were told his condition was terminal, and the hospital wanted to stop the kidney dialysis keeping him alive. But they refused to give up hope, and sought an urgent injunction from the Family Court while they awaited a second medical opinion. An order preventing the hospital from stopping dialysis was granted on June 28. The boy has since shown such remarkable improvement his parents now hope to be able to take him home. Right To Life campaigner Margaret Tighe said there was an unfortunate culture emerging where people could decide that other people's lives were not worth living, based on the quality of life they could be expected to have rather than on whether their condition could be treated. "If this is a quality of life decision, if the hospital had decided the child's life was not going to be worthy to be lived, then clearly that is wrong," she said. The hospital has refused to comment on its original decision or on the improvement in the boy's condition since. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/toddler-beats-hospital-death-sentence/story-e6frf7l6-1225905654374 Girls top schools' booze league Sunday Star Times 15/08/2010 Schoolgirls are hitting the booze harder than ever, and even the very young are drinking, according to the Education Ministry. And worried teachers say Monday-morning hangovers after students' booze-fuelled weekends are stopping them learning. Children as young as seven and eight have been disciplined over alcohol-related matters, and teachers said binge-drinking was so bad that some students were still suffering in the classroom when they returned to school after partying away the weekend. More students were being disciplined for alcohol-related offences, a pattern first noticed in 2003. Stand-downs from school dropped during the same period to 3.6%, but had spiked again recently to about 5%. About 800 secondary and 88 primary students, some as young as seven, were stood down from school because of alcohol consumption last year. Seven students were expelled, or forbidden from attending that school and forced to enrol at another. And girls, who usually outperform boys in school results, appear to be leading in the boozing league. The number stood down over alcohol was more than double the rate for boys, with the latest figures at 8% of females compared to 3.5% of males. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/4025686/Girls-top-schools-booze-league  Attacks on parents rise Sunday News 15/08/2010 VIOLENT children are bashing and abusing their mums and dads as kiddie power grows out of control, say experts. A New Zealand parents group boss says children as young as five are staunching out their guardians. And a visiting expert says parent abuse here is getting as bad as in the US and UK. British psychologist Aric Sigman spoke about the trend at the Family First Forum in Auckland recently. Sigman said many parents were giving into their children's demands and kids were becoming dominant in family relationships. ...Last year, 444 children aged 14 to 16 were apprehended for domestic common assault – up from 339 in 2008 and way up from the 114 in 2000, Statistics New Zealand figures showed. A further 17 were apprehended for common assault using a weapon (not a firearm) in a domestic situation. For those aged 10-13, there were 130 common assaults reported in 2009 – up from 95 in 2008 and 50 in 2000. And for under-nines, there were six domestic common assaults reported in 2009, nine in 2008, two in 2007 and three in 2006. In 2008, Nelson police spoke out about a trend of parent abuse. They believed it could have been as a result of the introduction of the anti-smacking bill, because it meant parents were worried about restraining violent children. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/4025542/Attacks-on-parents-rise READ Parent Abuse on the Rise: A Historical Review American Association of Behavioural Social Science Online Journal 2004 "...the most important factor, is that these studies have shown parental permissiveness to play a major role in parent abuse. Many parents are still encouraged to take a lax, permissive approach to their parenting, which puts them at a higher risk for parent abuse, and their children at higher risk for delinquency."  Expo ad has 50 complaints Herald on Sunday Aug 15, 2010 More than 50 complaints have been made over porn king Steve Crow's mobile billboard promoting this weekend's Erotica Expo in Auckland. But it didn't stop about 10,000 people going to the event at the ASB Showgrounds. The mobile billboard shows a woman holding half a rock melon with her finger in it. Complaints have been made to the Advertising Standards Authority. Crow said the billboard had worked: "At the end of the day the billboard shows the girl holding a melon. How people interpret that is up to them. I'm not responsible for how people think." The billboard has been slammed by lobby group Family First. "It's absolutely disgusting," said national director Bob McCoskrie. "It's suggestive, it's offensive and quite clear what it's getting at. It exposes children to inappropriate material. We need to protect the moral innocence of children." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666187 Parents reveal biggest fears Herald on Sunday Aug 15, 2010 Kiwi parents' biggest fear is that their children will spiral into drug and alcohol addiction, a survey has found. One in four parents said their biggest concern for their kids' welfare was exposure to Class A drugs, such as pure methamphetamine, and binge drinking. The survey of 500 parents, carried out for the Herald on Sunday, found that falling in with the wrong crowd was parents' next biggest worry. One in five, or 21 per cent, said that peer pressure to go along with their friends was their greatest fear. Parents who identified drugs as their major concern said "P" was the big fear. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666088 Grown-up problems stress parents Sydney Morning Herald August 13, 2010 THE well-being of middle-aged parents appears to be linked to the successes and failures of their adult children, research shows. And even having a high-achieving adult child does not make up for the stress of having one with problems. However, US researchers found that if parents had more than one highly successful child those children could make up for the depressive feelings and worry experienced when their other adult child is having trouble. "It may be true that parents are only as happy as their least happy child," said study leader and psychology professor Karen Fingerman, of Purdue University in Indiana. Professor Fingerman, who presented her findings at the American Psychological Association convention overnight, studied more than 630 parents whose children were aged mostly between 18 and 33 years old. Just over 68 per cent of the parents reported having at least one grown child that had suffered a physical, emotional, lifestyle or behavioural problem in the past two years, including a serious health problem or injury, psychological problems, or financial or relationship difficulties. Nearly half reported having at least one adult child who was more successful than average for people their age. President of the Australian Psychological Society, Bob Montgomery, said parents often believed it was their job to solve their children's problems and protect them from threats. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/grownup-problems-stress-parents-20100812-121kz.html Suicides outnumber road deaths The Press 12/08/2010 Suicides should be more widely reported as the number of New Zealanders taking their own lives is 50 per cent higher than the road toll, the Chief Coroner says. Judge Neil MacLean said New Zealand's suicide rate received little attention in comparison with the road toll, even though significantly more people died. Media reporting was often seen as a cause of copycat suicides, but responsible reporting could potentially save lives, he said. Suicide-prevention experts welcomed the call for more reporting on the suicide issue but cautioned against detailing individual cases because of the possibility of copycats. Statistics released by the Chief Coroner to the Press show the number of deaths ruled as self-inflicted by coroners has stayed at about 540 for each of the past three financial years. In comparison, the road toll has dropped from 435 in 2004 to 390 last year. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/4017080/Suicides-outnumber-road-deaths  United Future's income sharing on agenda Otago Daily Times 10 Aug 2010 Revenue Minister Peter Dunne in two weeks will finally introduce a Bill to Parliament calling for income sharing to be allowed between couples with children. The United Future leader first talked about the income splitting concept in 2002 but it was not included as part of his party's confidence and supply agreement with the then Labour administration. In 2005, the confidence and supply agreement allowed Mr Dunne to prepare a policy paper on the concept and in 2008 National agreed United Future could develop the policy and National would support the Bill to its first reading. Income sharing would allow couples with children under 18 to share income between them for tax purposes. Sharing would be voluntary and people could not be forced into it. Whether it was a benefit or not depended on family circumstances, Mr Dunne said. The minister estimated that the benefits for some families could be as high as $9000. "For many people it would be quite significant." A qualifying family with one income of $60,000 would be eligible for an annual tax credit of $2500, if the legislation was passed, he said. A family with one partner earning $40,000 and another earning $20,000 would qualify for a tax credit of $1500. "The higher up you go, the better off you are." A couple earning $140,000 between them - $100,000 and $40,000 - would be eligible for a credit of $1900 but a couple with one income earner on $140,000 would qualify for about $9000 in tax credits. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/120004/united-futures-income-sharing-agenda  Parents of Down Syndrome kids Experience Joy, Resilience - SurveyKansas State University 3 August 2010 The tumultuous feelings parents have when they first learn their child will be born with Down syndrome give way to joy and resilience, according to preliminary data from a study by researchers at Kansas State University and Texas Tech University. Briana Nelson Goff and Nicole Springer, both mothers of a child with Down syndrome, can attest to the findings. Goff is associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Human Ecology and professor of family studies and human services at K-State, and Springer is director of the Texas Tech University Family Therapy Clinic. The two researchers, who met while completing their doctoral work at Texas Tech, reconnected after learning of their personal connection as parents. Their study is called "My Kid Has More Chromosomes Than Yours! The Journey to Resilience and Hope in Parenting a Child with Down Syndrome." "The goal of our study is to help parents and professionals understand that having a child with Down syndrome isn't the end of the world; it can be a very positive experience," Goff said. The researchers collected data through an online survey for parents of children with Down syndrome. Together with their student teams, they are analyzing the more than 500 responses they’ve received since the survey went live October 2009. The researchers found that the parents' experiences in first learning their child had Down syndrome had similarities, regardless of whether the diagnosis was before or after the birth. http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/567058/?sc=dwhr;xy=5045378  Parents keep tech tabs on kids Herald on Sunday Aug 8, 2010 More than half of parents keep an eye on their children by checking their social networking online and nearly a third snoop at text messages on children's mobile phones, according to a new poll. The survey of 500 parents, conducted for the Herald on Sunday, with children aged under 20 living in the Auckland region queried the rules they had for their teenagers regarding sex, alcohol use, the internet and mobile phones. Most respondents who checked on their children's technology use did so out of curiosity, to keep up to date, check language was appropriate and to watch for bullying. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10664495  100,000 kids kicked out of school Herald on Sunday Aug 8, 2010 Nearly 100,000 pupils have been stood down or suspended from New Zealand schools for drug use, verbal and physical assaults, latest figures show. Statistics released under the Official Information Act reveal 81,521 students have been stood down and 16,145 suspended from schools since 2007. The Ministry of Education figures show the main reasons include students being disciplined for continual disobedience, physical assaults on other students and verbally assaulting staff members. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10664496  'Learn to say no to spoilt kids' Sunday Star Times 08/08/2010 NZ parents need to "get their back bones back" and learn how to say no to their children to stop what a British psychologist is calling a "spoilt generation". Aric Sigman made his presence known in New Zealand last week, having been brought over by lobby group Family First to speak at their "Forum on the Family", held in Auckland on Friday. Sigman, a father of four children, said he had travelled extensively and read hundreds of studies and the one commonality he kept finding throughout the world was that parents had lost control and had no respect from their children. His response was a book entitled The Spoilt Generation. "We now live in the time of the child-centred upbringing," he said. The rights of children had increased to a point where parents no longer felt they could say no, felt guilty if they criticised a child rather than constantly lavishing praise, and pandered to what the child was interested in rather than his or her best interests. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/4002178/Learn-to-say-no-to-spoilt-kids Couples split to get extra on benefit NZ Herald Aug 7, 2010 A growing number of unemployed couples are living apart so one can claim the domestic purposes benefit to get more money, say beneficiary advocates. A community leader in New Zealand's "DPB capital" of Kawerau says 70 per cent of those claiming the benefit in the town have partners "round the back door". Kay Brereton of the Beneficiary Advocacy Federation said couples who might be getting $200 below their living costs on the $324 weekly couple unemployment benefit were being tempted to split. One could then get $278 on the domestic purposes benefit (DPB) and the other could get $194 on the single dole - a total of $472, and almost $150 extra a week. "In the current financial reality, more and more couples will be looking to maximise their income," Ms Brereton said. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10664267 Too much 'screen time' harming children Stuff 06/08/2010 Exposing children to too much ''screen time'' is causing obesity, sleep disorders, and less brain activity, a leading psychologist has told a forum in Auckland today. British psychologist Aric Sigman was speaking at Family First's fifth annual Forum on the Family in Auckland today. There are about 200 delegates at the forum - the biggest number in the five years it has been held. Sigman said he was seeing the same problem throughout the world as more and more cultures hooked into the internet and television. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/3997901/Too-much-screen-time-harming-children The ideal legal drinking age is 25, says a British doctor The Dominion Post 06/08/2010 A British doctor says the ideal legal drinking age is 25, but recommends New Zealand should adopt a drinking age of 21. New medical evidence had shown that brains were damaged by alcohol for much longer than previously thought, according to visiting British psychologist and biologist Aric Sigman. Dr Sigman said that, in Britain, people in their early 20s were now needing liver transplants – something New Zealand was likely to see if it had not already. He is calling for New Zealand to adopt a drinking age of 21. A legal drinking age of 25 would work in an "ideal world", as brains did not fully develop until age 24 1/2 and risk-taking behaviour was at its worst from the ages of 18 to 24. "If you're asking me as a health professional what age we should raise it to ... I would raise it 25." ...Dr Sigman, who is in New Zealand to speak at a forum organised by Family First, said that, although raising the age would not be a magic bullet, it was an exercise in damage limitation. "If you can delay the amount and the frequency with which they can drink, this will be an improvement." http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3996125/The-ideal-legal-drinking-age-is-25-says-a-British-doctor   Hutt councillors cap pokie machine numbers Hutt News 03/08/2010 Hutt councillors have made a significant U-turn on gambling, signing off a new policy that has the potential to greatly reduce the number of pokie machines in the city. The council is required to review its gambling policy every three years and consulted residents on the topic as part of the annual plan. Councillors initially took a bullish approach, giving a strong indication they would not support a reduction in pokie machines or venues. Some rejected a council staff report on the harm caused by gambling, though Barbara Branch and Ray Wallace expressed concerns about gambling's impact. The gambling review in 2007 drew 33 submissions but this time 609 responses poured in. Most favoured a sinking lid policy to reduce the number of machines. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/hutt-news/3984632/Hutts-u-turn-on-gambling-policy NZ's sex-slave cases 'slip under radar' NZ Herald Aug 4, 2010 No one has been prosecuted in New Zealand for human trafficking but critics say that is only because a difference in definition is allowing cases to slip under the radar. A recent example is the case of a Malaysian sex worker who needed police help to retrieve her passport from her brothel owner. Immigration New Zealand has ruled this does not constitute trafficking. Agency head Nigel Bickle said his officials had visited the central Auckland brothel and spoken to its manager and sex workers, and are "satisfied there were no indications of exploitation". The Malaysian sex worker, who was in New Zealand on a visitor's permit but has since returned home, told another prostitute there she had been paid $5600 to come to Auckland, and had been made to work 16-hour shifts with few breaks on most days. Another Malaysian sex worker said she had been lured here with a $4500 cash offer, plus airfares, but was later told that it was a loan she had to repay. The Department of Labour, which oversees immigration, says New Zealand does not have any known history of people-trafficking and Mr Bickle said the agency had not seen any substantiated claims. No trafficking offenders have been prosecuted here, but anti-trafficking advocates said the country's clean slate could be attributed to how New Zealand defines people-trafficking. Unlike the United States definition, which includes domestic cases as trafficking, New Zealand recognises only international border crossing cases. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10663446  TV star plans brothel NZ Herald Aug 3, 2010 Former politician and high-profile broadcaster Pam Corkery has been linked to plans for New Zealand's first brothel for women. The Herald understands the ex-Alliance MP is on the hunt for a property to house the bordello - where sex workers will be male and clients female. She is believed to be looking for property in central Auckland. One source said the concept involved a spa, bar and bordello where women could "come and either just drink and be titillated, or go the whole nine yards". ....Australian feminist advocate Melinda Tankard Reist, who will be in Auckland this week to speak at a forum run by lobby group Family First, said she was disgusted with the idea of the sale of sex from men to women. Turning the tables did not make prostitution right or the situation any better for women, she said. "It's no great advancement for women's empowerment to say that we can now buy men for sex. It's no great sign of liberation. Prostitution from men for women is still about the trade in human bodies and human flesh ... just because it's men that's being sold doesn't make it any better. It's still very wrong." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10663203  Sexualisation of girls makes them ill - author The Press 03/08/2010 Young girls are increasingly portrayed as sexually available and interested mini-adults, an Australian feminist says. Melinda Tankard Reist, editor of Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls, said Western culture had developed a highly sexualised and homogonised view of females in the past decade. "A scary view about what women and girls are good for has developed; they are merely here to service the sexual satisfaction of men and if they don't succeed they're worthless," she said. "And we're now applying adult concepts to children: our culture is repackaging young girls as sexually interested and available." Tankard Reist is in New Zealand to address a Family First-hosted conference, The Forum on the Family, in Auckland on Friday. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3983393/Sexualisation-of-girls-makes-them-ill-author  Feminist: Sex culture setting women back NZ Herald Aug 2, 2010 "Raunch culture" has set back women in Western societies more than 50 years, says a visiting Australian feminist. Melinda Tankard Reist, a founder of a group called Collective Shout which names and shames companies using sexual images of girls, says we are raising children in a "pornographic landscape". "I think we have gone backwards," she said. "Raunch culture has taken us back. It's an absolute tragedy. These were issues being raised by feminists in the 1950s and 60s." Ms Reist, a controversial figure in Australian feminism because of her opposition to abortion, will speak at a forum run by Christian-based lobby group Family First in Auckland this week. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10662946 Melinda Tankard Reist on National Radio's The Panel with Chris Trotter and Linley Boniface Screens 'damaging young brains' NZ Herald Aug 2, 2010 A psychologist who made his name on the evils of television is now warning against computers as well, saying they are bad for the brains of young children. Dr Aric Sigman, an American-born British psychologist who is in Auckland for a forum organised by Family First, says computers should not be used in schools by any children under 9. He says research shows that young children's social and educational development is retarded by screens of all kinds - "TV, educational TV, DVDs, computers, social networking, computer games. Children are adults [legally] at 18 but their brains are not adult till they're 24 and a half," he said. "Because of that, things that we know may have a negative impact should be limited till the brain has set in stone. So ideally, quite frankly, with children, wait as long as possible before they use technology for too many hours. There will be intellectual advantages for them." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10662945  Psychologist tackles 'spoilt generation' ONE News August 02, 2010 Modern parenting techniques are leading to a generation of "little emperors", according to controversial UK psychologist and author Dr Aric Sigman. Sigman told TV ONE's Breakfast programme parents need to stop trying to be their child's friend and set firm boundaries. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/harsh-criticism-modern-parenting-3681201  WATCH TVNZ Breakfast http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/author-criticises-modern-parenting-5-22-video-3680636WATCH ONE News http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/modern-parents-bringing-up-little-emperors-1-42-video-3681992 LISTEN National Radio's Kathryn Ryan interviews Aric Sigman http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/ntn/2010/08/03/feature_guest_-_aric_sigmanThe Press 02/08/2010 Parents should mete out computer and television time as if it was as detrimental to their children's health as sugar, salt or saturated fats, an expert says. Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Britain's Royal Society of Medicine, has been brought to New Zealand by lobby group Family First. Sigman said a new breed of parents, who were afraid of confronting their children, had created a "spoilt generation" with a sense of entitlement and lack of empathy. Research initially focused on the effect of television on children, but recent studies showed any type of "screen time" had similar effects. Screen technology includes computers for educational purposes, social networking, hand-held devices and television. "Parents have been preoccupied by content, but these effects occur whether your children are watching the most educational thing in the world or porno," he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/lifestyle/3980286/Psychologist-tackles-spoilt-generation Dr Aric Sigman speaks on NZ's Radio Rhema regarding his book Sex worker ban in the wind NZ Herald Aug 1, 2010 Supercity leaders could soon have the powers to ban street prostitutes from Auckland's infamous K Rd. Manukau City chiefs are trying to get a new law passed enabling them to ban sex workers from specific locations. If passed, the Regulation of Prostitution in Specific Places Bill would cede on to the new Auckland Council from November 1. It grants police the power to arrest anyone suspected of being a worker or client of sexual services in that area with a maximum fine of $2000. Police will also be able to pull over any vehicle suspected of being involved in the trade. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10662732 School defends ball condom giveaway NZPA 30/07/2010 A Bay of Plenty high school is defending its decision to give away condoms and safe sex advice in a school ball package, saying the move was intended to help students make better choices. The package was given to students who attended the Te Puke High School ball last Saturday. Family First director Bob McCoskrie said he was shocked the package contained condoms. "The underlying message to students is that the ball is not about a fun social occasion with their peers, but about an expected opportunity to have sex," he said. "That is a foolish and dangerous message to be sending." The school had undermined the role of parental supervision by giving away the condoms without parental notification or permission, Mr McCoskrie said. Te Puke High School principal Alan Liddle said the criticism was a "beat-up". "This really disappoints me. It was there to help people," he told NZPA. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/3973905/School-defends-ball-condom-giveaway Criticism of condom handout is unfair - Bay of Plenty Times Editorial http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/our-view-criticism-of-condom-handout-is-unfair/3918283/ Immigration relaxes entry rules for child students NZ Herald Jul 26, 2010 Children as young as 5 could come to New Zealand to study for up to three months each year on a visitor's permit, under immigration policy changes taking effect today. Immigration NZ has announced several amendments to policy, including one that would enable visitor's permit holders in Years 1-13, which the agency says is usually between 5 and 18 years, to study for a single period of up to three months per calendar year in non-consecutive school terms. Department head Nigel Bickle said these children could also come to New Zealand without their parents or legal guardians because the policy had no guardian requirements. But while immigration rules allow 5-year-olds to study here without their parents, Ministry of Education rules prevent them from being enrolled. The Ministry of Education's Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students restricts any signatories from enrolling anyone under the age of 10, and under the revised immigration rules, all students wanting to study longer than two weeks will need to be enrolled in schools which have signed the code. Ministry spokesman Joss Debreceny said that, under the code, students under the age of 13 must live with their parent or legal guardian while studying here. The code had undergone a revision, and now schools could enrol young international students between 10 and 13 as group students if they came to New Zealand without their parents. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10661235  Girls live in a pornified worldThe Age (Australia) July 26, 2010 WOMEN'S and girls' magazines are full of advice on better sex, from how to catch and hold your man down to detailed instructions on sexual techniques. Now it seems the oldest written recipe, the Bible's, might be the best. Neuroscientific studies suggest that ''life-long heterosexual monogamy'' is most likely to provide both sexual satisfaction and excitement, a Melbourne conference heard at the weekend. While women's activist Melinda Tankard Reist complained that Dolly magazine, aimed at 10 to 13-year-old girls, provided instructions on oral and anal sex without any context or warnings, Sydney University sexologist Patricia Weerakoon said biblical sexual ethics were healthy and life-affirming. ...Ms Tankard Reist told the conference that despite talk of ''girl power'', girls lived in a pornified world, bombarded with sexual imagery before they were psychologically ready. Parents had to object when they saw T-shirts for pre-teens proclaiming ''It's not rape if you shout 'surprise''' or ''Save a virgin. Do me instead''. ''The standard you walk past is the standard you set,'' she said. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/sex-the-bible-says-go-for-it-20100725-10qkt.html Mum faces more fights over TV ads Sunday Star Times 25/07/2010 A Waikato mum has won a battle with TVNZ over the screening of graphic advertisements during a children's film but the state broadcaster has warned parents it will continue to show ads with "hazards attached". TVNZ will now put "graphic" warnings on Land Transport New Zealand ads so staff do not play them too early after Sarah O'Neill complained that her children watched a frightening car crash advertisement during Toy Story. But the network has stuck by its decision to play an alcohol ad and a promo for Desperate Housewives (again featuring a car crash) during another children's film. Spokeswoman Megan Richards said TVNZ would continue to play ads unsuitable for children between 8.30pm and 9pm and warned parents to be on their guard. "Anything after 8.30pm should be treated [by parents] as having hazards attached," Richards said Family First's national director Bob McCoskrie said there should be an independent organisation set up to monitor TV content. "We don't trust the networks to make these value judgements. I don't think parents should be sitting with the remote control in their hands like a gun in a holster ready to change the channel when an offensive ad or promo comes up." http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/3954962/Mum-faces-more-fights-over-TV-ads  Brothel near school closes doors Western Leader / NZPA 23/07/2010 A west Auckland school has a heartfelt message of thanks for the men who refused to use a brothel which opened across the road from its front gate earlier this year. The brothel in Lincoln Rd, Henderson, opened in April in full view of the main entrance to Henderson Intermediate School, but closed a few days ago. The brothel caused an outrage in the community with the school board chairman Ron Crawford saying the school's 500 students should be able to go to and from school without looking at a brothel, he said. He had vowed to fight until the brothel closed. Today Mr Crawford thanked the community for its support, including the clients who he believed stayed away because they objected to its location but also because vehicles would be easily recognised in such a high-profile location. Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said opening a brothel near the school entrance showed the law had failed and it was disappointing it took negative publicity and protests of residents, the school and parents to force the closure. Families could avoid red light areas but to allow street prostitution in family shopping areas and brothels next to a family home or sensitive sites such as a schools, playgrounds or churches was unacceptable, he said. It was time for the government to amend the law in the interests of families, he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/national-news/3950979/Brothel-next-to-school-closes#share http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/3945394/Brothel-near-school-closes-doors  Child abuse link to same-sex encounters Newstalk ZB 22/07/2010 New research suggests people who are homosexual or have same-sex encounters are more likely to have been victims of abuse as children. The study by the University of Otago, in Christchurch, involved face-to-face interviews with almost 13,000 people aged 16 and over, in order to explore aspects of sexual orientation. Prof Elisabeth Wells says the research found that the more adverse events experienced in childhood, the more likely someone was to belong to a non-exclusively heterosexual group. "The ones that seemed to matter most for this association, were sexual assault, rape, violence to a child, really being beaten up." Prof Wells says the link should not be regarded as an indication of sexual orientation. "That link isn't such that you can say a disturbed background is non-hetrosexual or if someone is non-hetrosexual they must have had a disturbed background. It's just a relationship." http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=179171 Childhood abuse and homosexuality linked in study NZ Herald 22 July 2010 ...Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said there should always be concerns around the possible outcomes of childhood abuse. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10660588 Unpaid child support $17m - Taranaki Taranaki Daily News 22 July 10 Taranaki parents owe the taxman a staggering $17 million in unpaid child support. Inland Revenue documents released to the Taranaki Daily News show more than half the parents liable for child support in the region had an outstanding debt. A total of $6.7m of the money is assessment debt, money either passed directly on to the childrens' guardian or paid to the Government to cover the cost of providing a benefit to support the children. The rest of the owed money – more than $10m – is made up in penalties. ...Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said there were major shortcomings with the assessment and collection of child support payments. "There are parents who shirk their responsibility. Some parents are happy for the sex but not the consequences," Mr McCoskrie said. The children and responsible parent became the victims, he said. "We must hold people accountable for their actions." Mr McCoskrie said parents were also losing out because the Family Court system did not start with the presumption of shared parenting and endorsed no-fault divorce. "Parents who want to maintain a marriage and family can lose everything and the DPB can simply drive the problem further by rewarding the breakdown," he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3943177/Unpaid-child-support-17m  Loan shark bill killed at first reading ONE News July 21, 2010 The government has killed a bill that would have regulated loan sharks and capped the interest rates they charge. Labour MP Carol Beaumont's Credit Reforms (Responsible Lending) Bill was voted down 63-59 in Parliament tonight, with National and ACT opposing it. Labour, the Greens, the Maori Party, United Future and the Progressive Party supported the bill. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/loan-shark-bill-killed-first-reading-3665374
Mum, Dad and kids no longer typical household NZ Herald Jul 20, 2010 Childless or empty-nest couples have replaced iconic families of Mum, Dad and the kids as New Zealand's most common kind of household. Statistics New Zealand's latest family and household projections show that couples without children at home overtook couples with children at home in 2008 for the first time since at least World War II. Traditional families of Mum, Dad and the kids are projected to shrink further from 31 per cent of all adults aged 18 and over in 2006 to just 23 per cent by 2031. Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said the projections were a warning shot for the country. "We should be doing everything we can to promote stable two-parent homes for the sake of the kids, and for the sake of the adults having the support they need to bring up the kids." But Waikato University demographer Natalie Jackson said trends towards older parenting and fewer children could help more couples stay together in the future anyway. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10659951 'Sickie' rule changes may hit parents The Dominion Post 20/07/2010 Parents who stay home for a single day to care for a sick child could be forced to get medical certificates to cover their time off work under Government changes. Plans to change sick leave rules would allow employers to demand medical certificates from the first day off, rather than after three days as at present. The employer would have to pay for the doctor's visit, a provision Prime Minister John Key said would ensure the change was used sparingly. ...Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson's office said yesterday that the change would apply to parents who used their sick leave for a single day to care for a child, meaning they would have to take them to a doctor for a certificate if their employer ordered it. The provision would also apply to workers staying home to care for sick spouses or partners. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3934443/Sickie-rule-changes-may-hit-parents  Shocking impact of booze on babies Sydney Morning Herald July 18, 2010 Australia has fallen behind in recognising and diagnosing ''completely preventable'' foetal alcohol syndrome and wider spectrum disorders, researchers warn. There are a growing number of intervention treatments for children born with the illnesses and researchers advocate a renewed effort to help pregnant women who suffer chronic alcohol dependence. Foetal alcohol syndrome causes serious primary structural brain damage, sometimes shown at birth in facial deformities such as a small head, flat mid-face, underdeveloped jaw and a short nose with a low bridge, but just as often in learning and behavioural problems. More broadly, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder occurs in up to 1 per cent of live births and includes foetal alcohol syndrome and other central nervous system birth defects attributable to alcohol consumption by the mother. US research suggests sufferers are disproportionately likely to face the juvenile justice system. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/shocking-impact-of-booze-on-babies-20100717-10f5h.html  Get the net out of kids' rooms Herald Sun July 19, 2010 Parents should ban internet connections from children's bedrooms, experts say, after research shows students are neglecting their studies to spend time on social networking sites. A Telstra survey reveals about a quarter of children spend seven hours a week or more on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Half of the parents surveyed believe their children's education is suffering. Cyber-safety expert Dr Martyn Wild said parents should place computers in family areas such as lounge rooms to keep schoolchildren focused on their studies. "You wouldn't let your kids stay out socialising with their friends until all hours on a school night, but that is exactly what they are doing online, often right under their parents' noses," Dr Wild said. "The answer is not turning off internet access. Rather it's about implementing simple behavioural changes in your children and setting realistic expectations about their use of the internet." The research, by Newspoll, showed social networking sites were particularly popular with teenagers aged 14-17, with 84 per cent logging on. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/get-the-net-out-of-kids-rooms/story-e6frf7l6-1225893659994 Young women become more violent The Press 19/07/2010 Young Kiwi women are becoming more violent, with disorder and violence convictions more than doubling since 2000. The sharp increase in convictions is being blamed on excess alcohol, family violence and a desire to be one of the boys. Between 2000 and 2009, convictions soared for young women committing public order offences and acts intended to injure, Justice Ministry figures show. The most marked rise was for women aged 17 to 24. Nationally, in 2009, there were 715 convictions for women in that age group for acts intended to injure, compared with 341 in 2000. In 2009, there were 808 convictions for public-order offences for that age bracket, compared with 176 in 2000. Senior Sergeant Gordon Spite, officer in charge of the Christchurch beat section, said there was "no doubt" women were featuring more in disorder and violent offences. "We are picking up girls who are grossly intoxicated, and there's a clear link between excessive alcohol consumption and violence," he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3930854/Young-women-become-more-violent  Parents of obese children may be guilty of neglectThe Guardian 16 July 2010 Parents who fail to help an obese child eat and exercise properly, ignoring all advice and guidance, could be guilty of neglect, child health experts say today. Dr Russell Viner and colleagues from the UCL Institute of Child Health in London say that the weight of a child by itself is not a reason for child protection staff to get involved. But in an article on what they accept is a potentially contentious issue, published online today by the British Medical Journal, they suggest that it may be appropriate to consider the child protection register if the parents consistently fail to change the family's lifestyle and will not engage with outside help. "Parental failure to provide their children with adequate treatment for a chronic illness (asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc) is a well accepted reason for a child protection registration for neglect," they write. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/16/parents-obese-children-neglect Raoul Moat fan removes Facebook tribute  3 News 16 Jul 2010 A Facebook fan page that glorified a dead killer was removed by its creator Thursday after it drew sharp criticism from Britain's prime minister and put the social networking site in an uncomfortable situation. The Facebook site "R.I.P. Raoul Moat You Legend" had attracted 38,000 fans, scores of comments praising Moat - and outrage from politicians. Facebook had refused to remove the page even after Prime Minister David Cameron had condemned it, saying there should be no public sympathy for a "callous murderer". Despite the mounting pressure, Facebook said the page, while controversial, did not violate its rules. But its creator, Siobhan O'Dowd, took it down, saying she was surprised by the negative reaction. Moat, a former bouncer, had just been released from a prison term for assault when he shot his ex-girlfriend, killed her new lover and seriously wounded a policeman earlier this month. After a week on the run, he took his own life Friday when cornered by police. Aric Sigman (right), a psychologist who has studied the biological effects of social networking, said the online outpouring reflected a new and alarming phenomenon - "recreational, virtual grief". He said sites like Facebook allow strangers to "hold hands virtually and amplify and consolidate their personal feelings, using this news item as a vehicle for their own emotional issues". "It is being used to amplify and elevate views which in the real world we would all feel are not constructive or healthy," Sigman said. http://www.3news.co.nz/Raoul-Moat-fan-removes-Facebook-tribute/tabid/412/articleID/166073/Default.aspx It was biggest mistake of our lives, say four women Bay of Plenty Times 10th July 2010 Four out of five women who had abortions felt they had made the "biggest mistake of their lives" and in the days following the termination, felt like their lives were "upside down, they couldn't cope, and wished to be pregnant again". Those are the results of a survey conducted by a Western Bay post-natal consultant who collated the experiences of five women who had abortions into a survey. Vicki Kirkland, of Katikati, says more support is needed for vulnerable mothers making life-changing decisions. Over several months, she was approached by five woman who had terminations. Miss Kirkland said it was evident many women were not getting the help and support they needed when choosing whether to abort. Four have experienced flashbacks, grief, anger, and relationship issues since the termination. Two out of the five later had suicidal thoughts. Miss Kirkland has presented her findings to medical professionals throughout New Zealand. ...All five felt rushed to make a decision quickly, with four saying their GPs filled out the abortion form at their first consultation. Four were discharged an hour after their termination. All but one claimed they were not asked to come back following the termination for a physical check-up and none were warned about possible psychological effects http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/it-was-biggest-mistake-of-our-lives-say-four-women/3917115/  Young girls boost abortion total Waikato Times 12/07/2010 Seventeen children had abortions at Waikato hospitals in the last year, prompting calls for parents to have the right to know if their child is considering an abortion. The girls – aged between 11 and 14 – were among the 2061 patients who had abortions performed at hospitals in the region for the year ending June 2010. It follows a peak of 2751 abortions in 2008 – 23 of which involved girls aged 11 to 14, Waikato District Health Board figures reveal. The statistics have prompted calls for a law change to give parents a legal right to be informed if their daughter was considering an abortion. But health providers warn that would be a disastrous move. In 2004 National MP Judith Collins proposed a law change that would have made it mandatory for parents to be informed, but the amendment was voted down – a move national medical adviser for Family Planning Christine Roke agreed with. Dr Roke said girls often felt pressured to make decisions about their pregnancy that they didn't want to. "... sometimes the family may be part of the situation and so therefore it is not ideal that they be informed," she said. Hamilton West MP Tim Macindoe said while he accepted in some situations it was not possible for the family to be advised of the pregnancy, he believed that in most cases the support from loved ones would help. If it was his daughter he would want to be told, he said. "I have never been faced by that situation, but I would be devastated if I hadn't been given the opportunity to be there as support for my daughter," he said. "I have always believed parents should be informed and that only when there is a really dangerous situation should the information be withheld." Anti-abortion activist Robyn Jackson said denying parents the right to know was "almost child abuse". "Why should a counsellor or teacher be able to help these girls make these sorts of decisions when, as a parent, you are the person who is legally responsible for them? http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3909241/Young-girls-boost-total NZ sex industry lures Asian women NZ Herald Jul 12, 2010 New Zealand is a destination country for human trafficking from Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and other Asian countries for sexual exploitation. Asian women lured to New Zealand with cash offers to work in the sex industry are being forced to work in slave-like conditions, a Herald investigation has found. The women, mainly from Malaysia, are recruited by agents who offer cash up front of up to $10,000 plus air tickets to come to New Zealand. But once here, the women are handed to brothel owners, who take their passports and make them work up to 18 hours a day to repay the "loan". Police were called to a central Auckland brothel this month to help retrieve the passport of a Malaysian sex worker who wanted to leave the country. Auckland Central area commander Andrew Coster told the Herald that brothel management had been holding the woman's passport, but returned it when the officers appeared. Police could not pursue the matter because the woman - who came to New Zealand on a visitor's permit - was focused on leaving the country and did not want to press charges. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10658178  Advert makes drinking look awesome, says booze critic The Dominion Post 10/07/2010 A 17-year-old youth MP is calling for a ban on alcohol advertising after saying in a select committee that some of the advertising she saw made her want to drink. Chelsea Torrance, a year 13 at Chilton Saint James School, Lower Hutt, represented Rimutaka at this week's Youth Parliament. She said during a social services youth select committee that she questioned Hospitality Association chief executive Bruce Robertson about the influence alcohol advertising had on youth drinking and was told they were not a target. "I wholeheartedly disagree with that. There's the Woodstock ad for [TV show] Outrageous Fortune. It makes drinking look awesome," she told The Dominion Post. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3905143/Advert-makes-drinking-look-awesome-says-booze-critic Only one in seven parents sees smacking children as 'very high risk'  Telegraph (UK) 08 Jul 2010 Just one in seven parents sees smacking as a “very high risk” to children, according to a survey. The poll by The Children’s Society also found that only a third of adults thought being slapped posed a “high risk” to young people. A similar proportion thought that being hit by their parents had little effect on children, with pensioners particularly likely to think that it was physically or emotionally damaging. In addition, 16 per cent thought that smacking children posed no risk at all to the young. The highest risk identified in the survey of 2,047 adults was letting a child play outdoors late on a summer’s evening without knowing where they were. Respondents were asked to rate how much risk several scenarios posed to children. The Children’s Society, the charity backed by the Church of England, claimed that widespread fears about young people’s safety outdoors could be misplaced as they are more likely to come to harm inside their family homes. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/familyadvice/7877148/Only-one-in-seven-parents-sees-smacking-children-as-very-high-risk.html New Smacking appeal goes to Supreme Court One News July 07, 2010 Christchurch father Jimmy Mason has been given leave to appeal by the Supreme Court. The 51-year-old was sentenced to nine months supervision and ordered to undergo anger management courses after a jury found him guilty of assaulting one of his two children. The case was widely seen as a test of the anti-smacking laws as Mason publicly claimed he'd done no more than flick his son's ear. The Supreme Court has just announced it will permit him to appeal his conviction on the grounds that combining two allegations in a single count resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The two allegations are punching a child and pulling his ear. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/smacking-appeal-goes-supreme-court-3631619 Family First Comment: This is significant because our original concern with this case was that a father who admitted an ear flcik was found guilty of assault because of the way the charges were applied. We'll watch this one with interest Hear our reaction to the original verdict Survey shows support for breastfeeding in public NZ Herald Jul 8, 2010 More than half of New Zealanders are okay with mothers breastfeeding in public, but a minority still prefer babies be fed in the restroom. Results from the Breastmates breastfeeding survey, released yesterday, show 61 per cent feel comfortable with women breastfeeding in public. However 19 per cent of those surveyed are not so keen. Out of those who were not comfortable, 25 per cent agreed that when mothers were at a restaurant, they should be encouraged to breastfeed in the restroom - rather than at the table. The remaining 23 per cent of that group believed that children aged 12 months and more should be breastfed in public. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10657262 Editorial: Support the child The Marlborough Express 07/07/2010 OPINION: Should parents have the right to know their teenage daughter has had, or is about to have, an abortion? Tough question and such an emotional debate. Abortion is legal in New Zealand if two consultants agree that the pregnancy will harm a woman's physical or mental health. The Abortion Supervisory Committee reports that 98 per cent of abortions performed in 2008 were based on mental health grounds. What a girl needs most when her mental stability is at risk is love and understanding and who better to give her that – all things being equal – than her parents. Initial shock and hurt feelings aside, good parents will do everything they can to support their child through a decision to terminate a pregnancy. Of course there will be times when parents are the last people who need to know, but that should be the exception rather than the rule. Not so, according to Christchurch youth health physician Sue Bagshaw, who says having to tell parents could discourage girls from going to a doctor and turn them, instead, to back-street abortionists or more unwanted babies. Most importantly, unintended young mothers-to-be must have easy access to good medical help and experienced counselling services. These must be trained professionals able to help make the right decision for the teenager and the baby based on individual circumstances. Pro-life groups argue there is never a choice to make: nothing comes before the rights of the unborn child. Pragmatists take a more holistic approach and weigh up the needs of the girl against the rights of the foetus. The views of anyone who sees abortion as a form of contraception should be discounted by any intelligent debate. Family First and Prolife New Zealand have been campaigning for parents to have the legal right to be told when their daughter is considering a termination. While a law change was rejected in 2004, a poll commissioned by Family First found 80 per cent of people thought parents had the right to know. http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/opinion/3892358/Editorial-Support-the-child  Break-ups leave women poorer but men more fragile Sydney Morning Herald July 7, 2010 Women are much poorer than men after a marriage breakdown but men are much lonelier, sadder and their mental health is more fragile immediately after, a big study reveals. Within fours years, however, men have begun to recover emotionally and their finances have improved considerably. But women's incomes have gone backwards. ''Both men and women take a hit after separation,'' said David de Vaus, professor of sociology at the University of Queensland, and co-author of the study. ''Women are much poorer financially, men are much poorer socially.'' The study, to be presented at the 2010 Australian Institute of Family Studies conference today, shows men's income in real terms is almost 20 per cent higher four years after separation, in line with general income trends, but on average women's is 2 per cent less. And separated men are more likely than women to call themselves ''poor'' and to complain of financial hardship, despite an average income of almost $42,000 compared with $36,000 for separated women. ''It doesn't mean men are just moaning. We don't know what their expenses are,'' Professor de Vaus said. The study, by researchers at the University of Queensland, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Australian National University, has followed an initial sample of 14,000 people, to track their circumstances from two years before a break-up to four years after. It shows that many of the negative effects often attributed to separation were already present before the break-up. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/breakups-leave-women-poorer-but-men-more-fragile-20100706-zz46.html  Abortions on young double in 20 years The Press 07/07/2010 The number of children having abortions has almost doubled over the past 20 years. The latest statistics have prompted calls for parents to be informed if their daughter is considering an abortion, but health professionals say the move would be "disastrous". Last year, 79 girls aged from 11 to 14 had abortions. Of those, 68 were 14-year-olds and 13 aged 11 to 13. The latest figure is nearly twice the 43 girls under 14 who had abortions in 1991. While the figures have generally been rising, the peak was in 2005, when 105 girls aged 14 and under had an abortion. Family First director Bob McCoskrie said it was outrageous that parents had to sign a consent form for their child to go on a school trip to the zoo but could be left in the dark if their 11-year-old was having an abortion. Family First and Prolife New Zealand have been campaigning for parents to have the legal right to be informed if their daughter is considering an abortion. A law change that would have made it mandatory, backed by National MP Judith Collins, was voted down in 2004. McCoskrie said a recent Family First-commissioned poll found 80 per cent of people thought parents should be told if their daughter was pregnant and considering an abortion. He said there was support for the idea within the National Party, but no-one seemed willing to push through a law change. "Abortion is the only procedure or event in a teenager's life where for no good reason good parents are legally excluded," he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3891039/Abortions-on-young-double-in-20-years  Do video games cause attention problems in kids? Reuters Jul 5, 2010 Long hours in front of the television, whether channel surfing or gaming, could make it difficult for kids to concentrate in school, psychologists said Monday. While researchers are still divided on the issue, the findings jibe with most earlier work on the effects of television watching in kids, they said. "What we don't know at this point is why TV and video games really would cause attention problems," said Douglas A. Gentile, who worked on the study. Gentile, who runs the Media Research Lab at Iowa State University in Ames, added that too much screen time had also been linked to increased aggression and, perhaps less surprisingly, expanding waistlines. He said the new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, was the first to follow over time how video games may impact kids' concentration skills. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6640MQ20100705 Is divorce contagious ?NZ Herald Jul 5, 2010 A study has come up with a possible explanation, suggesting the break-up of relationships within groups of friends is contagious - one couple within a social group divorces and their friends' relationships collapse around them like ninepins. The researchers have called it "divorce clustering" and say that a split up between immediate friends increases your own chances of getting divorced by 75 per cent. The effect drops to 33 per cent if the divorce is between friends of a friend - two degrees of separation - then disappears almost completely at three degrees of separation. It is not only the marital status of friends but also siblings and colleagues which has a significant effect on how long your own marriage might last. Breaking up will catch on among your friends, and the more divorcees you know, the higher your own chances of becoming one. The research comes from sociologists and psychologists from three North American universities who have examined statistics from a group of individuals over a 32-year period. They looked at the effect of divorce among peer groups on an individual's own risk of divorce and found a clear process of what the scientists called "social contagion". The study was carried out by academics Rose McDermott at Brown University, James Fowler at the University of California and Nicholas Christakis at Harvard. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10656556  Parental law set to stop teen drinkers NZ Herald Jul 5, 2010 The Government is considering making it unlawful for adults to give alcohol to young people without their parents' consent. At present, under-18s can be given liquor without consent if they are in private homes or at private functions. Justice Minister Simon Power says parental consent is one of the liquor issues he is looking at but stresses that a change is not a certainty. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10656584 Family First Comment: Dr Aric Sigman who is a keynote speaker at our upcoming Forum on the Family says "“While many believe that children benefit from the role-modeling and restraint displayed at the family dinner table, they have not considered the biochemical processes at work.” Sunday Star Times 04/07/2010 Child-support dodgers owe their children – and the taxman – billions. Inland Revenue is owed more than $1.8 billion by parents who have shirked their financial responsibilities. Figures released to the Sunday Star-Times by Inland Revenue show that of the 176,500 people liable for child support, 121,500 are behind in their payments. Together they owe more than $560 million in unpaid child support and $1.2b in late payment penalties and interest. The top five defaulters alone have an outstanding bill of $5.7m. "It's a national disgrace," said Bob McCoskrie, national director of lobby group Family First. "What it communicates is that people can go around and make children and then show next to no responsibility in terms of their well-being," he said. "You have to pay up for the consequences of your choices. If we enforced the consequences, then maybe people would think more seriously about conceiving a child they have no intention of showing any responsibility for. At the end of the day, it's not only the child being penalised, it is also placing extra pressure on the responsible parent and it's already probably tough enough for them as it is." http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/3882592/Absent-dads-owe-billions-in-unpaid-child-support Family First Comment: 1. 1 in 5 liable parents are the mother 2. 2008 figures show that nearly 13,000 liable parents live overseas yet this group owes one third of the total debt. 3. In 2007, 40,000 were required to pay the bare minimum child support of $14.03 and about half of them are failing to make even those payments There are 2 components to this · parents who shirk their responsibility. Some parents are happy for the sex but not the consequences - this was the basis of our comments · dads who are losing out because our Family court system and the 'anti-men' establishment endorse no fault divorce and favour mothers in the process. Fathers who want to maintain a marriage and family can lose everything. And the DPB simply drives the problem further. We support the call for shared parenting laws. READ about Child Support (IRD) MP's bill aims for abortion on demand NZ Herald Jul 3, 2010  A Labour MP has taken the controversial step of proposing a new law to legalise abortion on request for women up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy. Steve Chadwick, a midwife and former associate health minister, is gauging support for what would be the first changes to abortion law since 1978. The Abortion Supervisory Committee has repeatedly urged Parliament to review the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act, which states the legal grounds for abortion, but MPs avoid the issue. A judge has questioned the lawfulness of most abortions. Last year, 17,550 abortions were done, compared with 17,940 in 2008. Mrs Chadwick's Abortion Reform Bill would take abortion out of the Crimes Act, making it solely a health matter and a choice for the patient, at least in the first part of pregnancy. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10656210 Husbands can be jailed for insulting wives under new French law Telegraph (UK) 30 Jun 2010 Couples who insult each other over their physical appearance or make false accusations about infidelity face jail, under a new French law making "psychological violence" a criminal offence. The law – the first of its kind – means that partners who make such insults or threats of physical violence faces up to three years in prison and a €75,000 (£60,000) fine. French magistrates have slammed the new legislation as "inapplicable", as they argue the definition of what constitutes an insult is too vague and verbal abuse too hard to prove. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7863702/Husbands-can-be-jailed-for-insulting-wives-under-new-French-law.html  Gillard does not support gay marriageAAP 30 June 2010 Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she does not support legalising gay marriage in Australia. Labor policy on gay marriage will remain the same under her prime ministership, Ms Gillard told Austereo show on Wednesday morning. "We believe the marriage act is appropriate in its current form, that is recognising that marriage is between a man and a woman, but we have as a government taken steps to equalise treatment for gay couples," Ms Gillard said. Asked if that was also her personal view, Ms Gillard said it was. http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7487734/gillard-does-not-support-gay-marriage/ High-powered Kiwis unite to push for tougher liquor laws NZ Herald Jun 29, 2010 One of the highest-powered delegations ever to petition Parliament plans to speak out at the Beehive tomorrow in support of tougher drinking laws. Three knights and two dames, including two former Governors-General, will be joined by three archbishops, leaders of the Maori and Pacific communities and sports icons in a call to raise the drinking age, raise alcohol prices and implement other recommendations from a recent Law Commission report. They also want MPs to abandon their traditional "conscience vote" on liquor issues so the Law Commission's proposals can be implemented as a consistent package. Sir Paul Reeves, the former Governor-General who convened the group, said the 14 members shared general public concerns about New Zealand's binge-drinking culture. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10655141b Children's Commissioner seek liquor law change Otago Daily Times 1 July 2010 Child abuse by drunken parents is being raised in support of a call by a group of leading New Zealanders for the Government to take a strong stance on liquor law reform. Children's Commissioner John Angus says alcohol abuse fuels violence in homes around the country, with children either direct victims or witnesses to it. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/113224/children039s-commissioner-seek-liquor-law-change PM admits public face hefty ETS bill NZ Herald Jun 29, 2010  Households will bear more than their fair share of increased energy costs when the next phase of the emissions trading scheme takes effect on Thursday, Prime Minister John Key has acknowledged. The Sustainability Council recently suggested households would bear half of the cost of the ETS during its first five years despite accounting for just 19 per cent of all emissions. Yesterday, at the start of a week in which the transport and electricity sectors come under the ETS, the PM conceded that "a disproportionate amount" would be paid by households under the scheme. "But that's because if we are too heavy handed with businesses ... on day one, that runs the risk of those very same households potentially losing their jobs. That's just the balance here." Mr Key said the initial heavier burden on households was the scheme's "entry point" and over time most of the further costs would fall on industry. The Government estimates the ETS will add 1c a kilowatt hour or 5 per cent to the cost of electricity. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10655155  Kids' pole antics just 'a sport' Herald on Sunday Jun 27, 2010 Family values campaigners are concerned about a pole-dancing competition that opened with a display by young children. The Central Poledance Championships held in Wellington last night featured a performance by five children, aged between 8 and 13. Organiser Sarah Metcalfe said.."There's no reason why it can't be a family event." She said competitors weren't allowed to touch themselves or remove any clothing and had to wear items that covered sensitive areas. G-strings and see-through clothing were banned. Family First campaigner Bob McCoskrie said pole dancing had sexual connotations and he had concerns about the children's involvement. "My initial response was if it's based around exercise and sport it's a good thing. "If it's around skimpy outfits and sexualised positions then it's dodgy and the last thing we want 8 or 9-year-olds doing." Women president Elizabeth Bang welcomed the exercise aspect of the activity but said the erotic links were hard to shake. She was concerned about the age of the children involved. "It would be interesting to see what they're wearing." Bang also questioned what sort of people were watching. "Hopefully they're watching for the right reasons." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10654748 Bob McCoskrie discusses this issue with Newstalk ZB Christchurch's Mike Yardley Adoption ruling 'a beacon of hope' The Dominion Post 26/06/2010 A High Court decision allowing a de facto couple to adopt has reignited calls for an overhaul of the law so that same-sex couples have the same rights. Under the Adoption Act 1955, only married couples or individuals may adopt. Individuals in gay, lesbian and de facto heterosexual relationships can adopt, but their partners cannot share the same legal status. But a decision in the High Court at Wellington this week overturned an earlier ruling preventing the couple from adopting, finding the term "spouses" applies to de facto couples. "The necessary profile of the applicants, namely that they offer a mother and a father, is achieved," Justices John Wild and Simon France said in the decision. The ruling applied only to heterosexual couples, although it would break break down a barrier and open the doors for other appeals, they said. The decision comes nearly 10 years after a Law Commission report recommended adapting the adoption laws to allow both de facto and same-sex couples to adopt, and has reignited calls for the act to be overhauled. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3856874/Adoption-ruling-gives-hope Abortion 'triples breast cancer risk': Fourth study finds terminations linked to disease Telegraph (UK) 24th June 2010 An abortion can triple a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer in later life, researchers say. A team of scientists made the claim while carrying out research into how breastfeeding can protect women from developing the killer disease. While concluding that breastfeeding offered significant protection from cancer, they also noted that the highest reported risk factor in developing the disease was abortion. Other factors included the onset of the menopause and smoking. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, are the latest research to show a link between abortion and breast cancer. The research was carried out by scientists at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the fourth epidemiological study to report such a link in the past 14 months, with research in China, Turkey and the U.S. showing similar conclusions. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1288955/Abortion-triple-risk-breast-cancer.html#ixzz0roLWwXqT Strict and loving relationship key to stopping teenage alcohol abuse Telegraph (UK) 24 June 2010  A strict but loving relationship with your children is the best the way to stop them going off the rails, new research suggests. Researchers found that was the best combination of parenting skills to stop them abusing alcohol. Being too strict or too affectionate on the other hand at least doubled their chances of binge drinking. Researchers asked almost 5,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 19 about their drinking habits and about their parents. Teenagers most at risk of bingeing on booze had loving parents who didn't know where they were. This group tripled their risk of being heavy drinkers. But teenagers with strict parents who knew where they were but were low on warmth still doubled the risk. The teenagers least prone to heavy drinking - having more than five drinks in a row - had parents who scored highly on both knowing where their kids were and having a warm relationship with them. The research, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, was by experts from Brigham Young University in Utah. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7849576/Strict-and-loving-relationship-key-to-stopping-teenagers-going-off-the-rails.html
Emissions scheme could cost NZ up to $5b
The majority of women were not ashamed about nagging, with 87 per cent admitting to giving their partner a hard time to get them to do something. While most men said they would never admit it, 83 per cent surveyed said they often thought their partner was right to nag them. TV3 accused of striking all-time low Newstalk ZB 20 June 2010 TV3 is being accused of striking a new all-time low in broadcasting standards. Family First is lodging a formal complaint over an item featured on the late night news show Nightline. It featured naked men in training for the annual nude rugby game in Dunedin. Family First's National Director Bob McCoskrie says the images were full-frontal, and there was no attempt to pixellate them. He says it is meant to be a news bulletin and not an R16 movie, and the network has crossed a dangerous line. http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=177491 Groups call for ban on Kiwi film Herald on Sunday Jun 20, 2010  A Kiwi horror film that shows an unconscious girl being raped by a man wearing a pig's head should be banned, say family values campaigners. Wound is described by its creators as a "shocking supernatural tale of mental illness, bondage, incest, revenge and explicit graphic violence". It features disturbing scenes including a pregnant woman being hit on the stomach with a bat to induce a miscarriage. Wound is due to premiere at the New Zealand Film Festival in July if approved for release by the chief censor Bill Hastings. But it has enraged anti-violence campaigners who say it could incite copycat attacks. Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said: "Research clearly shows that explicit sexual content of this nature contributes to an increase in sexual violence. "I can't see how incest and graphic violence can be presented in an entertaining way." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10653145 http://www.3news.co.nz/Calls-to-ban-New-Zealand-horror-incest-film-/tabid/368/articleID/162051/Default.aspxTeen abortion numbers a 'tragedy' Otago Daily Times 17 Jun 2010 The number of young teenage girls having abortions is a tragedy, lobby group Family First says. Figures released today by Statistics New Zealand showed teenagers had nearly 4000 abortions last year, with 79 of those performed on girls aged 11 to 14. That was the lowest number in six years, and the 3873 abortions for girls aged 15-19 was the lowest in three years. Family First said the number of teenagers having abortions was "a tragedy", especially if it was done without the parents' knowledge or consent. There was no legal requirement for parental consent, but Family First wanted parental notification to happen automatically "except in exceptional circumstances approved by the court", and for women to see an ultrasound of the foetus before potential abortions. ...Family Planning said automatic parental notification and requiring an ultrasound before an abortion added an extra barrier to women making their decision, and was unnecessary http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/111198/teen-abortion-numbers-039tragedy039  PROSTITUTES ADMIT THEY WANT 'OUT'Transgender group left with few options NZ Herald Thursday Jun 17, 2010 An attempt to help young transgender sex workers find new jobs outside the sex industry has been hit by the axing of a Government job scheme. Five young sex workers aged 18 to 24 were employed by the Mangere East Family Service Centre in November under Work and Income's Community Max scheme, which paid non-profit groups the full costs of employing young people for 30 hours a week for six months at the minimum wage. They ran a holiday programme and planned education programmes about transgender issues for schools. They also applied for jobs outside the sex industry and changed their names by deed poll from the male names they were given at birth to the female names they now use. Briannah Swift, 18, went into sex work when she had just turned 17, too young to get a benefit. "Coming on this programme was way better than being on the streets," she said. Isles Posimani, 24 - "The course has given us opportunities and more hope for us girls to try and look for a job, but let's be honest it was more getting off the street," she said. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10652406&pnum=0 Swearing on TV: It's offensive and sets a bad example - UK pollMail Online 14th June 2010 Swearing on television offends millions of viewers, according to a survey commissioned by the Daily Mail, directly contradicting controversial claims that foul language is considered acceptable. A majority also believe bad language on television has worsened over the past decade and that it is directly responsible for an increase in swearing by youngsters, despite findings by Ofcom. The TV watchdog's study, labelled 'bizarre' yesterday, was based on just 130 viewers with a disproportionate focus on minority groups, including travellers and transsexuals. But research by the polling firm Ipsos MORI for the Mail, in response to the regulator's claims, reveals TV swearing is still a major cause for concern – especially among women and the over-55s. The nationwide survey of more than 800 viewers, weighted to reflect a cross-section of the population, showed that four out of five believe the problem has worsened over the past decade. And a quarter of all respondents, including a third of women, said they had been personally upset by incidents of swearing in the past 12 months. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286006/What-REALLY-think-swearing-TV-Its-offensive-sets-bad-example---listening-Ofcom.html#ixzz0r3UipGC8  Queensland police win new powers to fine for public nuisance offences The Courier-Mail June 16, 2010 Thousands of people could be slapped with fines for offences that would never have attracted police attention in the past under sweeping reforms to police powers. Experts fear swearing in public, with a fine of $100, will be a major money spinner and could become the weapon of choice for frustrated officers on the beat. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced the new powers for the state's police to issue on-the-spot notices for public nuisance offences. Ms Bligh said the move would increase efficiency, save time and fast-track more important matters in the courts by stopping minor public nuisance offenders from clogging the justice system. She said the measures, targeting offences such as public urination, disorderly conduct and abusive language, would save the Government between $18 million and $30 million. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/queensland-police-win-new-powers-to-fine-for-public-nuisance-offences/story-e6frf7l6-1225880162115 Girls now begin puberty aged 9 Times Online June 13 2010 Growing numbers of girls are reaching puberty before the age of 10, raising fears of increased sexual activity among a new generation of children. Scientists believe the phenomenon could be linked to obesity or exposure to chemicals in the food chain, and is putting girls at greater long-term risk of breast cancer. A study has revealed that breast development in a sample of 1,000 girls started at an average age of 9 years and 10 months — an entire year earlier than when a similar cohort was examined in 1991. The research was carried out in Denmark in 2006, the latest year for which figures were available, but experts believe the trend applies to Britain and other parts of Europe. Data from America also point to the earlier onset of puberty. Scientists warn that such young girls are ill-equipped to cope with sexual development when they are still at primary school. “If girls mature early, they run into teenage problems at an early age and they’re more prone to diseases later on. We should be worried about this regardless of what we think the underlying reasons might be. It’s a clear sign that something is affecting our children, whether it’s junk food, environmental chemicals or lack of physical activity.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article7148975.ece Ban computers from schools until children reach age 9, says expert Telegraph (UK) 13 Jun 2010 Children should be banned from using computers in schools until they are nine-years-old because the early use of technology is destroying their attention spans, a leading expert said yesterday. The premature introduction and overuse of technology is damaging young children whose brains are not yet fully formed, according to Dr Aric Sigman, a psychologist and author. As a result, the "nappy curriculum" – the statutory rules introduced in 2008 which dictate that toddlers should be introduced to computers as early as 22 months of age – is "subverting the development of children's cognitive skills". "There is evidence to show that introducing information and communication technology (ICT) in the early years actually subverts the very skills that Government ministers said they want children to develop, such as the ability to pay attention for sustained periods," said Mr Sigman. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/primaryeducation/7823259/Ban-computers-from-schools-until-children-reach-age-9-says-expert.html STOP PRESS: Dr Aric Sigman is coming to NZ as a guest of Family First and will be speaking at our Forum on the Family in August. For more details, go to www.forumonthefamily.org.nz  Rise in underage prostitutes working Auckland streets NZ Herald Jun 11, 2010 Police are worried by a spike in underage prostitution in Auckland's CBD, with girls as young as 12 selling themselves for sex. Senior Constable Mark Riddell of the Auckland central police Youth Action Team said in the last six weeks, a police operation code-named City Door had identified at least 13 girls aged under 16 who were "active prostitutes". Many of them work from City Road, which runs between Queen Street and Symonds Street. Senior Constable Riddell calls the street a "young red light area". In the last two weeks, Senior Constable Riddell and his team have taken five underage girls off the streets and put them in to the custody of Child, Youth and Family. But Riddell said many of these girls escape CYF and go straight back on the street. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10651252&pnum=0 Almost half of Belgium's euthanasia nurses admit to killing without consent Daily Mail (UK) 10th June 2010 A high proportion of deaths classed as euthanasia in Belgium involved patients who did not ask for their lives to be ended, a study found. More than 100 nurses admitted to researchers that they had taken part in 'terminations without request or consent'. Although euthanasia is legal in Belgium, it is governed by strict rules which state it should be carried out only by a doctor and with the patient's permission. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285423/Half-Belgiums-euthanasia-nurses-admit-killing-consent.html##ixzz0qTpGiGQ7 Children who go to bed at the same time every night do better academically  Telegraph (UK) 07 Jun 2010 Researchers found that children who had a regular bedtime performed better at languages, reading and maths than those who went to bed at different times. Scientists at SRI International, an independent American research institute based in California, found the earlier a child went to bed, the better they performed at school. The study of 8000 children who were aged four concluded those who had less than the recommended 11 hours of sleep each night fell behind in their studies. ..Parents, she added, should also interact with their child at bedtime using routines such as reading books or telling stories. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/7807049/Children-with-regular-sleep-patterns-smarter-at-school.html Man flu DOES exist - study suggests half of men exaggerate cold symptoms Daily Mail (UK) 8th June 2010 It's official - men do moan more than women when they are sick, new research shows. Experts discovered men are more likely to exaggerate illnesses to try and gain maximum sympathy when laid low by a bug or virus. It also emerged that men actually suffer from fewer illnesses - five bouts a year compared to seven for women. The Engage Mutual study of 3,000 people also revealed one in two men exaggerate their symptoms of illness - describing a common cold as 'flu' and headaches as a 'migraine'. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1284927/Man-flu-DOES-exist--study-suggests-half-men-exaggerate-cold-symptoms.html#ixzz0qI86SEN2 ETS may hit consumer pockets - again One News June 06, 2010 The controversial Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) looks set to hit consumers in the pocket - again. Climate Change Minister Nick Smith on TV ONE's Q+A programme did not rule out more power and petrol price hikes to cover costs. "We are expecting power prices to increase by 5% and 3 cents a litre on petrol as well as some other flow on costs," he said. Tax increases were supposed to cover the cost of the Emissions Trading Scheme until 2012, but the minister now says households may have to pay more. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/ets-may-hit-consumer-pockets-again-3580477
 Jab no surefire protection from cervical cancer NZ Herald Jun 8, 2010 The HPV vaccination could have the unintended consequence that more women with cervical cancer will not be diagnosed, the Ministry of Health has warned. The ministry's national screen unit is concerned that young women believe they are protected from the disease once they are immunised. But the vaccine does not protect against 30 per cent of HPV types that can lead to cervical cancer. The ministry says there is a risk that these women will not attend regular screenings once they reach the recommended age of 20. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10650353  Watchdog says apology for on-air tirade sufficient NZ Herald Jun 8, 2010 The Broadcasting Standards Authority has chosen not to uphold a complaint about a tirade of swear words on RadioLive. The BSA had sent out a list of the 30 worst words a survey had shown the public did not want to hear on radio and television. Radio presenter Martin Devlin read out the list, with a buzzer masking the words. However, the buzzer was sometimes mis-timed. A listener, Andrew McMillan, complained to Devlin's employer, RadioWorks, that the programme had breached the standards of good taste and decency. As a result, the company spoke to Devlin and other staff and formally apologised to Mr McMillan. Mr McMillan then lodged a formal complaint with the authority. But it has decided not to uphold it. Its decision reads: "We consider that the action taken by RadioWorks after upholding the complaint was sufficient." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10650356 Famed Blind Singer Andrea Boccelli Reveals, He Was Almost Aborted June 4, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) What would the world have been like without Andrea Bocelli, Italian pop, opera, and classical singer? With millions of infants having been victim to abortion, the blind international music sensation has revealed that he too could have been one more abortion statistic. The “I am Whole Life” project has produced a YouTube video with Bocelli, playing the piano, recounting the story of a young woman who had been hospitalized and treated for a “simple attack of appendicitis.” As Bocelli recounts, doctors had suggested to his mother that she “abort the child” because the child would be born with a disability. “But the young brave wife decided not to abort, and the child was born,” recounted Bocelli. “That woman was my mother, and I was the child.” http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10060414.html  2009's most complained about adsNZ Herald 4 June 2010 It's possible Andy Haden might have liked it, but a Hell Pizza billboard advertising gluten free brownies annoyed more people than any other in 2009. The billboard carried the catch phrase "at least our brownie won't eat your pet dog", a reference to Tongan Paea Taufa being found roasting the pitbull terrier-cross in an umu at his Mangere home. The advertisement was the most complained about ad last year, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said in its annual report, which upheld 62 complaints about it. The "brownie" ad did not meet a due sense of social responsibility, was distasteful and reasonably likely to cause serious or widespread offence, the ASA said. Hell Pizza regularly puts the topping on the ASA list, with its 2006 "Lust Pizza" condom-containing random direct mail promotion arousing a still-record 685 complaints. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10649781&pnum=0 The Birds and the Bees (via the Fertility Clinic) New York Times May 30 2010 If you want to adopt a child in the United States, you’ll face an array of bureaucratic roadblocks and invasive interrogations. Adoption agencies will assess your finances, your relationships, and your fitness as a potential guardian. The interests of the child, not the desires of the would-be parent, will be treated as paramount throughout. If you want to procure sperm or eggs, the process is completely different. You can shop for gametes the way you’d go shopping for a house or a car — buying ova from an Ivy League undergraduate, or sperm from a 6-foot-8, athletic, blue-eyed Dane. The person selling you the right to bear and rear their biological offspring can do so anonymously, with no future strings attached at all....roughly 6,000 children are conceived through egg donation annually as well. About a million American adults, if not more, are the biological children of sperm donors. Not surprisingly, these Americans have a complicated relationship to the reproductive marketplace that made their existence possible. Their inner lives are the subject of a fascinating study from the Institute for American Values, based on a survey of younger adults, ages 18 to 45, who were conceived through sperm donation. Large minorities report being troubled both by “the circumstances of my conception” and by the fact “that money was exchanged in order to conceive me.” The offspring of sperm donors are more likely to oppose payments for sperm and eggs than most Americans and to say that “it is wrong to deliberately conceive a fatherless/motherless child.” And a substantial minority said that if a friend were pondering having a baby by a sperm donor, they “would encourage her not to do it.” Americans conceived through sperm donation also are more likely to feel alienated from their immediate family than either biological or adopted children. They’re twice as likely as adoptees to report envying peers who knew their biological parents, twice as likely to worry that their parents “might have lied to me about important matters” and three times as likely to report feeling “confused about who is a member of my family and who is not.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/opinion/31douthat.html?scp=1&sq=Institute%20for%20American%20Values%20sperm%20donation&st=cse READ the top 15 Findings http://www.familyscholars.org/assets/Donor_15findings.pdf READ the full research http://www.familyscholars.org/assets/Donor_FINAL.pdf Italy pays women not to abort The Australian June 03, 2010 ROME: In a policy, welcomed by anti-abortion campaigners but dismissed by critics as propaganda, women in northern Italy who cannot afford to have their babies are to be offered E4500 ($6600) not to have an abortion. Roberto Formigoni, the centre-right governor of the Lombardy region, said yesterday the offer was to fulfil his pledge in regional elections in March that no woman should have to have an abortion because of economic difficulties. Mr Formigoni said E4 million had been set aside to allow women in economic difficulty to be given E250 a month for 18 months. Cinzia Sasso, a feminist writer in Milan, claimed the sum set aside would allow only 1000 women to avoid abortions. In the regional poll, centre-right candidates also vowed to ban the RU486 abortion pill days after it was made available. Abortion has been available on demand in Italy since 1978. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/italy-pays-women-not-to-abort/story-e6frg6so-1225874706258 Change brothel rules - Family First TV3 News 03 Jun 2010 Family First is calling for brothels in residential areas to be banned after one was shut down by Auckland City Council when clients began knocking on neighbours' doors instead. It was unacceptable to allow brothels next to family homes, schools, playgrounds or churches, said national director of Family First, Bob McCoskrie, after complaints about similar residential brothels and one operating across the road from Henderson Intermediate School in west Auckland. Mr McCoskrie said most councils had tried to control the location of brothels because they recognised prostitution may be offensive to members of the community, but a flawed law made that difficult. http://www.3news.co.nz/Change-brothel-rules---Family-First/tabid/423/articleID/159038/Default.aspx Bob McCoskrie talks to Newstalk ZB's Larry Williams about the concerns over residential brothels Teachers assaulted at rate of two a day - survey The Dominion Post 31/05/2010 At least two secondary teachers are seriously assaulted by pupils every school day, a union survey shows. The Post Primary Teachers Association says teachers are being punched, kicked, struck with objects, or verbally abused. The preliminary findings of a survey of the PPTA's 18,000 members – the first time it has undertaken a comprehensive study on violence against teachers – show teachers are under increasing stress from the threat of assault. PPTA president Kate Gainsford said some teachers were suffering physical injury and psychological effects from working in a "physically and verbally threatening and stressful environment". "The [education] ministry's figures only cover suspensions and stand-downs, not actual assaults," she said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/3756158/Teachers-assaulted-at-rate-of-two-a-day-survey Govt chance to reel in loan sharks
 Lock up your naughty kids - expert Sunday News 30/05/2010 TV psychologist Nigel Latta is promoting a no-nonsense "time-out" for naughty kids – locking them in their bedrooms until they behave. But his advice has been attacked by child safety campaigners including anti-smacking bill architect Sue Bradford who criticised it as "outrageous". http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/3755124/Lock-up-your-naughty-kids-expert  'Love can wait to give,' says chastity advocate The Press 28/05/2010 Abstinence is not a Victorian idea, it is an exercise in self-control and respect, an American chastity advocate says. Jason Evert, who is on a week-long tour around New Zealand speaking about the benefits of waiting until marriage to have sex, said sexual revolutionaries were right to revolt against society's Victorian prudishness. "But now the pendulum has swung too far," he said. "It's swung from shamefulness to shamelessness. "Sex and sexuality are wonderful, but they've been taken too far and society has become obsessed." In a presentation to pupils at Christchurch's Villa Maria College yesterday, Evert preached the virtues of romance without regret. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/3748086/Love-can-wait-to-give-says-chastity-advocate  MP floats ultrasound plan to cut abortionThe West Australian May 26, 2010 Liberal MP Peter Abetz last night called for all women seeking an abortion to be forced to view a 3-D colour ultrasound image of their foetus before being allowed to go ahead with the procedure. Addressing a 300-strong rally at Parliament House marking the anniversary of the 1998 liberalisation of WA's abortion laws, Mr Abetz said the Act should be changed to also enforce a 48-hour "cooling off period" after the ultrasound viewing. ..Mr Abetz told ABC radio this morning there had been far too many abortions since legislation was introduced in 1998 but denied he thought abortion was “wrong”, saying women were entitled to “know the facts”. “I’m not saying there should be no abortion … I’m saying women are entitled to know what’s happening, otherwise it’s not a genuine choice,” the Southern River MP told ABC radio this morning. “When a woman has a child in her womb, a lot of women are unaware on the huge impact it has on their lives afterwards.” http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/7296432/mp-floats-ultrasound-plan-to-cut-abortion/  Charge puts family 'through hell' The Press 27/05/2010 A Christchurch father was "furious" at being imprisoned and losing custody of his child after being charged with assaulting his son. The father, whose name is suppressed, was given a discharge without conviction on Friday in a case that could have been a test of New Zealand's anti-smacking laws. The father was held in custody for at least one night and separated from his four-year-old boy for two weeks under bail conditions that were later relaxed by the court. "He was furious originally because he was in prison for GBH [grievous bodily harm] and lost custody of his child and all because he was trying to calm a child," defence counsel Jonathan Eaton said. Police alleged the man slapped his son on the head in North Hagley Park in January, but Eaton said the father was trying to calm a major tantrum. The child has since been diagnosed with a severe behavioural problem. Family First national director Bob McCroskie said the family was "taken through hell" by the court case. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3743549/Charge-puts-family-through-hell Yeah right not right: Brewery to church ONE News May 27, 2010 Tui has been running its Yeah Right billboards for several years, but when a Tauranga church imitated the popular beer ad with its own sign DB Breweries called for it to be taken down. Bethlehem Community Church got a call from DB's lawyer after erecting a sign reading "Atheists have nothing to worry about! Yeah Right". Tui brand manager Jarrod Bear said on TV ONE's Breakfast programme that although they are flattered by the imitation, consumers expects a consistent message from the Tui brand and the church's billboard does not fit. But Family First NZ is advising the church to continue advertising their billboards despite the legal pressure. "Family First came under the same pressure from DB when we put up a billboard in March on the Southern motorway in Auckland highlighting the issue of the value of stay-home mums," says national director Bob McCoskrie. He says the organisation sought legal advice which said they were free to use the words 'yeah right' which were only restricted when advertising beer. And he says the advice was that although the billboard would be recognised by most viewers as having some similarity to the well known Tui beer advertisements, that, of itself, is not sufficient to make the billboard in breach of the Fair Trading Act. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/yeah-right-not-brewery-church-3569220 LISTEN Bob McCoskrie talks to Radio Live's Marcus Lush about the legal issues surrounding this issue
Notorious metal band Mayhem coming to NZ
 Lobby groups welcome 'three strikes' bill TV3 News 25-May 2010 Lobby groups calling for tougher sentencing have cautiously welcomed the passing of the 'three strikes' bill into law. The Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill was voted into law 63-58 last night, with votes from National and ACT. Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party all opposed it. The Sensible Sentencing Trust's Garth McVicar says it has been "great day", and one "victims of violent crime will never forget". "Many New Zealanders are unaware of the significance of this legislation," says Mr McVicar. "The bill actually turns the current criminal-friendly system totally upside down." His only regret was that the bill would not be applied retroactively. "It seems totally unfair that many more victims will be assaulted or murdered before a career criminal is removed from society.” Family First's Bob McCoskrie also welcomed the law, but expressed concerns the changes do not go far enough. "Family First is still concerned that young offenders will not be given strikes for serious offending, potentially allowing a young person to become a career criminal at an early age," says Mr McCoskrie. On the whole however, the Family First director – who continues to campaign strongly for parents' rights to smack their children (relevance??) – backs the bill. “The best and most obvious way to protect women, children, and the elderly from repeat violent offenders is to incapacitate them,” says Mr McCoskrie. http://www.3news.co.nz/Lobby-groups-welcome-three-strikes-bill/tabid/419/articleID/157556/Default.aspx Tougher stand on murder Review into NSW laws involving the deaths of unborn children (Aust) news.com.au May 24, 2010 A retired judge will conduct a new review into NSW laws involving the deaths of unborn children, state Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said today. It comes after Central Coast couple Brodie Donegan and Nick Ball lost their baby, named Zoe, after a motorist, who was allegedly high on drugs, hit Ms Donegan as she walked near her Ourimbah home on Christmas Day 2009. Her baby was stillborn following the accident. But according to New South Wales law, Zoe Ball was not a human being because, despite spending eight months in her mother's womb, the baby did not take a breath. The motorist was charged with dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and driving under the influence of drugs. The new review follows a previous examination of the laws by another retired judge in 2002, which resulted in the extension of grievous bodily harm laws but raised potential problems with manslaughter charges in such cases. .."Not charging for Zoe's death negates her life," Ms Donegan said. "There has to be a specific law that recognises the viability of life and protects an unborn child and the wording of that law has to include manslaughter. And it should apply on a national level." http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/bring-justice-to-our-unborn-zoe-say-parents-brodie-donegan-and-nick-ball/story-e6frf7l6-1225870543497  MP backs smacking review following criticism NZPA 24 May 2010 The Prime Minister says he has confidence in the findings of a three-person review of smacking legislation presented to him last year, following criticism by a group at the centre of the review. Family First director Bob McCoskrie said information obtained under the Official Information Act shows the review contained "glaring errors". It did not follow its terms of reference, focused on the alleged actions of parents and misrepresented basic facts, he said. The review failed to look thoroughly at the cases and "good parents have indeed been taken through hell as a result of the anti-smacking law and they are just the tip of the iceberg". "John Key must now deliver on his pre-election promise to amend the law if he saw good parents being criminalised," Mr McCoskrie said. Mr Key, who has repeatedly said the law was working the way Parliament intended, said today he was happy with the review. "The team made judgements based on all available information, and I accept and have confidence in the findings. The latest issue of Investigate magazine says the smacking review was "effectively a farce". "Latta's review got its facts wrong, and based its misleading and defamatory findings simply on police or CYF complaint sheets, not the outcome of court cases after the evidence had actually been tested," editor Ian Wishart said. "To fail to fully investigate cases because you have misunderstood your own terms of reference, and then to accuse parents of not being honest, is breathtaking arrogance." http://www.guide2.co.nz/politics/news/mp-backs-smacking-review-following-criticism/11/16563 LISTEN - PM responds to report - Radio Live 24 May 2010 Childcare worker wins payout over sacking NZ Herald May 22, 2010 A childcare worker accused of physical violence against children has been compensated after her sacking was deemed unfair. But a family-focused lobby group has described the lengthy process that led to her sacking as a witchhunt. Teacher Mary Barratt was fired from Te Puna Reo o Wairaka, the Maori language early childhood centre at Unitec polytech in Mt Albert, late last year after allegations of rough handling of three children. This week, the Employment Relations Authority found that the investigation into her dismissal was not full and fair. Ms Barratt was alleged to have smacked one child, hit another across the head and threatened her own grandchild with smacking. The children were aged 2 to 5. Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said the investigation was necessary, but anti-smacking legislation had created a culture of professional paranoia in dealing with children. He said the centre's investigation became dramatic and unreasonable. He added that the reliance on hearsay and use of a child psychologist had threatened to turn the investigation into a witchhunt. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/education/news/article.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=10646741  Early cannabis use stifles academic success - study NZ Herald May 21, 2010 Those who use cannabis before the age of 18 are less likely to succeed academically, a new study has found. The collaborative study of more than 6000 New Zealanders and Australians found young people who used cannabis before age 18 were more likely to fail to complete high school, less likely to enter university and less likely to get a university degree. Early users of cannabis were less likely to achieve academically even when other factors such as socio-economic status, previous educational achievement and other personal factors were taken into account. The research was based on the combined findings of three studies, including the University of Otago's long-running Christchurch Health and Development Study, which has tracked over 900 people from childhood to age 30. The other studies were the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study and the Mater University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10646569 Study links abortion, substance abuse Baptist Press May 17, 2010 A study from the University of Manitoba has found that women who have had an abortion are nearly four times as likely to have problems with drugs and alcohol as those who have not. Researchers also identified an association between mental disorders and abortion and suggested that doctors should screen for a history of abortion in women who present symptoms of anxiety, mood disorders and substance abuse. Published in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychology, the study said depression and substance abuse plague about half of American women who reported having an abortion, according to the Winnipeg Free Press. Research involving more than 3,300 women showed that about 25 percent who had undergone an abortion acknowledged some substance abuse, while such abuse was found in only 7 percent of non-abortive women, the Free Press reported. Women who had abortions were 3.8 times more likely to have substance use disorders than those who had not, even when an exposure to violence -- which increases the odds of substance abuse -- was factored in, the Toronto Sun reported. http://baptistpress.com/BPnews.asp?ID=32947
 Post-natal depression in fathers 'often undiagnosed' BBC News 18 May 2010 Many new fathers experience post-natal depression, yet most cases go undetected and untreated, experts warn. One in 10 new fathers may have the baby blues, US researchers believe - based on their trawl of medical literature. While this rate is lower than in new mothers, it is more than currently recognised, they told the Journal of the American Medical Association. Lack of sleep and new responsibilities, or supporting a wife with post-natal depression can be triggers, they say. The Eastern Virginia Medical School team based their findings on 43 studies involving 28,004 parents from 16 different countries including the UK and the US. They found new fathers were generally happiest in the early weeks after the birth of their baby, with depression kicking in after three to six months. By this time, at least 10% and up to 25% had post-natal depression. And depression appeared to be shared - men were far more likely to be depressed if their partner also had post-natal depression. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8687189.stm  Superdads try to do it allHerald Sun (Aust) May 20, 2010 A new breed of super-dads is spending more time with their kids but working longer hours in the office. Aussie fathers are heeding warnings about connecting with their children, and mortgage pressure means they're still having to increase their paid workload. They are stepping back from sport, recreation, personal care and even sleep to burn the candle at both ends, in the way of the much-maligned 1990s "super-mum". Despite the gradual increase in fathers' time with kids in the past decade, new research has confirmed that there's no chance Mr Average Dad will take over as the main caregiver anytime soon. He spends only half an hour with his children - without their mum - every weekday if he's lucky. On weekends, he spends relatively little time alone with his children, increasing from an average of 48 minutes with an infant, to up to 84 minutes for toddlers and 90 minutes for children eight to nine years old. The data, part of the Growing up in Australia longitudinal study, confirmed the importance to children of getting time with mum and dad. "It's interesting 74 per cent of eight and nine-year old children say they definitely like spending time with their father and their mother," said Institute of Family Studies researcher Dr Jennifer Baxter. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/new-breed-of-super-dads-spend-more-time-with-kids-but-also-work-more/story-e6frf7l6-1225868900261 Alarm at child abuse trend The Press 20/05/2010 Brutal attacks on young children are on the rise in Canterbury, police say. Canterbury District crime manager Detective Inspector Peter Read said attacks on children were becoming harsher. "The physical abuse we're seeing is becoming more serious, especially involving young children," he said. Police were seeing more "broken bones" and "severe bruising", he said. The Christchurch child protection team, based in Papanui, operates a shared office with Child, Youth and Family (CYF). So far this year, the team has investigated 149 cases. In 2009, it dealt with 409 cases. "We've got a staff of 13 and that'll soon be increasing to 15. And there is a CYF person in the office," Read said. "CYF people take care of victims' needs and the police take care of the investigation process and pushing the offender through court, if that is required." Most cases were sexual, he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3716983/Alarm-at-child-abuse-trend Children as young as three questioned about kissing and flirting (Aust!)Herald Sun (Aust) May 18, 2010 Children as young as three have been questioned about kissing and flirting in a project by a university researcher from Melbourne. Monash University's Dr Mindy Blaise, who spent five days at an unnamed childcare centre, wants sexuality to be an official subject at kinders and preschool centres. It would include discussions about homosexuality. Dr Blaise said it was important that kids felt "healthy sexuality was not dirty or wrong". Boys and girls as young as three were asked questions such as "Are you a flirt? and "Have you ever kissed a boy?" Psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said he was deeply concerned by the research and surprised it cleared the university's ethics committee. "Why the hell can't we just let children be children?" he said. Australian Family Association spokeswoman Terri Kelleher said pre-school children should not be questioned about sexuality. "We're surprised such research would be carried out drawing the attention of pre-school children to such matters," she said. "Children of that age would not be thinking of sexual or gender issues." http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/children-as-young-as-three-questioned-about-kissing-and-flirting/story-e6frf7jo-1225867935481 Police views on child-abuse cases slammed NZ Herald May 19, 2010 A national inquiry into an "unacceptable" backlog of child-abuse cases has uncovered evidence that some police do not believe investigating such crimes is "real policing" and described child-abuse investigators as "poor cousins". The Independent Police Conduct Authority yesterday released the first part of an investigation which was launched when it emerged that Wairarapa police had let 108 child-abuse files go uninvestigated for up to 11 years, with an average delay of five years. In some cases children had been living with their alleged abusers the whole time. While the police had made a number of improvements in investigating child abuse, the IPCA found: * The Whangarei Child Abuse Team had a small number of staff that were often required to work on other cases, including to "assist in meeting road policing targets". * The Eastern District was criticised for recording serious crime files as "lost" when they were not. The files were later found in a cabinet which the IPCA said may have been a "means of reducing overdue file statistics". * An audit of the Westport CIB found "lost files" locked in the cupboards of a detective constable who had since left the police. * Police using Excel spreadsheets instead of the national computer system because they lost confidence in it. * Evidence of references to child- abuse investigation as not being "real policing" and to child-abuse investigators as "poor cousins". http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10645938&pnum=0 American paediatricians soften stand on female genital mutilitation
 Husbands who help in house less likely to divorce Times Online (UK) May 13, 2010 Couples are less likely to divorce if when the husband helps more with housework, shopping and childcare, new research revealed today. The study of 3,500 British couples after the birth of their first child found that the more husbands helped, the lower the incidence of divorce. Economists have previously argued that rising divorce rates, which began in the early 1960s, are linked with steady increases in the numbers of married women working. It was claimed that marriages where men take responsibility for paid work and women stay at home leave both spouses better off. But the new study, from the London School of Economics and Political Science, explodes the theory that marriages are most stable when men focus on paid work and women are responsible for housework. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7125510.ece Parents hugely under-report use of smackingThe Daily Telegraph May 14, 2010 Half of all parents of toddlers have smacked their children and yet only one in 10 believe they use physical punishment, a survey has found. And parents find queuing in a supermarket with their toddlers - surrounded by lollies at the checkout - more stressful than any other event. ...The most intriguing result was the high number of parents who admitted to having hit their toddler - 47 per cent - yet, when asked if they used "physical discipline" on their child, only 5 per cent of respondents said yes. Another 7 per cent said they threatened discipline - such as a wooden spoon - but rarely carried it out. Parenting expert Janet Cater, who has long called for parents to be tougher on their kids, said while many parents may have hit their kids in frustration or anger, they still did not consider themselves to be using corporal punishment. "I'm not surprised. I think they often think 'Oh I have done that in the past but I don't do it'," she said. Ms Cater said she did not endorse smacking but it could be effective. "Sometimes people use a short gentle smack as a circuit breaker," she said. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/the-naughty-reality-of-why-parents-smack-their-children/story-e6frf7l6-1225867018681  MP wants danger alerts on booze Sunday News 16 May 2010 Green MP Sue Kedgley is calling for prominent warning labels on bottles of alcohol in the wake of the death of schoolboy James Webster who had been drinking vodka. The 16-year-old Auckland King's College student died after drinking a bottle of straight spirits and falling into an alcohol-induced coma on Saturday last week. James' uncle, Donald Webster, suspected his nephew didn't know the difference between the vodka and similar-sized pre-mixed vodka and fruit juice drinks popular with young drinkers. The RTDs contains around 8% alcohol compared to straight vodka which ranges from 35 to 50% alcohol. Current labelling on booze bottles show the alcohol content and approximate standard drinks in small print. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/3702798/MP-wants-danger-alerts-on-booze  'We treat our babies like dogs' Herald on Sunday May 16, 2010 Serious cases of abuse against babies have leapt by two-thirds in just two years, according to official figures. The Ministry of Health revealed 74 children aged under one year were admitted to hospital after violent attacks last year, compared with 45 in 2007. The surge comes as Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said children were being treated like "dogs". In an open letter to police, Bennett wrote: "It is unacceptable that our youngest, most vulnerable children are being treated like dogs. The shameful statistics have got to change." ...Ministry of Social Development chief executive Peter Hughes said the number of children under one who die through maltreatment was three times higher than in the 1-4 age group. "Every five days a child under 2 is hospitalised because of abuse." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/child-abuse/news/article.cfm?c_id=146&objectid=10645232 Recent violence renews school discipline debate ONE News May 15, 2010 Family First NZ says many New Zealanders support corporal punishment in schools, and the events of the past week may have pushed that support higher. In a poll which asked 1,000 people if a school should be able to choose to use corporal punishment as an option for school discipline. 50% responded yes, 44% said no and 6% didn't know. Family First director Bob McCoskrie says we need to ask whether the approach pushed by the teachers' unions and children's rights groups have been in the best interests of students and the whole school community. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/recent-violence-renews-school-discipline-debate-3543314 READ 'Reasonable Force' In Schools by Dr Muriel Newman The proposal to abolish corporal punishment in schools had originally appeared as clause 66 in a Crimes Bill in 1989. Without warning Labour inserted it into the 1990 Education Amendment Bill as it was going through its final debates in Parliament. Minto leading fight against pokie 'cancer' NZ Herald May 14, 2010 Long-time political activist John Minto's name is linked with recruiting 200 people to an anti-gambling-machine campaign called "Hammer the Pokies". The Aucklander has been leaked a document outlining a plan to gather concerned citizens to "drive pokie machines out of our neighbourhood communities". "Pokies are a cancer on society and are destroying low-income families. We ask people to get themselves a hammer and register it for a civil disobedience activity," says the pamphlet. The objectives of the groups are to sharpen public debate about the destructive effects of pokies, reduce the number of machines, embarrass local authorities and the Government into action to close down pokies and bring a shift of democratic power back to local communities. The latest push comes as Auckland City Council reverses its sinking-lid policy to reduce the number of venues to allowing new venues to replace existing ones. Also this month, the Trust Charitable Foundation was ordered to shut down 74 venues for six days for unjustified expenses involving a member of the Racing Board. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644722 A call to mom relieves stress Sex work healthier - but not problem-free NZ Herald May 13, 2010 Sex workers are safer, healthier and more willing to go to police since prostitution was decriminalised, but the stigma remains a problem, according to a book on the changing industry. The book, which draws on the views of 772 sex workers, suggests more changes are needed to discourage underage people from going into the industry, and raises concerns about the vulnerability of immigrants working illegally. Taking the Crime Out of Sex Work provides compelling evidence that the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) has achieved the aim of improving the human rights of sex workers, says author Gillian Abel, a senior lecturer at the University of Otago's Christchurch public health and general practice department. "Sex workers in New Zealand do recognise their increased rights under the PRA, but in some cases, stigmatisation has impeded the achievement of their rights," the book's conclusion reads. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644559  Same Sex, Different Marriage New York Times / Christianity Today 5 October 2010 Same-sex marriage advocates frequently ask, "How would gay marriage affect your marriage?" The question is posed rhetorically, as if marriage is a private institution with no social consequences. But The New York Times, of all papers, argues (Many Successful Gay Marriages Share an Open Secret, 28 Jan 2010) that gay unions could significantly alter marriage norms. A new study of gay couples in San Francisco shows that half are "open," meaning that partners consent to each other having sex with other people. The Times says that the prevalence of such relationships could "rewrite the traditional rules of matrimony" by showing straight couples that monogamy need not be a "central feature" of marriage and that sexually open relationships might "point the way for the survival of the institution." In the gay community, open relationships are neither news nor controversial. Many of my partnered, gay male friends are in open relationships, some of which have lasted for decades. But the Times reporter, Scott James, who is himself gay, notes that nobody in an open relationship agreed to give their full name for the story, worrying that "discussing the subject could undermine the legal fight for same-sex marriage." http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=87696  Raquel Welch blames the Pill for decline of marriage Telegraph (UK) 10 May 2010 Raquel Welch, the actress said the widespread use of oral contraceptives had led to a breakdown in norms of sexual morality and fuelled the growth of rampant promiscuity among the young. She said that the situation has grown so grave that "these days nobody seems able to keep it in their pants or honour a commitment". While it carried some benefits, the enduring legacy of the Pill, she argued, has been social anarchy. Miss Welch found fame in the 1966 movie One Million Years BC and was voted by readers of Playboy magazine as the "most desired female of the 1970s". But in an article to mark the introduction of the Pill to the US market 50 years ago she has now dramatically distanced herself from the fruits of the Sexual Revolution of which she was apart. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7706434/Raquel-Welch-blames-the-Pill-for-decline-of-marriage.html MPs hunt community loan sharks Waikato Times 10/05/2010 Labour MP Sue Moroney will host a meeting in Hamilton on Thursday along with Auckland's Maungakiekie MP Carol Beaumont who has sponsored a bill to cap interest rates for loans. The MPs have also set up a website – www.stoploansharks.co.nz – and have asked people to describe their own horror stories with loan sharks. Ms Moroney said vulnerable Waikato people were being forced to pawn items such as bikes and children's toys to meet loan repayments loaded with excessive interest rates. "In some cases people are borrowing to pay off interest and then incurring much higher interest as a result, leaving them in more trouble than they were in the first place." With unemployment at record levels and more families struggling to make ends meet, loan sharks were often seen as the only option, Ms Moroney said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3675631/MPs-hunt-community-loan-sharks Alcohol death: King's mother's plea to John Key NZ Herald May 11, 2010 A doctor and mother of a King's College student - spurred by the death of 16-year-old James Webster - has written to fellow school parent John Key to demand action from the Government over New Zealand's youth drinking culture. "Today my son (and yours) dresses in formal uniform to go to school and remember another student who has died this year," Margaret Abercrombie said in her letter to Mr Key yesterday. "Right now you and your colleagues can act to reduce the chances of this and other alcohol-related tragedies happening." ...The Government is considering a report from the Law Commission on alcohol issues, which includes over 150 recommendations on how to reduce harm from excessive drinking. The report noted the harm that alcohol caused among youths, including increasing trends among 15- to 17-year-olds to drink more and to start drinking earlier. Police say the lowering of the purchase age for alcohol in 1999 has contributed to an increase in binge drinking among youths and effectively reduced the drinking age from 17 to 14, though some districts report dealing with intoxicated 11- and 12-year-olds. The commission recommended lifting the purchase age from 18 to 20, making it illegal for those under 20 to drink or have alcohol in a public place, and making it illegal to supply alcohol to under-18s unless it comes from the parents and in a responsible manner. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644158 Women's hearts at risk from stress at work - study guardian.co.uk, 5 May 2010 Women in high-pressure jobs face up to twice the normal risk of developing heart problems as a direct result of work-related stress, doctors reveal today. Those who report feeling work pressures to an excessive degree are at some increased danger of developing ischaemic heart disease, according to new research in the medical journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. While the link between stress and cardiac disease is well-known, most previous studies have concentrated on its impact on men's health. The new findings, based on a long-term study of 12,116 female nurses in Denmark, are among the first to assess if there is a similar link in women. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/may/05/women-heart-attack-stress
Family pulls plug on TV - forever Bay of Plenty Times 5th May 2010 When Lily and Amber Johnston's school ran a "No Screen November" last year, the lights on their TV went out and they "never went back on". Their behaviour improved, nightmares stopped and most surprisingly, they didn't miss it. The girls' parents, Karen and David, said the positive changes in their daughters' behaviour after removing technology meant the family has given up TV for good. The Ohauiti family back findings from a 13-year-long Canadian study, reported yesterday, that young children should not watch television. The study says TV sets them up for obesity and poor academic performance at school and reflects findings first established in New Zealand confirming the dangers of screen-watching by young children. http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/family-pulls-plug-on-tv-forever/3913565/#print  Lowest divorce rate since 1980 NZ Herald May 5, 2010 Married couples divorced last year at the lowest rate in 29 years, according to official statistics released today. The Family Court granted 8700 marriage dissolution orders in 2009, a rate of 10.2 per 1000 existing marriages - just over one in 100 couples - said Statistics New Zealand. The number of couples divorced was the lowest since 1989, and the divorce rate the lowest since 1980, it said. However, the agency found that about one-third of couples who were married 25 years ago, in 1984, had divorced before their silver (25th) wedding anniversary. Meanwhile, the marriage rate continued its slow downward trend, now less than one-third of what it was in 1971. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10643007  Watching TV 'makes toddlers less intelligent' Independent / NZ Herald May 3, 2010 American paediatricians advise that under-twos should not watch any television and that older children should view one to two hours a day at most. Scientists who tracked the progress of pre-school children found that the more television they watched aged two-and-a-half the worse they were at mathematics, the more junk food they ate, and the more they were bullied by other pupils. The findings, which support earlier evidence indicating television harms cognitive development, prompted calls for the Government to set limits on how much children should watch. American paediatricians advise that under-twos should not watch any television and that older children should view one to two hours a day at most. France has banned shows aimed at under-threes, and Australia recommends that three-to-five-year-olds watch no more than an hour a day. Britain has no official advice. The latest study, published today in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, followed 1314 children born in the Canadian state of Quebec in 1997 and 1998. ...The British psychologist Dr Aric Sigman, who has reviewed 30 scientific papers on TV and computer screen viewing, said that modern television has faster editing, louder sounds and more intensive colours that of the Sixties and Seventies, and thus more dramatically affects young minds. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10642485 MPs not sure on teens buying boozeDominion Post 1 May 2010 The public have sent a clear message that teens should not be allowed to buy booze, but most MPs are still wavering. A Fairfax Media survey has found that most MPs are either uncertain of what to do or waiting for their party to further consider the matter. But a poll of readers has given overwhelming support to raising the age to 20. Of the 1445 readers who took part, 81 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the Law Commission's recommendation that the age be increased. Only 5 per cent strongly disagreed. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3646285/MPs-not-sure-on-teens-buying-booze
His statement comes after the release of an Independent Police Conduct Authority report that found police investigating the deaths showed "errors of judgement" and did not record evidence to the standard expected. ..Police have said the investigation will not be restarted until fresh information comes to light. Lobby groups Family First and the Sensible Sentencing Trust have put up a $50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction, which has yielded nothing of significance to date. Spokesmen for the groups said they remained hopeful that the renewed attention on the case would help ratchet up the pressure on those who knew something to come forward, and allow police to renew the investigation.  Becoming a dad improves anti-social men - study NZPA 29/04/2010 Fatherhood can be the key to transforming anti-social young men into responsible citizens, according to new research commissioned by Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies. Dr Gareth Rouch studied a group of young dads in the Wairarapa region for his PhD thesis and found that becoming fathers transformed their lives. Having kids changed the men's attitudes towards the world and made them see the value in taking up work, acquiring job skills and improving their lifestyles, Dr Rouch said . "They were committed to doing the best for their children and were open about the deep emotional bond they had with them." http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3638066/Becoming-a-dad-improves-anti-social-men-study Youth offending gets more violent Press 29 April 2010 Young people are offending less overall but are committing more violent offences, a Ministry of Justice report shows. The report, which used data from 1992 to 2008, found that apprehension rates for children (10 to 13 years) and youths (14 to 16) had declined since peaking in 1996. Canterbury had the sixth-lowest child rate and fifth-lowest youth rate out of the 12 police districts in 2008. However, the national rate of violent offences committed by youths had increased from 173 apprehensions per 10,000 population in 2004 to 198 in 2008. OVERALL Aggravated robbery up 50% grievous serious assault up 44% Violent offences up 21% http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3635522/Youth-offending-gets-more-violent Weak advertising codes 'fail children' NZ Herald Apr 29, 2010 Food advertisers' self regulation of their ads to children fails even their own weak standards and encourages kids to consume junk food, a new study claims. The study by researchers at Otago University's Wellington campus says the failure to implement parts of the codes on advertising, and "unjustified and inconsistent" decisions on complaints are a breach of United Nations requirements designed to protect children. The researchers have called for the Government to introduce tougher controls. They cite a 2007 survey in which 82 per cent of parents and grandparents said they wanted a ban on advertising of unhealthy food to children. A third of children are overweight or obese. Advertising is overseen by the Advertising Standards Authority with complaints handled by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board. The study by public health researcher Louise Thornley and colleagues says the board fails to acknowledge the targeting of children by advertisers to pester their parents for unhealthy food as a valid ground for complaints. The researchers also found "substantial screening out of advertising complaints by the chair of the board before they can be considered". http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10641511  Fight over pill looms Waikato Times 27/04/2010 Anti-abortionists want to scuttle Family Planning's attempt to hand out abortion pills in the Waikato. The move by New Zealand Family Planning Association (FPA) has been threatened with a High Court judicial review by Right For Life campaigners should they successfully obtain their licence to carry out medical abortions. FPA applied to the Abortion Supervisory Committee for the licence last July and a decision is expected soon. If successful in obtaining a licence to perform medical abortions in the Waikato, FPA is expected to extend the service around the country, making the move at the Hamilton clinic the next likely flashpoint in the abortion debate. But Right For Life spokesperson Ken Orr said in the event that the licence was issued to Family Planning the society would apply to the High Court in Wellington for a judicial review of the decision. http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3626450/Fight-over-pill-looms
School incensed brothel has opened across the road NZ Herald Apr 27, 2010 A west Auckland intermediate school is outraged it can do nothing about a brothel which has opened across the road where parents drop off and pick up their children. The brothel in Lincoln Rd, Henderson, opened a fortnight ago directly opposite the Henderson Intermediate School and the school's trust board chairman, Ron Crawford, said cars were already bringing clients day and night for sex sessions. The school has 500 students aged 10 to 12 who used the school's front entrance directly across the road from the new brothel. Mr Crawford said the board was not notified the brothel was opening and when they protested to Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey, they were told there was little if anything they could do under new legislation allowing brothels to open. Christian lobby group Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said the opening of the brothel highlighted the flaws in the prostitution law and its failure to protect families. "Most of us would not want to see brothels established in residential areas or adjacent to preschools or schools'. It's time for the Government to amend the law in the interests of families," he said http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10641165 LISTEN Bob McCoskrie talks to Newstalk ZB's Larry Williams (28/4/10)Bylaw option to control brothels NZ Herald 29 Apr 2010 The Waitakere City Council has been accused of misleading concerned parents by saying it can't do anything about a brothel which opened directly across the road from a school, a church and several childcare facilities. ..However, following publicity about the case, other councils contacted Mr Crawford to say that Waitakere is not powerless, and bylaws can be put in place. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10641474 Were you spanked? CEOs say yes USA TODAY 10 Sep 06 The debate over whether CEOs are born or made remains unresolved, but there is one thing they overwhelmingly have in common. As children, they were paddled, belted, switched or swatted. Child psychologists wince at such a finding. They warn that spanking slows mental development and hinders achievement. They say the last thing parents need in the back of their minds is a suggestion or justification that the rod is the road to vision, ruthless drive and other leadership traits common to CEOs. But USA TODAY interviewed about 20 CEOs over three months and, while none said they were abused, neither were any spared. Typical is General Motors (GM) CEO Rick Wagoner, 53. He got an occasional "whack in the fanny," while growing up in Richmond, Va., but said he had it coming and that it probably had no influence on his life as a high achiever. ..Is there some connection between corporal punishment and corporate leadership? Most CEOs believe spankings played little or no role in their success but usually could cite important lessons learned. "I'm disciplined, detailed and organized," Haffner says. Mark Cuban, 48, says he was spanked one or two times but does not remember why. He went on to become worth $2.3 billion, rich enough to buy "toys" such as the Dallas Mavericks. "I got the 'this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you' speech from my dad. I don't think spankings influenced my life one way or the other," Cuban says. http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-10-08-spanking-ceos-usat_x.htm
Illnesses halt vaccine for under-5s NZ Herald Apr 26, 2010 Australian authorities are investigating the death of a Queensland toddler within 12 hours of her receiving a seasonal influenza vaccination. New Zealand's Health Ministry has told doctors not to give the Fluvax brand of vaccine to children under 5, after the Australian government ordered a halt in that age group because of an unexpectedly high number of cases of fever-related seizures in Western Australia. Three cases of fever-related seizures in children under 5 following Fluvax injections have been reported to the NZ Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring at Otago University in this flu season. Dr Pat Tuohy, the ministry's chief adviser on child and youth health, said yesterday all three cases had been hospitalised, but he was not aware of any deaths in New Zealand. The Government is funding three brands of flu vaccine this flu season. Fluvax supplies are thought to have run low. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10640892 Vaccine reactions deter mother NZ Herald 28 Apr 10 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10641275 Europe presses UK to introduce total ban on smacking children guardian.co.uk, 25 April 2010 The UK will come under increasing pressure to ban all smacking and corporal punishment of children as the European human rights body steps up pressure for a change in the law. The Council of Europe – which monitors compliance with the European convention on human rights – will criticise the UK because it has not banned smacking more than 10 years after a ruling in 1998 that the practice could violate children's rights against inhuman and degrading treatment. "The campaign to abolish corporal punishment across the Council of Europe is gathering momentum; 20 countries have formally abolished laws allowing it in the past three years," said Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/25/law-reform-smacking-europe-uk
Families Commission research not reliable standard - Minister TVNZ News April 21, 2010  ONE News discovered today that (Social Development Minister Paula) Bennett strongly criticised the commission's standards of research in a letter sent just three days before (Chief Families Commissioner Jan) Pryor resigned. ONE News obtained papers under the Official Information Act including a letter Paula Bennett wrote to Jan Pryor three days before her resignation. The letter states: "In my experience the Commission's research has not been of a standard for me to rely upon it to inform policy decisions. In the future I expect research done by the Commission to be of a high standard." Bennett says some of the research she saw last year she did not think was completely relevant to the work and priorities of the government. The Minister also wrote to Pryor saying the Commission's research techniques were sometimes not good enough to help the government make  policy. "Focus groups are insufficient from my perspective to be the only basis when making policy decision which affects tens of thousands of New Zealanders," a letter said. Bennett says interviewing 24 families for one research piece is not enough to give an indication of what is being felt out there and to give it some substance. Pryor denies the Commission did that. "As far as I know I have never offered up anything that is based on a few focus groups or 13 interviews or whatever and said 'you should base policy on this'," she says. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/revelations-emerge-over-pryor-s-resignation-3482372 UPDATE: Fresh concerns over Families Commission TVNZ News April 21, 2010 Bob McCoskrie from Family First says this is not good enough. "We want quantitative research that reflects the voices of families," he says. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/fresh-concerns-over-families-commission-3485417  Boobs on Bikes - keep kids at home, lobby group says NZPA 21/04/2010 Opponents of the controversial Boobs on Bikes parade have suggested Palmerston North parents keep their children home on Friday when the event hits town as school lets out. Lobby group Family First NZ said the parade was scheduled to be at the city's central square at the same time school finished, exposing children to topless porn stars as they travelled home. "We would advise parents to do everything they can to avoid children being exposed to this parade, and if necessary, they should keep their children at home for the day," Family First NZ national director Bob McCoskrie said. It was disappointing the parade was even able to happen in such a public venue, he said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3607070/Boobs-on-Bikes-keep-kids-at-home-lobby-group-says UPDATE: Two boobs parades go ahead despite critics Manawatu Standard 23 April 2010 A lack of interest has led to Levin's Boobs on Bikes being cancelled but planned parades in Palmerston North and Whanganui will go ahead. http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3609844/Two-boobs-parades-go-ahead-despite-critics  Calls to reduce abortion limit as number of 2lb survivors soars (UK)Daily Mail (UK) 20th April 2010 The number of babies born weighing only 2lbs has more than doubled in just two years, re-igniting the emotive debate over the abortion time limit. At the same time, the proportion of tiny babies stillborn has almost halved. Health service figures show that in 2008/09, some 3,836 children weighing under 2lbs3oz (1kg) were born in England and Wales. That is a 115 per cent rise on 2006/07. The statistics do not reveal at what stage the babies were born. But a child weighing under 2lbs 3oz is likely to have been born at least three months early. They will inevitably include some born alive at an age when they could, in other circumstances, have been aborted. More than 200,000 terminations are carried out each year, with the procedure available ‘on demand’ for non-medical reasons until the 24th week of pregnancy. But advances in medicine are increasingly allowing those born at, or close to, the cut-off point to survive, leading campaigners to demand a lower time limit. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267341/ProLife-Alliance-calls-reduction-abortion-limit-number-2lb-survivors-soars.html#
...At high schools, principals said sex education did cover abstinence. Roncalli College principal Chris Comeau said as a Catholic school, students were taught that abstinence was the "preferred option of the church". But the school also made students aware that there were other methods of contraception. Mountainview High School principal Derek Friend said his school's programme covered all aspects and abstinence was certainly put forward as the best option. Mr Friend said from what Family First had said, it seemed schools had all the responsibility regarding sex education, while the role of the parent was not mentioned. http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3599354/Schools-follow-rules-on-teaching-abstinence
The findings from the poll suggest that the retailers have far from established their case for a change to the law. Some 61 percent of New Zealanders oppose a change to the legislation to allow retailers to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, while 35 percent support it.
...The law, which is to take effect Oct. 15, restricts abortion in Nebraska on several fronts. It will forbid abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation. The law it replaces, similar to those in many other states, banned abortions after a fetus reaches viability, or can survive outside the womb. This is determined case by case but is generally considered to come around 22 weeks at the earliest. Store retreats on padded bras for kids Critics said the swimsuit was yet another product that sexualised children and encouraged them to grow up too fast. "It's a shame it was ever put on the shelves in the first place," Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, a parenting website that attracts a large, vocal audience, said yesterday. Primark, a popular discount chain, is not the first retailer to draw criticism for offering padded bras for kids younger than 10. But the outcry of protest is prompting a growing number of companies to pledge support for Mumsnet's "Let Girls Be Girls" campaign.
The questions were all matters of interest for Family First – a conservative lobby group which pushes for "strong families and safer communities". The 20 free hours scheme was brought in by the Labour government in 2006 and allows families with three and four-year-old children to apply for the free hours at an approved provider. In the survey, 51% of respondents said stay-at-home parents should be given a similar subsidy if they chose not to put their children into childcare – 39% did not agree with the idea, and 10% said they did not know.
Fruit prices jumped 119.6 per cent between 1998 and 2006 while the price of vegetables rose by 45.1 per cent. Meat and seafood prices jumped 39.9 per cent, dairy products rose 35.3 per cent and bread 27.7 per cent. The price of junk food soft drinks hardly shifted at all in comparison, rising just 5.6 per cent over the six-year period. The price of takeaway, fast foods, snacks and confectionery grew by about 40 per cent, just a third of the jump in fruit prices.  Working mums strike backNZ Herald Apr 15, 2010 Claims working mothers should quit complaining because they "have never had it so good" have prompted anger from women's groups who say juggling parenting and work is no easy task. An opinion piece by Jenny Dillon published in Sydney's Daily Telegraph this week, said fewer children and more labour-saving devices meant working women had never had it so good. Dillon claims many working women have been perpetuating a hoax for the past 40 years - "pretending that running a household is still as hard it as it was 40 years ago". She said mothers of that era were standing over the agitator washing machine, down on their knees polishing linoleum, baking biscuits from scratch, digging the vegetable garden and shopping daily. "They were the real working mothers," she said in the piece, which was picked up by other Australian papers and international websites. In New Zealand - where there are more than 900,000 working mothers - her comments shocked and angered many modern mothers who believe juggling a career and motherhood is harder than ever. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10638495&pnum=0  Facebook opens door to cheatingNZ Herald Apr 13, 2010 Popular social networking website Facebook is being blamed for a growing number of divorces as bored and lovesick middle-aged couples hook up with their ex-lovers or childhood sweethearts. In Britain, divorce lawyers claim the popularity of social networking websites are tempting people to cheat on their partners, with firm Divorce-Online blaming Facebook for almost one in five of the petitions last year, the Telegraph reported. Relationship Services NZ national practice manager Cary Hayward said although he did not have any local Facebook divorce figures he believed the problem was not as bad in New Zealand. But he conceded the internet's impact was an increasing issue that was being discussed more often in the organisation's counselling rooms. In Australia, online behaviour was starting to cause friction in households, Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse manager Elly Robinson said "People will come in [for counselling] where one partner may deny their online behaviour has been any sort of problem, but the issue is ... if it's upsetting one of those people in the relationship, it's a problem," she said. "Relationships develop more quickly online because inhibitions are lowered, it's easy to exchange information, people are online 24/7, there's an [endless] amount of people you can link up with who are there for the same reason ... it's a bit of a fantasy world." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10638028 Married men live longer 'as wives nag them to visit their GP'
Kiwi mums feel they're not measuring up ...Of the mothers who responded to the survey only 12% said they felt satisfied with their appearance. The overwhelming majority were very dissatisfied, Hedley-Ward said. Over two-thirds of the women said the way they felt about their bodies affected their desire to be intimate with their partners (though many of those conceded that their husbands still found them attractive despite their harsh self-assessment). Only 13% of respondents said they spent regular quality time with their husbands or partners. Other bad news: 12% reported feeling satisfied with their health and fitness, and just 5% reported that they looked their best ever when they answered the survey. Hedley-Ward took that to mean most women feel the best point of their life is in the past. Easter trading laws a 'dog's breakfast' - Key 3News 06 Apr 2010
...A total of 38 businesses broke the law this Easter weekend, up slightly from the 32 last year. But now the repeat offenders have received support from the top – Mr Key agrees the Easter trading laws are a “dog's breakfast” and must be changed. “I've always voted for liberalisation of trading laws. My view is we should be able to liberalise those,” he says. Mr Key’s sentiment may make sense but it’s not that easy, as the Easter trading laws are left to a “conscience” vote to individual MPs. He says it's time that changed and the Government took a proper look. Support for smacking law change TVNZ News 31 March 10Family First says a poll shows that almost half of mothers of young children have admitted smacking illegally in the past 12 months, and three out of four want the law changed. The lobby group is using the poll to urge the government to adopt ACT MP John Boscawen's private member's bill to amend the anti-smacking law. ...The poll, by Curia Market Research, surveyed 1000 people. It found: - Extensive support for a law change across all demographics, or four out of five people. - Three out of four said the law was not at all likely to help reduce the rate of child abuse - Only one third of respondents actually understood the law correctly - Forty-five percent of mums of under-12s have smacked illegally in past 12 months - One quarter of mothers were more likely to vote for political party that commits to changing law The poll, conducted last week, had a margin of error of 3.2%. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/support-smacking-law-change-3441314 64% want parental pay for stay home mums (Aust)
Kiwi attitudes to swearing soften However, many of the more unacceptable words did not experience a statistically significant softening. The C-word, which topped the list as most offensive, actually increased in unacceptability. BSA chief executive Dominic Sheehan said that the research showed that while there was a general softening of attitudes towards the use of swear words in broadcasting, a majority of the public still found hard core swearing unacceptable with eight words rated by at least half the respondents as totally or fairly unacceptable.
Horror splatter-video funded by NZ On Air Kim McGregor, director of Rape Prevention Education, has written to the prime minister and a number of cabinet ministers asking them to push for the video to be banned. She had shown the clip to a focus group of young professional women, who had been deeply upset by its content. "What they found disturbing was the pure unadulterated hatred of women that was portrayed," McGregor said. "Would this be funded by NZ on Air if it had portrayed the dismemberment of small animals?" NZ murder record among worst According to the New Zealand Institute, only Mexico, Finland, Hungary and the gun-toting US have higher "assault mortality" rates in the 30-member OECD, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Australia's violent killing rate is half that of New Zealand's, while table leaders Japan and Britain have only a quarter the per capita rate. Web now an extension of ourselves, survey finds
Child sex tours put into three strikes law The new offences include having sex with children outside New Zealand; infecting with disease; poisoning with intent to cause grievous bodily harm; counselling or attempting to procure murder; and conspiracy to commit murder. The bill has also reduced the sentence for a manslaughter conviction at strike three from life without parole under the earlier version of the bill to a minimum 20 years in prison. If the sentence is found to be manifestly unjust, the bill imposes a sentence of at least 10 years compared with the earlier version, which allowed a judge complete discretion.  Dunne says he will bring in income splitting billNZPA March 26, 2010 Legislation allowing income splitting for tax purposes will be introduced to Parliament later this year, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne says. Mr Dunne, leader of the United Future Party which has a support agreement with the Government, has campaigned on income splitting for several years. Today, in a speech to the Tax Agents Institute conference in Greymouth, he said he was going ahead with it. "Also on the agenda is a subject of great personal interest to me, that of income splitting, a scheme which allows families with dependent children to split their incomes for tax purposes, thereby reducing their overall tax liability," he said. http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6988134/dunne-says-he-will-bring-in-income-splitting-bill/ Social Networks a Lifeline for the Chronically Ill “It’s really literally saved my life, just to be able to connect with other people,” said Sean Fogerty, 50, who has multiple sclerosis, is recovering from brain cancer and spends an hour and a half each night talking with other patients online. People fighting chronic illnesses are less likely than others to have Internet access, but once online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation.
Starvation 'within patient's rights'
Relationship Services Whakawhanaugatanga in the Bay of Plenty/Gisborne area also works with TMAPS. Its clinical leader Les Simmonds said there had been an increase in violence between young people and their parents or caregivers. "We're seeing cases in greater numbers that we probably wouldn't have seen 10 years ago." He said this was a reflection of an increase in violence across the board - in schools, on the streets and in homes. Some cases related to single mothers being afraid or threatened by their sons.
ClearPlay bosses claim many adult films lend themselves to filtering because their rating is based on only one or two scenes that can be excised without spoiling the movie. Subscribers can expect to pay about $1.60 a week for filters for hundreds of movies. ClearPlay International spokesman Andrew Duncan said filters appear within 48 hours of a film's DVD release.
* Number of male teachers in regular childcare in 1992: 142 * Number of male teachers in regular childcare in 2009: 241
..A submission from the NSW Corrective Services Department recommended the laws be amended to specify that reasonable force should not involve use of a closed fist.
...Bob McCoskrie, director of Family First, said family members who could be withholding crucial information may not be aware the reward was being offered. He hoped the financial incentive might be the "impetus they need to come clean, clear their conscience, provide that key piece of information that the police need, and deliver justice to Chris and Cru Kahui". "The concept of having to offer a reward may irk some people, but in the end, if that's what it takes to bring someone to justice on a case which revolted the nation, then it is a cheap price to pay."
Parades will be held on Levin's Oxford St and Whanganui's London St and Victoria Ave before heading to The Square in Palmerston North. Apart from calling Whanganui mayor Michael Laws, Mr Crow said he would not be contacting local authorities. "We just do it. If you ask people for permission you just get bogged down and it all gets too difficult," Mr Crow said. "It's a freedom-of-expression type of thing." Tweenies turned off by 'gross' sexy images One of the study's principal investigators, Dr Tiina Vares of Canterbury University's gender studies department, said the study was the first of its kind to take into account the views of the girls. "Something that has generally been left out of the 'too sexy, too soon' debate is the voice of the girls themselves and how they make sense of and engage with popular culture. That's where our study comes in," Dr Vares told the University of Auckland News. The study shows that contrary to the popular view that girls are passively soaking up sexualised messages in the media in a way that distorts their views on sexuality, "tween" girls are making informed decisions about sexualised popular culture. Sexual images now an inescapable part of children's lives, says psychiatrist She said risque images were now an "inescapable" part of a child's environment and pointed to billboard and TV advertising, magazines and music videos and even the posters in department stores. Prof Newman is calling for a new regime of restrictions to protect children from both targeted and inadvertent exposure to sexualised media content.
In 1975, only 18 percent of young adults said abortion should be illegal in all circumstances while 32 percent of seniors said the same. Currently, 51 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds say abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances. Overall, Gallup found that Americans of all age groups were more supportive of legal abortion under any circumstances in the early 1990s but have subsequently shed some of that support since the late 1990s. Further decline has been seen since then.
The research also showed 36 per cent of parents discovered their children had downloaded software without permission while a further 12 per cent had found their kids had handed out personal information. Microsoft Australia chief security adviser Stuart Strathdee said parents could not afford to be ignorant about their children's online activities. Family group slams sentence for child abuser Family First NZ describes the 16-month sentence as "pathetic" and sent a dangerous message to potential child abusers. "That is pathetic and shows no value for the wellbeing of the child or the community's disgust with abhorrent child abuse like this," the lobby group's national director Bob McCoskrie says. "Aggravating circumstances were that the man made no attempt to resuscitate the child, abandoned the child, and according to the judge had 'limited insight into the seriousness of his offending and displayed a troubling lack of perception regarding the seriousness of his offence'," he says. "This judgment shows that we are yet to get serious with child abusers and that the court is out of sync with public concern and opinion."
But many MPs said that parents should not only have the right to discipline their own children with a smack but foster kids as well. And foster parents contacted _The West Australian _to claim the Department for Child Protection had turned a blind eye to some foster parents who smacked their own children because they were desperate to place abused children in a safe environment.
However, Family First NZ yesterday welcomed the decision.National director Bob McCoskrie said ultimately the decision to vaccinate or not should be made by the parent after having received full and balanced information on its merits.“While we are naturally all supportive of any attempts to fight cancer, parental knowledge or consent is essential when it involves children — especially when the infection is not a communicable disease but a consequence of behaviour — and the jury is out on its long-term effectiveness,” Mr McCoskrie said.
Freedman embodies a striking cultural shift - the revolt against raunch - in which a growing cohort of feminists and libertarians are turning against the 21st-century excesses of the "free love" cultures they once embraced. They are now allied, on this issue at least, with many of the social conservatives they once regarded as reactionary.
The award to the unabashedly Christian adaptation of Michael Lewis's bestselling book "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" tells the story of real-life Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy supermom who, through her Christian faith, saves a homeless black teenager from an almost certain life of drugs and despair and challenges him to become a star football player. The film's touting of the power of evangelical Christian beliefs has once again upended Hollywood conventional wisdom that sex, violence and spectacular special effects are what sells in today's big-budget American cinema, said Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission
This means that Norrie (also known as norrie mAy-Welby) – a resident of Sydney, NSW – is legally recognised as neither male nor female according to the Australian government. Originally Norrie, 48, was born in Scotland and registered as male at birth. At age 23 Norrie commenced sex and gender conversion to female through hormone and construction of a vagina and was then issued with a gender recognition certificate as female in Australia. But this did not work out for Norrie as zie (gender-neutral pronoun) did not feel comfortable living solely as a female so zie ceased lifelong hormone treatment and took up a neuter identity which is neither male nor female, resisting any further female or male normalisation. UPDATE: AG backtracks on gender ruling
There are 36 offences, ranging from murder to compelling an indecent act with an animal, that qualify as a strike. Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said aggravated assault and assault with intent to injure should be added to the list. But excluding youths was the worst aspect of the bill. "This means that offenders such as Bailey Junior Kurariki, and Kerikeri teenager Hermanus Kriel, who was convicted last month for the murder of Liberty Templeman, receive no warnings because of their age," he said. READ our original Submission on the legislation Kids left at home alone as mum parties ..Following Brown's sentencing, Mr McCoskrie told the Daily Post this was a case of neglect where there could have been really serious consequences. "I would have expected at least some ongoing monitoring," he said. "It has been shown nationally that we are not very good at monitoring parents on an ongoing basis when parents have quite obviously stepped over the line." Children should never be left unsupervised, especially young children, Mr McCoskrie said. "These were very young kids, she got home really late. The potential for a really bad consequence was there," he said. "A $150 fine doesn't solve the problem at all. We need to ensure the safety of the children, have some ongoing monitoring. It may have been a one-off but it's better to be safe than sorry."
Timaru mother Julie Smith, who created a website www.offtheradar.co.nz after researching Gardasil, said the figures supported her call to have the vaccine withdrawn. "Parents are not being made aware [of facts about Gardasil] and certainly not by the Ministry [of Health]." Health Minister Tony Ryall responded briefly last night, saying he was advised the Ministry of Health did not have concerns about the vaccine's safety or effectiveness.
Figures issued to The Dominion Post under the Official Information Act show that 442 teachers needed ACC-funded treatment after assaults at school during 2008 and 2009, costing about $413,000. Latest Education Ministry figures show there were a further 335 pupil assaults on teachers in 2008 that did not require ACC-funded treatment.
The review, led by psychologist Nigel Latta, found more could be done to reassure parents about the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act. Child, Youth and Family said yesterday that it was on track to implement all the recommendations by April 1. Social workers would get 20,000 booklets titled When We Visit in the next three weeks and would hand them to all parents they visited from next month. Child-assault reporting 'on rise' Smacking law works - according to psychologist!
The boy publicly apologised. "I'm sorry for what has happened. I don't want him to go to jail." His father said: "He's not the best behaved child and has put Jim (Mr McCorkindale) into this position." Explaining the details of the incident as though it were only a few days ago, Mr McCorkindale said he had approached the boy because he was pulling a girl's hair. He had asked the boy twice to let her hair go but the boy's only response was to swear at him. "I only did what I thought was necessary to get him to let her hair go." Judge turns tables on driver's schoolboy accuser
This morning CYF chief executive Ray Smith confirmed to the Waikato Times this was because the agency had not known her parents – who they'd already removed two children from – went on to have another baby, Hail-Saige. They were alerted to her existence only after her death. A former CYF social worker who contacted the Times said pressure to meet performance targets could have played a part in Hail-Saige's birth going unnoticed. "Social workers are under pressure to meet performance outcomes with many cases being closed without any intervention," he said. Referrals to other community organisations were becoming the preferred option for CYF, with no further monitoring by CYF. "This is budget-driven and more children will be abused." School sex education too focused on mechanics, teenagers say The report reveals new findings from a study of 2174 young people that even at 10 and 11, 26 per cent of boys say they have girlfriends and nearly 21 per cent of girls say they have boyfriends. Those figures rise to 32 per cent of both boys and girls by ages 14 and 15. Such early relationships are not necessarily sexual. But the Youth 2007 survey of 9000 high school students found 38 per cent of the boys and 35 per cent of girls said they had had sex.
'Staggering' report shows 41 Kiwis killed by family Committee chairwoman Wendy Davis said this was the first year the committee, which was established by the Health Ministry in 2008, had formally provided an official toll. It was a shocking, yet unsurprising, result, she said. "Nobody in New Zealand who works in the family violence area is surprised by these." Nude cyclist's conviction quashed His lawyer, Michael Bott, had argued that public attitudes to nudity had changed and said Mr Lowe, who regularly trains in the nude, had not received any other complaints. In a ruling issued yesterday, Justice Denis Clifford said Mr Lowe's nakedness had not met the test of offensive behaviour. He quashed the conviction and fine. Police call for tough action on disrespect Mr O'Connor said a lack of guilty verdicts in the District Court over the years showed society and criminals that insulting police was acceptable. There were already legal provisions that allowed charges for low-level offending, but court decisions meant that police were reluctant to use them.
At present cases are closed when a child has died from child abuse or been removed by social services so the family were no longer being monitored. The change would mean a mother was effectively tracked throughout her life and if she changed partners. It could lead to a repeat of cases such as that of Chris Kahui, who was questioned by Child, Youth and Family staff at the bedside while his partner gave birth to a daughter last year. TV makes for poorer relationships, study suggests The study involved 3043 New Zealand adolescents aged 14 to 15 in 2004. The teens completed a confidential questionnaire about their free-time habits, as well as an assessment of their attachment to parents and peers. The researchers also assessed interview responses from 976 members of the Dunedin study who were 15 years old between 1987 and 1988. Strong relationships with parents and friends were important for healthy development from teenage years into adulthood, Dr Richards said. "With the rapid pace of evolution in screen-based technologies, ongoing research is needed to monitor the effect they are having on the social, psychological and physical well being of young people." The findings - the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and the Youth Lifestyle Study - were published in the March issue of the Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Family needs to attend Nia's inquest, group says However, Family First New Zealand national director Bob McCoskrie says the inquest shouldn't be "optional" for the toddler's family. He said the inquest into the death of the Rotorua 3-year-old, who died of severe brain injury following ongoing abuse, must tackle the issues of "family breakdown and dysfunction" and for that reason the Glassie family should be ordered to appear. Dr Bain hasn't ruled out ordering the Glassies to take part. He said in a statement yesterday that "these matters are to be considered at the pre-inquest hearing and subsequently any person can be summoned to attend the Coroner's Court as with any court". Mr McCoskrie said there were a multitude of questions to be asked including the responsiveness and actions of government and local agencies working with the family leading up to the death.
Their research followed more than 10,000 public servants who completed the Israeli Ischaemic Heart Disease Study in 1963. They tracked the men to 1997 to check their cause of death. In 1965, two years after the first study, the participants were asked to rate their marriages as successful or unsuccessful, or to say if they have never married. Dr Uri Goldbourt, of Tel Aviv University, said: "An analysis of the 3.6 per cent of men who had reported dissatisfaction in their marriage found the adjusted risk of a fatal stroke was 64 per cent higher, compared with men who considered their marriages very successful. "I had not expected that unsuccessful marriage would be of this statistical importance."
Research involving more than 3800 young adults, released online by the Archives of General Psychiatry, found long-term users were also four times more likely to have psychotic-like experiences. The findings, by the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland, build on previous research and shows that marijuana use is not as harmless as some people think, lead study author John McGrath said yesterday in an email.
...In recent years there has been a string of reports about parents concerned about provocative clothing targeted at teens and younger children. Early in 2008, the clothing store Jay Jays marketed T-shirts with suggestive slogans across the chest and pictures of cartoon-style characters including "Miss Bitch" and "Mr Well-Hung". Socially conservative lobby group Family First New Zealand took issue with the T-shirts which they felt were exposing young children to adult concepts too young. The issue isn't constrained to New Zealand – in the US, Abercrombie and Fitch has come fire for introducing a range of g-string underwear for girls as young as seven, carrying slogans such as "eye candy" and "wink wink".
The brochure spells out, in Chinese and English, exactly how to start working in the sex industry - including advice on what to wear, getting started, how to select a working name and how to perform sex tricks. "Young Asian girls are being recruited by older sex workers, who use us to get new customers, and work with them to provide a bi-double service to make more money," she said. Working privately from a North Shore City suburb, the business student, who came to New Zealand on a student permit, said she knew of at least three other Chinese students - not all on student permits - who turned to sex work after receiving the leaflets. The brochures are readily available for pickup at the reception counter at the collective's Auckland office in Karangahape Rd, but they are also distributed by its volunteers and staff. Although prostitution was decriminalised in 2003, it is unlawful for any person on a temporary permit to work in the sex industry, says Immigration New Zealand. "Immigration New Zealand takes all allegations of this nature seriously and will take action against any individual found to be breaching the conditions of their permit in this way," said department head Nigel Bickle. A police source said Auckland police were also alarmed at the rising number of ads in local Chinese media promoting "student sex".
Obesity less of a problem for kids of mums who work part-time The researchers investigated whether mothers' hours in paid work shaped young children's TV viewing, snacking and physical activity - and through that behaviour, their weight. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, of more than 2000 children aged four to five years and again at six to seven, they found children whose mothers worked part-time watched less TV and were less likely to be overweight. Author Assoc Prof Jan Nicholson, of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, said part-time working mums tended to spend more time doing things with their children. "If both parents worked long hours, it was difficult for them to manage healthy lives for their children," she said.
Boys missing a life lesson from male teachers Parents drop discipline to avoid upsetting kids (UK) The survey shows that 55 per cent of parents in the UK see themselves as “more of a friend than a parent”, and would rather talk things through with their children than discipline them. A spokesman for the Cadet Forces said: “Discipline is all part of growing up and it’s important for children that they are taught the difference between right and wrong.” The spokesman added: “Our survey suggests that parents tend to avoid ticking off their children because its easier than having to deal with them kicking up more of a fuss.” The study also revealed that many parents are concerned about the dangers of not disciplining their children.
During their formative years, most children were disciplined by both parents -- although just 12 per cent reported that fathers were "mostly responsible" for keeping their sons and daughters in line. While 83 per cent of respondents to the Galaxy poll commissioned by The Daily Telegraph believed it was OK for children to be smacked for misbehaviour, punishments such as washing a child's mouth out with soap or hitting with a wooden spoon were no longer acceptable.
Their main objection was understood to involve a new section in the guidelines which requires them to tell patients having doubts about a pregnancy that abortion is one of the options. A draft version of the document was issued in March but a Medical Council spokesman said changes had been made since then. The statement was intended to guide medical practitioners, and tried to balance doctors' and patients' rights - including the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the entitlement to care and treatment. Kahui twins: $25k reward offered Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said the babies deserved justice. "Somebody within the family knows what happened and who was responsible. It's time they cleared their conscience, came forward with the truth and got a decent night's sleep for the first time in four years." Child Obesity Risks Death at Early Age, Study Finds The study, published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed data gathered from Pima and Tohono O’odham Indians, whose rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes soared decades before weight problems became widespread among other Americans. It is one of the largest studies to have tracked children for several decades after detailed information on weight and risk factors like high cholesterol were gathered. “This suggests,” said Helen C. Looker, senior author of the paper and assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, “that obesity in children, even prepubescent children, may have very serious long-term health effects through midlife — that there is something serious being set in motion by obesity at early ages.” Dr. Looker added, “We all expect to get beyond 55 these days.”
From one worried mother, a passionate call to arms... ...The difference between childhood and adulthood has traditionally been signalled by clothing. But when ASDA, the UK's largest childrenswear retailer, sells black sequined microshorts and metallic biker jackets for four-year-olds, and Next, its rival, sells strappy, diamante sandals with adult-height heels to fit three-year-olds, should we assume that the minute our girls are out of babygros they are nothing but miniature WAGs, to be judged on their sexual attractiveness? Tough new welfare laws loom this year Ms Bennett said the reform bill would be tabled within two months and would go to a select committee. Most of the changes will take effect on October 1. But she said the work requirement for sole parents would take effect gradually. "We will be staging this over a period of years because we can't handle thousands coming in at once," she said. The proposal to make sole parents with children over 6 look for training or part-time work of at least 15 hours a week was announced in National's election policy in 2008, but was deferred last year because of the recession.
Dr Sarah Anderson, from Ohio State University in the US, said: "The routines were protective even among groups that typically have a high risk for obesity. “This is important because it suggests that there's a potential for these routines to be useful targets for obesity prevention in all children." Each routine on its own was associated with lower obesity, but their effect was greater when combined. Scientists analysed data collected as part of a major health study on 8,550 US children born in 2001. The researchers focused on three particular family routines: eating an evening meal as a family more than five times a week, getting at least 10-and-a-half hours sleep a night, and watching less than two hours of TV per day on weekdays. Want happy children? Spend less time trying to be perfect parents and prioritise own relationship instead, says book ..'Today's number one myth about parenting is that the more attention we give our kids, the better they'll turn out,' said Mr Code, a family therapist and writer for the Wall Street Journal. 'But we parents have gone too far: our over-focus on our children is doing them more harm than good. Families centred on children create anxious, exhausted parents and demanding, entitled children. We parents today are too quick to sacrifice our lives and our marriages for our kids. Most of us have created child-centred families, where our children hold priority over our time, energy and attention. But as we break our backs for our kids, our marriage and self-fulfilment go out the window while our kids become more demanding and dissatisfied.'
Teen girls sucked into crime by older men
Kahui case: When will twins get justice? It is understood a large number of groups are taking part in the inquest – including two district health boards, GPs, the Families Commission, children's commissioner, the Ministry of Social Development as well as police, the Crown, Kahui, the twins' mother Macsyna King and lawyers. The scale of the inquest meant more time was needed to prepare. But the Sunday Star-Times has learnt of misgivings among lawyers familiar with the case over what, if anything, an inquest will achieve. Chief Coroner Judge Neil Maclean has previously said an inquest would take a wider view of the deaths and look at whether anything could be done to prevent similar events in the future. However, those with knowledge of the case say public focus is likely to remain on debating who killed the twins rather than any lessons to be learnt from their deaths. Smack those kids - a new US bestseller says we have it all wrong about parenting It's subtitled "Why everything we think about raising our children is wrong" and authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman also note over-praising can demotivate children. To work, praise must be occasional - and sincere. If you want to be a role model for your kids, the authors suggest arguing in front of them. Most controversially, they cite new research suggesting that smacking not only has a place in child-rearing, but that it can be essential - provided it is delivered in the correct way.
In the study, Kiely and colleagues randomly assigned 1,044 pregnant African-American women to receive either usual care or the intervention. At the first interview, 169 women in the intervention group and 167 women in the usual care group said they had been abused by their partner. Overall, the intervention cut the chances of recurrent episodes of violence by more than half, according to a report in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. Abstinence classes might work: study ...New Zealand lobby group Family First has welcomed the study and has called on the education sector to take another look at the sex education curriculum. "New Zealand parents have long supported their children being taught abstinence, self control and good choices rather than the flawed 'we don't want you to but here's how anyway' method currently short-selling our young people," national director Bob McCoskrie said. "With New Zealand having one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the OECD, it's time we acknowledged the importance of giving our teens the real facts of life - that postponing sexual involvement is in their very best interests. This is further evidence that abstinence-only intervention can help teenagers delay sexual activity," he said. "The current sex education curriculum is failing to meet national standards, parental expectations, and is based on a false assumption that everyone is doing it - which they're not. It's time the current approach was ditched." Children taught sex education are more likely to have intercourse younger, says study
The findings are the first clear evidence that an abstinence program could work. "I think we've written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence," said John B. Jemmott III, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who led the federally funded study. "Our study shows this could be one approach that could be used." The research, published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, comes amid intense debate over how to reduce sexual activity, pregnancies, births and sexually transmitted diseases among children and teenagers. After falling for more than a decade, the numbers of births, pregnancies and STDs among U.S. teens have begun increasing.
The authors of the report, led by Melbourne academic Rae Kaspiew, found that parents who ended up in court tended to be younger than average couples, with the common age range for mothers between 25 and 34. Fully half had children under three and only 7 per cent had a child older than 12. The report found that "educational levels were lower than those found among parents who were together," with one in three having failed to attain a Year 11 education. Half the women were not doing any paid work, and while 84 per cent of the fathers were in paid employment, the employment rate was lower than that found among parents who stay together. The study found extremely high levels of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, mental illness and gambling in families that ended up before the court, with half the mothers saying that one or more of these issues were present.
The findings from one of the few long-term studies on childhood obesity in Britain show that daughters of overweight mothers are 10 times more likely to be obese by the time they reach the age of eight than a daughter born to a slim mother. Sons of obese fathers are six times more likely to be overweight, according to the research from scientists working on the EarlyBird Diabetes Project at the medical school in Plymouth. Children of fat parents tended to be over-fed and under-exercised, setting them on a trajectory towards obesity, it found. The chief cause of weight gain, the report said, was “over-nutrition” of children by their parents.
National Women's Hospital paediatrician Simon Rowley, a trustee of the Brainwave Trust, says research has found that levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise during the day for infants in childcare, in contrast to the normal pattern of being high in the morning and falling through the day. "The first two years of life is when you develop one of the most important relationships in your life, the attachment relationship you have with one or two primary caregivers," Dr Rowley says. "That relationship then becomes a template for your subsequent relationships. "You can't do that if you're being looked after by mostly disinterested multiple caregivers, which is what sometimes happens in childcare. My hunch is we're going to look back in 25 years and say, how could we have got it so wrong?"
Experts say the pay gap could be because men develop a stronger work ethic after they marry. ‘Results indicate that a lower level of pay satisfaction induces married men to put more effort into their work, which leads to higher wages,’ said academics at the University of Bielefeld in Germany. They analysed data from 12,245 interviewees on a wide range of subjects including household composition, employment status, working hours, income and time spent on household tasks.
David Do, co-president of the New Zealand Union of Students Associations, said the union sympathised with Unigirl's financial situation. "Many students are hard-up given the recession, which means it's been harder to find jobs." Bruce Pilbrow, CEO of family organisation Parents Inc, thought it was "horrifically sad that a young lady feels that to get into university, she has to give away something so valuable and precious". Catherine Healy, of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, said she hadn't heard of anyone else in New Zealand selling their virginity and found Unigirl's listing "extremely worrying". Healy urged the student to contact NZPC for "practical information" on the realities of sex work. But sexologist Blair Bishop said he saw no problem with Unigirl's offer. "It's just a novel form of sex work."
And the second reason Mason and Hall pay a price for their choice to keep one parent mainly at home is that the tax system treats their incomes as completely separate. Hall pays tax at the second-to-top rate of 33c in the dollar just as if he was single, even though his income is shared with his wife and children. Mason has joined a lobby group, Parents as Partners, which sees this as a kind of "tax trap" too. The group wants to let two-income families split their incomes for tax purposes. For Mason and Hall this would mean paying tax on $31,000 each, lowering Hall's tax rate sharply to just 21c in the dollar. The tax working group found that the combination of tax rates and welfare clawbacks, especially for Working for Families, doesn't just hold back thousands of people from increasing their incomes. It also diverts their efforts into finding ways to hide whatever they do earn. "Expansion of the Working for Families tax credits in 2005 has increased the incentives for people to shelter or split income, undermining the integrity of the system," it said. Economist Gareth Morgan, a member of the group, is blunter. "The thing is completely broken," he says. "Many people with low taxable incomes are actually rich people who are getting benefits just by spreading their incomes across different entities. The system works like a sieve." Women's virginity 'a precious gift', says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott The Opposition Leader says men and women tempted by sex before marriage should try to abide by "the rules" but at least use contraception if they can't wait. But Mr Abbott confessed today his daughters have told him to keep his lifestyle advice on sex and drugs to himself, saying they've told him "Dad, you did all of those things ... and I did". Mr Abbott, who has previously admitted to once drinking “some sort of hemp yoghurt” that left him “away with the fairies for about 12 hours” told 3AW today he had a chequered past, saying he is “no one's parish priest” and he did not want to offer sexual counselling to the nation. The Liberal leader fleshed out his advice on virginity, urging men to not act in ways that “demean others” but suggesting young women should not “give themselves away lightly”. See also - Opposition leader Tony Abbott vilified for being a dad
...While the policy has been blasted by critics including the Maori party and Corrections lobby groups, Family First NZ has welcomed it. National Director Bob McCoskrie said the policy would help ensure the safety of families from repeat violent offenders. “The best and most obvious way to protect women, children, and the elderly from repeat violent offenders is to incapacitate them. The purpose of this law will be to warn ‘career criminals’ to find a new job or else they will become ‘career inmates’. They are effectively being given two chances to stop their violent behaviour. Some would argue this is still one too many.” Crown to appeal decision that carer parents should be paid
The figures go to the heart of the long-running debate over what is best for children – and for parents – in the preschool years. In recent decades, preschoolers have spent more and more time being cared for by people other than their close relatives, and they have been starting younger. Whereas kindys take children aged three and up, there is concern that putting young children into care, especially in the crucial first two years when their brains are developing at phenomenal speed, could hamper later development. But other observers say there is nothing wrong in putting children into long hours of daycare as long as that care is good quality, with consistent of staffing levels and low staff-to-child ratios. The Ministry of Education census shows the number of children aged three and under enrolled in licensed early childhood centres has jumped in the past five years: there has been an increase of 21% in the number of babies (under one-year-olds); 18.4% for one-year-olds; and 15% for two-year-olds. Home-based services have also gained in popularity, growing 54% in five years. On average, children enrolled in daycare centres are now spending 23 hours a week there. Most children are enrolled part-time, but since 2005 there has been a 37% increase in the number of fulltime enrolments (more than 27 hours a week). The number of children now classed in fulltime care has jumped from nearly 25,000 five years ago to just over 34,000.
Porn less immoral than piracy - survey Although 69 per cent thought it was acceptable for a single person to flirt with another internet user, just 6 per cent thought it was morally acceptable for a married person to flirt with another internet user without their spouse's knowledge. The survey showed up substantial gender differences. Fifty-six per cent of men thought that it was acceptable for a single person to view pornography online, compared with 26 per cent of women. Similarly, 31 per cent of men were comfortable with married people viewing pornography online without the knowledge of their spouses, compared with just 10 per cent of women. Watching TV for hours could shorten your life - study "Compared with people who watched less than two hours of television daily, those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46 percent higher risk of death from all causes and an 80 percent increased risk for CVD-related death," the researchers said in a statement. The researchers said this association held regardless of other independent and common cardiovascular disease risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, unhealthy diet, excessive waist circumference, and leisure-time exercises.
..."Labels such as 'bad' or 'naughty' shame and humiliate children," she said. "Even when this strategy is framed as a request for children to 'sit and think about what they have done and then apologise', it is inappropriate. A child's bedroom should be a safe happy place of relaxation." Instead Ms Walker, who thinks smacking is unnecessary and ineffective, advocates "chilling out" where a child sits quietly "away from the scene of the crime" to calm down. She said some parents spent too much time and energy forcing young children to say please, thank you and sorry, when their own behaviour was more important.
In the United States, it has been alleged more than 10 deaths are linked to Gardasil. Several lawsuits have been filed relating to paralysis of teenage girls, one of whom died. CSL, which markets Gardasil in New Zealand, said it was unlikely the investigations would find the vaccine caused Jasmine's death. No causal relationship had been established between Gardasil and any deaths or cases of paralysis, said CSL spokeswoman Rachel David. There was an established risk of severe allergic reaction immediately after the injection, but cases were rare. The Ministry of Health said it was important not to jump to conclusions about Jasmine's death until more information was available. "Information from immunisation programmes overseas has not raised any concerns over the safety of this vaccine, in which over 44 million doses have been distributed worldwide," said Dr Stewart Jessamine, group manager of the ministry's medicines safety authority Medsafe. Payroll donation scheme begins tomorrow Child porn victims getting younger - Internal Affairs Suicide link to a lack of sleepHerald Sun January 04, 2010 Going to bed early is key to getting enough sleep and helping adolescents feel on top of the world, a study reports. A lack of sleep among youngsters may trigger depression and suicidal thoughts, according to the study by the Columbia University Medical Centre in New York. "Our results are consistent with the theory that inadequate sleep is a risk factor for depression, working with other risk and protective factors through multiple possible causal pathways to the development of this mood disorder," said the study's lead author James Gangwisch in the recent issue of Sleep magazine. "Adequate quality sleep could therefore be a preventative measure against depression and a treatment for depression." The study followed the nightly habits of 15,659 college and high-school students, and found those who consistently went to bed after midnight had a 24 per cent higher risk of depression than those who turned in before 10pm. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/suicide-link-to-a-lack-of-sleep/story-e6frf7jo-1225815780412 New Research: Why Never Spanking Might Be Worse for Kids Than Spanking Them But what about the third option: not spanking them at all? Unfortunately, there’s been little study of this, because children who’ve never been spanked aren’t easy to find. Most kids receive physical discipline at least once in their life. But times are changing, and parents today have numerous alternatives to spanking. The result is that kids are spanked less often overall, and kids who’ve never been spanked are becoming a bigger slice of the pie in long-term population studies. One of those new population studies underway is called Portraits of American Life. It involves interviews of 2,600 people and their adolescent children every three years for the next 20 years. Dr. Marjorie Gunnoe is working with the first wave of data on the teens. It turns out that almost a quarter of these teens report they were never spanked. So this is a perfect opportunity to answer a very simple question: are kids who’ve never been spanked any better off, long term? Gunnoe’s summary is blunt: “I didn’t find that in my data.” ...What she discovered was another shocker: those who’d been spanked just when they were young—ages 2 to 6—were doing a little better as teenagers than those who’d never been spanked. On almost every measure. ..Gunnoe doesn’t know what she’ll find, but my thoughts jump immediately to the work of Dr. Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, whom we wrote about in NurtureShock. Schoppe-Sullivan found that children of progressive dads were acting out more in school. This was likely because the fathers were inconsistent disciplinarians; they were emotionally uncertain about when and how to punish, and thus they were reinventing the wheel every time they had to reprimand their child. And there was more conflict in their marriage over how best to parent, and how to divide parenting responsibilities.
Scandalous show pulled from Christmas stage Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said he was "struggling to find the link between rape and Santa - it's tenuous". At Christmas it's a dark issue to be raising and you walk a fine line by bringing humour to the serious issue of rape. There's a danger you trivialise the issue." Mr McCoskrie said portraying sexual violence in a humorous way minimised its effect. The play needs to be reviewed by the chief censor so a warning can be put on for families."
In a statement issued by Family First, the parents said they rejected claims they had misrepresented the facts, and they rejected the report's findings. Their accounts were "ignored and the only opinion that matters has been that of the police and CYF", they said. The "one-sided report" had glaring errors, did not consult parents and contained alleged actions that had no basis in court. "We are not child abusers, yet this report continues to make that accusation," they said.
Lobby group Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said his group agreed with the Law Commission's conclusion that the existing laws did not sufficiently protect children, and that there was no legal duty for adults to intervene to protect a child in their home. But the right to silence afforded to family members who may have witnessed child abuse should also be removed, he said. "The police acknowledge that the closing of ranks by the families and the 'right to silence' and refusal to be interviewed has stonewalled a number of investigations into child abuse deaths."
Joseph and Mary in bed billboard decried But Family First national director Bob McCoskrie describes the church's plan as irresponsible. "The church can have its debate on the virgin birth and its spiritual significance inside the church building, but to confront children and families with the concept as a street billboard is completely irresponsible and unnecessary," he said. "The church has failed to recognise that public billboards are exposed to all of the public including children and families who may be offended by the material."
The country's Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said he would introduce legislation just before next year's elections to force ISPs to block a blacklist of "refused classification" (RC) websites for all Australian internet users. The blacklist, featuring material such as child sex abuse, sexual violence and instructions on crime, would be compiled using a public complaints mechanism, government censors and URLs provided by international agencies. Children are being spoilt with too many toys, parenting experts warn
But those parents today said they were never consulted during the review. "It appears that our accounts of what happened, and the supporting documentation we provided, including court, police and Child Youth and Family documents, to Family First has been ignored and the only opinion that matters has been that of the police and CYF," they said in a joint statement. "This is a one-sided report and fails to objectively hear the evidence from both sides." The families said they rejected the notion they had misrepresented the facts to Family First, and that the group was one of the few organisations willing to hear their side of the story.
The world-first study, led by clinical psychologist Kate Scott from the University of Otago, Wellington, was based on World Health Organisation mental health surveys across developing and developed countries in the past decade, and published in the UK journal Psychological Medicine. By contrast, separation, divorce or being widowed was associated with substantially increased risk of mental health disorders in both genders; particularly substance abuse for women and depression for men.
Experts checking if NZ death linked to cervical-cancer jab Her death had come within six months of receiving the Gardasil vaccination, but it was not known if she had completed the course - generally three shots administered six weeks apart.
...Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr said the group was against wider use of the abortion pill because it killed an unborn child by starving it. If Family Planning's 30 clinics were licensed to give the pill it would double the number of places women could get an abortion in New Zealand, he said.
Mr McClay, a National MP, wanted local authorities to be allowed to decide whether shops in their area should be allowed to open on Easter Sunday, saying Rotorua desperately needed the right to trade on its busiest tourist weekend of the year. He said Easter trading laws were a mess, with Taupo allowed to open while Rotorua, 80km away, wasn't. "It won't compel workers anywhere to work on Easter Sunday if they don't want to," he said during the first reading debate on his bill. Watchdog unhappy with Michael Jackson billboard In considering whether the billboard breached the advertising standards, the ASA unanimously expressed concern about the location of the billboard next to the school. However, it was divided on whether the billboard crossed the boundaries of good taste. The ASA said while the majority of its members were of the view that most children, and many members of the public, would interpret the message at face value and not be knowledgeable about its double meaning, a minority thought the advertisement did have "sexual implications" and had been inappropriately published in a highly visible manner Get teen out of bed with water says judge PM: It's okay to give light smacks The review panel - child psychologist Nigel Latta, Police Commissioner Howard Broad and Ministry of Social Development chief executive Peter Hughes - found police and social workers were acting proportionately and one-off complaints about light smacking were not investigated unless other circumstances were at play. Mr Key said it showed parents were still able to lightly smack and he personally believed it was already acceptable, despite the strict letter of the law. If that changed, he said, he would change the law, as he had promised. "Lightly smacking a child will be in the course of parenting for some parents and I think that's acceptable. It is up to individual parents to decide how they're going to parent their children ... Some people will continue to lightly smack their child for correction, some will not. It is up to them to decide."
Pregnant woman sells her body “That’s an absolutely horrific and shocking story. As a child advocate, I would say, ‘What on earth does that mean for that baby’?’ families commissioner Christine Rankin said. "For that baby, I just despair because what kind of world is it being brought into in terms of its parents?," said Rankin. "That's what's wrong with us (New Zealanders), we think anyone's allowed to do anything they like in terms of their children. Well, they're not and I'm sure CYF will be very interested in this case and surely have huge concerns for the baby." CYF can apply for custody of the couple's unborn child through the Family Court if they believe it's at risk. "This isn't about judging this woman. It's about making sure her children are loved and protected," CYF chief executive John Harvey told Sunday News. Children's Commissioner Dr John Angus said without knowing the couple he "cannot comment on the situation".
At the hearing, the boy, who was speaking from behind a protective screen shielding him from the accused, told the court that the pillow strike had not really hurt and that he felt no ill-will towards his uncle. The boy said he had been hit on the top of the head, had not been injured and had not been sore. Yesterday in court, the judge said a trial would potentially damage the boy and dismissal of the case was in the overall interests of justice. The judge also blasted the police as "ridiculous" and "petty" for bringing action against Mr Taylor. Mr Taylor later said the whole situation had been ridiculous. "It's just a waste of taxpayers' money, my time and the police's time."
Wellington's Mt Cook School principal Sandra McCallum said using Christian names changed the learning dynamic. Instead of passively accepting what they are told, children are not overawed by authority and are more questioning. "The old adage that children are there to be seen and not heard - that has changed," she said. But Victoria University anthropologist James Urry argues that removing the age-based hierarchy is empowering kids before they are ready. "The consequences of this usage in schools is a collapse of authority and a lack of respect which also extends beyond school. Children are empowered often without the social skills to handle their empowerment," he said.
Two years ago a survey by the Advertising Standards Bureau found that it was more permissive than the public about risque ads featuring nudity and sex. The bureau's chief executive, Fiona Jolly, said the study would review whether recent bureau decisions met a key clause in the advertiser's code, which states ads 'shall treat sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant audience and, where appropriate, the relevant program time zone'. It would also explore if billboard ads should be allowed, given that no control can be exercised over when the ad is seen and by whom.
Today's lesson: condoms in the classroom cause controversy (Aust) The NSW Greens MP John Kaye said the program compromised the State Government's public health strategy, which says the use of condoms during casual sexual encounters 'significantly' reduced STI transmissions. 'The program is using subterfuge to infiltrate the classroom and indoctrinate young people with a minority viewpoint, putting their sexual health at risk,' Dr Kaye said. Ms Garratt said the program, which catered for the first four years of secondary schooling, encouraged adolescents to make healthy lifestyle choices regarding their sexuality as well as health and relationship issues. Asked whether the website was designed to dissuade students from using condoms, she said some readers may have inferred the wrong meaning. 'The message is that condoms are not 100 per cent safe,' she said. 'We don't promote abstinence as the preferred option.'
Paid parental leave was introduced in 2002, and working mothers can now qualify for 14 weeks' leave. Fathers are entitled to take two weeks' unpaid leave or have the mother transfer leave to them. Last year, 26,324 mothers received paid parental leave and 239 transferred some leave. New Zealand's paid parental leave provisions rank 23rd out of 25 developed nations in a 2008 Unicef report. HOW PARENTAL LEAVE WORKS
Italian Senate Delays Sale of RU 486 The committee said it is also concerned with the drug's compatibility with Italian law that allows abortion on demand up to 90 days of pregnancy. Maurizio Sacconi, the Welfare and Health Minister, said, "Italy's abortion laws were not conceived with a pharmaceutical solution in mind." Vaccine rumours do rounds The Auckland University Immunisation Advisory Centre is conducting a study on the factors that contribute to minor injection site reactions. Helen Petousis-Harris, director of research and senior lecturer in vaccinology at the centre, is working on the study for her thesis. She says while trying to recruit girls, many myths and rumours have surfaced which seem to have had an effect on the uptake of the vaccine. Some common misconceptions are that the vaccine is only effective if the girl has never been sexually active, they are too young to have it and it will make them infertile. Mrs Petousis-Harris says girls also think the vaccine is being tested on them and they are "guinea pigs".
Expert: ask baby before changing nappy Critics say the strategy, called Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), is a waste of time for busy parents. But Elam says it leads to confident, happy children with high self-esteem who can solve problems. California-based Elam travels the world teaching parents and childcare staff about RIE, which first took hold in Los Angeles in 1980 after being developed by Magda Gerber, an early childhood expert and paediatrician who ran an orphanage in Hungary. Gerber based RIE on earlier work by paediatrician Emmi Pikler. RIE is now taking off in New Zealand, with more than two dozen early childhood centres here already using aspects of it, or its sister philosophy, Pikler. These centres are receiving glowing Education Review Office reports, and aspects of RIE have also been written into New Zealand's early childhood curriculum Te Whaariki.
"A lot of vulnerable children can really be exposed, especially if a teacher or another kid does something to harm them. This will stop that from happening," said Tyrone Voigt of Australian technology firm Syron. But the assistant privacy commissioner has warned childcare centres that they need to be careful about using the technology.
White Ribbon Day highlights domestic violence Meanwhile, Family First Director Bob McCoskrie says the anti-violence message is being undermined by the media culture. He says the media, pornography and advertising industries are normalising unacceptable behaviour while the country is trying to tackle it. McCoskrie says the use of violence against women as the punch line in television comedies such as Family Guy and American Dad also trivialises the seriousness of the issue. He says higher standards around violent and sexual content in the media are needed if we are to tackle family violence. Families appointee opposes law on smacking Mr Pilbrow is chief executive of Parents Inc, a conservative, Christian-based parent-support group set up by Ian and Mary Grant. Ms Bennett said she had promoted him because he represented a cross-section of parents and had a "different set of skills" from Chief Commissioner Jan Pryor. "Bruce represents a broad bulk of what day-to-day parents are going through. He concentrates on what matters, instead of working on fringe issues," Ms Bennett said.
In 1995, 11% of boys and 12% of girls were overweight or obese, rising to 17% of boys and 16% respectively in 2007. NHS data shows about one in three young people are currently overweight or obese. The BHF survey of more than 900 parents found 71% believe their children are "active enough" but only 11% of youngsters are active for 60 minutes a day, as recommended by the Government.
If there is one thing on which many working mothers agree, it is that their partners do not pull their weight on the domestic front. But research to be published this week reveals that men are being unfairly accused and working women are advancing the myth of the "useless man" so they can feel more feminine. "Working women who provide the majority of the household's income to the family continue to articulate themselves as the ones who 'see' household messes and needs as a way to retain claims to an element of a traditional feminine identity," said Dr Rebecca Meisenbach, whose research paper, The Female Breadwinner, will be published this week in the journal Sex Roles
Heavy or moderate drinking late in pregnancy increased the child's risk of developing aggressive behaviour, a Telethon Institute for Child Health Research paper found. Low levels of alcohol - one to two drinks a time and fewer than seven a week - did not increase the risk of harm to the baby, according to the study, published online in the journal Addiction. More than 2000 mothers were quizzed three months after giving birth, and again when the child was two, five and eight years old.
Anti-smacking march may move to other cities
Shane Haylock, 47, marched with one of his daughters and said the Government was not paying attention to the voice of the people. He said holding a referendum and "completely ignoring" the results was a waste of money and time. Fellow protester Ross, in his 60s, said the Government's dismissal of so many people's opinions displayed "sheer arrogance". "It's there to govern, but also to listen."Protesters also waved placards aimed at the Prime Minister, some reading "JK listen to me" and "JFK, John Fuhrer Key". MEDIA COVERAGE: Law could force adults to talk in abuse cases Parents know better than you, Children's Commissioner told But Mr Craig said parents knew better than Dr Angus what was best for their children. "What worries me is that this tax-paid bureaucrat is trying to dictate once again to good parents what is best for their children. "He needs to wake up and realise that 87.4 percent of New Zealander voters have enough common sense to know he is wrong, and have already decided this matter in the recent referendum."
Family First said today laws surrounding the right to silence for families suspected of child abuse should be dumped. The Staranise case was an example of why that should happen, as was the case of the death of the Kahui twins in 2006, where police had a hard time getting answers from family members and a court case involving the twins' father, Chris Kahui, ended with an acquittal. Canadian parents win legal battle against homework
The Ceop button was added across Bebo's website yesterday. As well as functioning as a bullying deterrent, the tool can be used to report inappropriate behaviour toward a child directly to specially trained Ceop officers. Facebook and MySpace are yet to install the Ceop tool, and Gamble criticised such sites for not taking up the free service. Judge links suicides to family break-ups
The most common meal among the nation's mothers was spaghetti Bolognese followed by roast dinners, a shepherd's or cottage pie and a pasta dish.And nine most relied-upon meals are....
The survey also found women having single, long-term partners were less prone to developing pre-eclampsia - raised blood pressure that can be life threatening and cause serious harm to both mother and baby. Pre-eclampsia affects about 3000 New Zealand women and their babies every year - varying between 3 percent and 7 percent of pregnancies. It can also involve water retention that causes swelling in the feet, legs, and hands, and protein in the urine, a sign of possible kidney damage. The only successful treatment for pre-eclampsia is delivery of the baby - often prematurely. The researchers, led by Associate Professor Lesley McCowan, asked 2507 first-time pregnant women how long they had been with the baby's father. The results of the study, published in the Journal of Reproductive Immunology, were adjusted for the lifestyle and background of the women including their weight, whether they smoked and their general health.
Call for smacking to be made illegal (France) According to Ms Antier, 18 European countries have already banned smacking - Sweden outlawed it 30 years ago - and the Council of Europe has encouraged other states to follow. She wants the law to be added into the Code Civil - meaning fines for those who ignore it rather than a prison sentence. The law should be made clear to couples when they marry. UMP general secretary Xavier Bertrand told BFM radio that he was against the proposed law and that it was a matter for parents to decide.
Organisers of a "march for democracy" hope to stage New Zealand's biggest-ever protest on Auckland's Queen St this Saturday to demand that the Government carries out the wishes of the 87 per cent of people who voted in August that smacking should not be a criminal offence. The march was endorsed yesterday by Wellington superannuitant Margaret Robertson, who initiated a 1999 vote on reducing the number of MPs from 120 to 99, and by Norm Withers, who initiated a vote in the same year for better treatment of victims and tougher sentences for violent offenders after an intruder smashed his 71-year-old mother's skull. Both said successive governments had ignored those votes.
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In a controversial change to a longstanding policy concerning the practice of female circumcision in some African and Asian cultures, the American Academy of Pediatrics is suggesting that American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or “nick” on girls from these cultures if it would keep their families from sending them overseas for the full circumcision. ...“It might be more effective if federal and state laws enabled pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm,” the group said. 
Coroner inquests into Kahui deaths this year
Families getting fat on cheap junk food
Forget the idea of the yummy mummy: 21st-century mothers are feeling overwhelmed, under-supported, unsexy and terrified of making the wrong choices, according to preliminary findings from a study into the psyche of Kiwi mums. And not only that – the study suggests that rates of post-natal depression among mothers is much higher than the one-in-five figure currently accepted. ...The online study, created by two Australian women, attracted a massive response from mothers in New Zealand and Australia. Between last May and December 4708 women (half from each country) answered 131 questions, including ones asking if they were doing a good job as a mum and as a partner, and whether they had the right support. 
Married people 'twice as likely to be fat'
75% of Canadians Say “Abortion is Morally Wrong”: Poll
Research shows decline in support for abortion among US youths
A lobby group has slammed the courts for the 16-month jail sentence handed down to a young man who caused life threatening injuries to his three month old baby. Taupo District Court was told on Thursday that forestry worker Chevy Benjamin Leeward Cashell threw the child from chest height about one metre across his living room in August 2009. The court was told that the child was unresponsive on arrival at Taupo Hospital and was transferred to Waikato Hospital by helicopter for urgent treatment. Had it not been for the quick actions of the medical staff the child would have died, Judge James Weir says.
Minister's own belt her over smacking line (Aust)
'Blind Side' wins top Movieguide award
Sex not specified: Not he or she but zie!
School refuses access for Gardasil vaccine
CYF steps up anti-smack information
Police are dealing with more cases of child assaults, with an improved culture of reporting attributed to the rise. In a summary of the enforcement of the controversial anti-smacking law, released yesterday, police also revealed a second prosecution for smacking since the law came into effect in June 2007. 
Revealed: What women really want most 
Violent video games make kids care less 
NZ Herald Mar 3, 2010 
Abusive mums may be tracked through life
Men's stroke of luck 
Throw out the homework and let kids read comics, says city principal 
Doctors challenge abortion guidelines 
salvo in an increasingly fiery debate over child-rearing.
The Sunday Telegraph February 07, 2010 
Abstinence-only programs might work, study says
Studies point to latent problems in childcare
GST rise will hurt poor the most
Working for Families tax trap
Marriage IS what matters most to family stability as only 3% of unmarried couples stay together until their child is 16
Kindy loses out to all-day care 
Naughty corners are a bad idea for kids, according to Melbourne expert 
Hyperactive children given theme park queue jump passes
In NurtureShock, we described some extensive cross-ethnic and international research on spanking by Drs. Jennifer Lansford and Ken Dodge. Their data suggested that if a culture views spanking as the normal consequence for bad behavior, kids aren’t damaged by its occasional use. To explain this shocker, the scholars suggested that in cultures or communities where spanking is common, parents are less agitated when administering spankings. Spanking almost never—when combined with losing your temper—can be worse than spanking frequently.* 
Parents hit back over smacking 
New laws to protect children 
A mischievous billboard about to be hoisted by an Auckland church and intended to provoke conversation about spiritual matters at Christmas has raised the ire of a Christian lobby group. Family First NZ labelled the billboard to be put up by St Matthew-in-the-City Church as insensitive and objectionable to many people. The billboard ..was intended to challenge stereotypes about the way that Jesus was conceived and get people talking about the Christmas story, the church said. Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said it had already generated plenty of discussion in its conception phase.
Parents reject smacking review findings 
smacking for the purposes of correction, had failed. Latta reviewed several individual cases highlighted in the media and said he was personally reassured the law change made no difference to the way the police and social workers did their job.
Teen sex lessons change the rules
Advertisers to investigate sexual images of children (Aust)
Marchers want to meet PM 
One arrest as thousands join 'March for Democracy'
NZPA 20/11/2009
Social networking sites criticised for failing to protect children
Pregnancy 'less risky' in relationship 
Group calls for veto of referendum
Past referenda organisers lend weight to march