Proverbs 13:24 " He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."
Since arriving in NZ though, things have been very different. We had been informed by someone in Singapore, and was later confirmed when we got here, that it is illegal to hit children here. I could be sent to prison for it! Thank God that the kids have been rather good, and it has not been a problem so far. I guess behind closed doors, who knows right? But I'm determined to exercise self-control, and try to reason with the girls, rather than to resort to that sort of discipline...
Met a mother in K's school from India. She commented about how the kids here have no respect for their teachers by calling them by their first names, and just leaving the class as and when they wish.
One wonders if juvenile problems result from this lack of respect for authority...
1 comment:
hi Denise,
I read with interest on your latest article on sparing the rod... I too believe in using the cane sparingly. that was also my impression when I first came to UK - that it is illegal to hit a child. But it was only attending a course at work related to something which I cannot remember now, it was clarified. there is a law that forbids people to hit a child in the head, not that it is illegal to hit a child. Most people at the course also mistook the law that you cannot hit a child at all but it is not true. I think it may apply to NZ as well.
I have always commented that it is not the parents who hit their child in public that you need to catch. They are normally the 'normal' ones. It's parents who smack and abuse children behind doors that need to be caught but sadly sometimes caught a bit too late for the child...
adeline
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