Father pushed 7-year-old over

A case cited by the pro-smacking lobby as it launches its referendum campaign involves a father who repeatedly pushed his seven-year-old son to the ground because he refused to play in a rugby game.

Disputing that the so-called "anti-smacking" law is working, Family First director Bob McCoskrie said it had sent the Government "evidence of six prosecutions of good parents for smacks an open hand smack on the leg, on the arm, on the bottom".

"I think the evidence is there. We've sent evidence of families being referred to Child Youth and Family and children being removed while investigations are taking place just for smacks.

"In fact, there's a case today in Lower Hutt District Court of a father trying to get his son on to the rugby field and giving him a few shoves and he's being prosecuted for common assault."

Glenn Groves, 44, of Wellington, pleaded guilty to assault in Lower Hutt District Court yesterday but will undergo an anger management course in a bid to get discharged without conviction.

In May he and his young son were at a rugby game at Lower Hutt's Fraser Park, but when the boy refused to play because he was missing part of his uniform, Groves became "extremely agitated" at his attitude, court documents show.

Groves laid a hand on his back to redirect him, but as the boy resisted he fell. He stood up three times and was pushed by his father, falling to the ground each time. After a bystander complained to police, Groves admitted pushing his son.

He told police he was "tired and determined that his son would not let the team down".

Mr McCoskrie said the charges laid against Groves and several other parents for lightly smacking their children proved police were taking far too heavy an approach.

"I'm amazed they would take a family through the court process which is a traumatic experience when they could have worked with them. If they are happy to accept a discharge without conviction, then why lay charges in the first place?"

Information issued to Family First under the Official Information Act shows eight people had been prosecuted for "minor acts of physical discipline" against children between September 2007 and last October. Two were discharged without conviction, one completed diversion, while others received supervision. Only one person had been charged with "smacking" which was later withdrawn.

Mr McCoskrie said so few prosecutions and such light penalties showed police were wasting resources and not singling out the "rotten" parents who routinely abused their children.

Though he understood some people may think Mr Groves had "gone a bit too far", he said difficult children could fall over when being forcibly moved. "It's a very isolated incident. This is a great dad ... trying to deal with a frustrating moment, with a resistant child. Which parent hasn't been faced with that?"

QUESTION RIDICULOUS, SAYS KEY

Prime Minister John Key says the smacking referendum question is ridiculous and could have been drafted by children's writer Dr Seuss.

Last week he said it was "a bit ambiguous and could be read a number of different ways". He would not be voting because it was an opportunity for the public to tell politicians what they thought.

But, at his press conference yesterday, Mr Key poured scorn on the pro-smacking advocates' question, which asks: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand."

"It's a pretty weird referendum when yes means no and no means yes, but I'll leave them to run the campaign on that," Mr Key said.

"It could have been written by Dr Seuss. This is not green eggs and ham," he said in a reference to the children's book.

Some of the people who voted "no" would want the law to stay unchanged, he said.

The referendum will cost about $9 million to run.

Mr Key said the Government was looking at adopting Green MP Sue Bradford's bill aimed at making referendum questions more straightforward.

Smacking supporters launched their campaign for a "no" vote in the referendum yesterday.

They want to repeal the 2007 law that removed the defence of reasonable force in child assault cases.

- © Fairfax NZ News