The president of WA's Childrens' Court has warned parents against smacking their children, saying it normalises violence and there are "smarter ways" to discipline them. Judge Reynolds also cautioned against giving children alcohol-even in small amounts and under parental supervision-because it reinforced the impression that underage drinking was acceptable.
Judge Reyonds said most children charged with serious offences were from low socio-economic backgrounds. For boys who's fathers worked away there was a risk they would "get connected with other young males who are not going to school, engaging in antisocial behaviour, drinking too much, using cannabis and when you add all of those things it inevitably leads to getting into trouble and that can be serious trouble. Another ambassador, paediatrician Trevor Parry, agreed the FIFO lifestyle was leading to a "growing father deficiency."
-------------------------------------------------------------- IMO...Judge Reynolds has neglected to mention that the politically correct approach has failed and exacerbated, if not caused, the mayhem behaviour expressed by the youths before his court. Parents are the front line where a child learns their boundaries.
Lets face it...right and wrong is a learnt behaviour instilled with consequences. No different that you learn not to place your hand on a hot plate because it will damn hurt...absolutely no other reason why you don't do it. Then you retain that experience and apply it towards all other hot surfaces. Our parents tried to save us experiencing the act through education and their desire to love and protect us, but we reaffirmed those teachings by experiencing the consequences. Our parents also taught us the difference between good actions and bad actions, and their consequences. The main reason they taught us was because it was their belief, and what other way should people behave towards each other, anyway.
Those beliefs were then instilled at school. In good faith we were disciplined by our teachers. No interfering by our parents. As we got older we learnt that there was a legal obligation to society...an accepted behaviour punishable with incarceration, at its worse. The key to the process was consistency. A punishment was pretty well guaranteed. Misbehave and you got the wooden spoon, a shoe thrown, a duster thrown, a ruler across the knuckles etc. Actions spoke lounder than words. None of it was brutal, sadistic abuse. It was just the way it was and you accepted it. You were able to look at your actions and know you deserved it. You accepted responsibility. You didn't hit your sister because your dad worked late or your family was poor. You did it because you thought you could get away with it, but got caught.
Families didn't have FIFO. You went away and stayed months or years on end with letters as your means of communication. No mobiles, no web cams and no popping in and out of the house every 2/3 weeks. Absence made the heart grow fonder. The kids, esp the males, stepped up to be 'man' of the house and gained maturity through accepting responsibility. Of course, there was the ever present reminder that if you played up you had dad to answer to when he returned. But that wasn't your driving factor. Respect for your parents and family was, and more so, respect towards yourself.
With alcohol. We always had liquor on our birthdays. A nice little shooter glass of mandarine liquor. I don't recall what age we were on our first, but I was certainly in primary school. Mediterranean households always had alcohol on the dining table and Marsala in the cooking pantry. None of us never had an iota of interest to ransack it. I would say that our upbringing was responsible. Primarily that we knew it wasn't accepted unless our parents ok ed it and there were consewuences to be 'discussed' otherwise.
Judge Reynolds also seems to blame everyone else except his courts and their parents for the over representation of Aboriginals before the courts and in jails. I thought we had matured from the concept that Aboriginals are a special race. I accept they have genetic dispositions towards medical conditions and that grand parent aged members had severe, inexcusable family disruptions throught the 'Stolen Generation' debacle. But I fail to see how any of that is relevant to the up and coming generation. I assume their parents are portraying a bad example that their off spring are emulating. The parents are not taking a serious approach with their upbringing or discipline. I grew up next to an Aboriginal family in the 70s. The parents were as close as you could get to the 'Stolen Generation.' It didn't stop them from being respected highly in the community and bringing up 6 polite, law abiding citizens. I'm getting sick of hearing the excuses for minority groups. Especially from Judges who have lost touch with discipline.
The answer is definitely not more of the cotton wool approach. I don't suggest we go ballistic and incarcerated every person coming before a judge. But I certainly object to the amount walking out of the courts through diminished responsibility. Blaming their upbringing or their parents' upbringing or their grand parents' upbringing.
IMO Judge Reynolds is part of the problem and not part of the solution.
