環(huán)球英語 — 185：Hitting Children

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Voice 1

Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Liz Waid.

Voice 2

And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

What do you do when a child misbehaves? What if he does not listen? What if she breaks your house rules?

Voice 2

All parents must face these questions at some time. All parents teach their children right and wrong. But what is the best way to do this? There are many ways to punish children when they do wrong. But in some places, there is a big debate about one punishment - hitting. Some people also call it smacking or spanking. Should parents use hitting as a form of punishment? Or are there better ways to punish children?

Voice 1

In the country of New Zealand, this has caused a lot of discussion. There are many parents who believe it is necessary to hit their children at some times. They do not feel that they can be good parents without this kind of punishment.

Voice 2

But there are many other parents who believe that any hitting is wrong. They think that it is very harmful to children!

Voice 1

For many months, the two groups argued with one another. Soon, the government got involved. In 2005, the town of Ngongotaha became the first town to make it illegal for parents to hit their children. They hope to become the safest place in the world to raise children.

Voice 2

Rose Berge is a social worker. She is part of Family Works, a group that is trying to stop violence against children. She says that New Zealand is currently one of the worst places to raise children.

Voice 3

“New Zealand’s home violence rates are horrible. Our child abuse rates are horrible.”

Voice 1

She believes that hitting children as a form of punishment leads to worse violence in the home.

Voice 3

“If we are going to stop child abuse in this country, I believe it has to start with the way we raise our children.”

Voice 2

Rob Beckett works with Rose Berge to stop parents from hitting their children. He is a social worker in Ngongotaha. Together, they came up with a plan. They give parents ideas about punishing without hitting. Rob says,

Voice 4

“We know violence in the home is a concern. Ngongotaha is no different from any other community in New Zealand. Poor parenting skills are one of the reasons. We have a lot of parents who have alcohol and drug difficulties.”

Voice 1

Using money and support from the local government, Rob and Rose started a project to stop hitting. They call it the “Smack Free” project. They asked local parents for their ideas and opinions. They asked local businesses to become supporters by putting “No Smacking” signs in their windows. And they organized a free program to teach local parents how to punish children without hitting.

Voice 2

Nearly one hundred [100] parents have been through this program. Rose Berge believes that their work has been effective in changing the community.

Voice 3

“It has helped people talk about punishing children. They never talked about this before.”

Voice 1

Still, there are many people who oppose this project. Even Rob Beckett understands that change will take many years.

Voice 4

“We know there are people out there who still hit their children now. But we see people coming through our program that will never have to hit their children because they have learned good parenting skills.”

Voice 2

Support for the program is not as strong as Rose and Rob hoped it would be. Some businesses will not put up “Smack Free” signs in their windows. Others believe that this is not an important issue. And some parents believe that hitting is an important part of being a good parent.

Voice 1

Recently, a group asked people living in New Zealand their thoughts about punishing children. More than seventy-five [75] percent said that they think it is okay to hit.

Voice 2

But the government still passed a law making it illegal for parents to hit their children. This has caused a large number of protests. Some protesters held signs that said, “Children do not belong to the government” or “Do not get involved with my family.”

Voice 1

Iain Bainbridge works for the Christian Institute. He opposes this law.

Voice 5

“Punishing is part of love. The old law only lets parents use reasonable physical punishment. Parents who use unreasonable physical punishment can already be arrested. This new law is very restrictive. It is wrong to arrest parents for using reasonable physical punishment.”

Voice 2

Iain believes that making it illegal to ever hit children will cause children to misbehave more often.

Voice 5

“In the last ten [10] to twenty [20] years we have made it illegal to use physical punishment in schools. And what have we seen? We have seen worse behavior from students. And now many teachers are leaving schools because they cannot punish students.”

Voice 1

Lucy Thorpe works for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She supports the new law.

Voice 6

“What we are talking about is giving children the same rights as adults. This law sends a clear message that hitting children is just as wrong as hitting anyone else.”

Voice 2

Lucy believes that the new law is not enough. She hopes to teach parents why it is wrong to hit their children.

Voice 6

“Hitting may do no physical harm, but there are many other problems. We know that physical punishment can turn into violence against children. Also, it sends a message to children, that if you do not like what someone is doing, you should use physical force.”

Voice 1

This is a difficult issue for many parents around the world. In most countries, it is not illegal for parents to hit their children. But it can still be difficult to decide how to punish a child who does something wrong.

Voice 2

Even Christians struggle with this issue. In the Bible, it says “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” [Proverbs 22:6] Like most parents, Christian parents believe that punishment is important. And some Christians believe that this punishment should also include hitting.

Voice 1

But Jesus urged Christians to show love and mercy to all people, including their children. He never hit anyone to punish them. Instead, he used words. Because of Jesus’ peaceful example, many Christians believe that it is always wrong to punish someone by hitting them.