Friday, 30 April 2021, 8:43 am
New data from more than 700 Kiwis suggests physical
discipline of children by parents dropped between 2002 and
2017.
However, the study authors say the practice
remains fairly common, even after the 2007 anti-smacking law
came into place, and they call for more effort to promote
child-friendly parenting techniques.
The SMC asked
experts to comment on the research.
Dr Melanie
Woodfield, Clinical Psychologist, Health Research Council
Fellow – The Werry Centre for infant, child and adolescent
mental health, Department of Psychological Medicine,
University of Auckland, comments:
“Most parents
don’t start the day intending to strike their child. Yet
the latest paper from the internationally-regarded
The Covid-19 pandemic has marked a major shift in how we think and act everyday. It’s having vastly different affects, making people question how they work and how they live, not only during lockdowns, but also beyond. Sitting in solitude for much of the day, for days on end, does lead the mind to wander. It can be a boring time, or stressful, or potentially even fun. Surprising research findings from last year suggest many Kiwis felt better in lockdown than they did before.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Partygoers, in the hours before Auckland entered a snap lockdown. Statistics NZ surveys showed the average reported wellbeing of the population actually increased during the first nationwide lockdown, said Public policy professor Arthur Grimes.