Parents wary of 'snoop’ law

Press, 8 May 1985, Page 12

Parents wary of 'snoop’ law

PA Wellington Proposals under which suspected cases of child abuse can be reported to a child protection team are an encouragement to snoop on parents, says the Concerned Parents’ Association. In its latest newsletter, it says proposed changes to the Children and Young Persons Act could let the State override the power of parents lo the control and custody of their children. The changes, outlined in a public discussion paper, suggest that anyone who suspects a child is being, or is likely to be, physically, sexually or emotionally illtreated, or is not being properly looked after, report that to the Social Welfare Department or to the

protection team. The association’s article says the definition of illtreatment is subjective. For example, a father cuddling his daughter might be considered a perfectly natural display of affection by one person, and to another have undesirable sexual overtones. “Parents could live in constant fear that they might be reported to a child protection officer for perfectly normal methods of child discipline or demonstrations of affection,” it says. “Also there is the possibility of children relating in school perfectly innocent family incidents which could be misconstrued by a teacher and reported to a child protection officer.”