July 16 2004
Our kids are in crisis
The Child Development Foundation is calling for a whole new approach to the escalating problem of child abuse in New
Zealand.
Foundation national director Gaye Moriarty says statistics released by Child Youth and Family this week which show a big
increase in the number of suspected child abuse cases being reported, probably under states the true situation which
could be even higher.
She says our kids are in crisis, and it is time for every New Zealander to become involved and take some responsibility
for what's happening.
"We've got to be able to say to people it's not acceptable if we see them hitting their kid around the head or being
abusive with a kid on the sports field on in the supermarket," she says. "That takes a brave person because most people
simply don't want to get involved, but if we don't get involved, then how many more thousands of children will be
damaged?"
Ms Moriarty says throwing more money at CYFs will not provide a solution to the problem, and it is time to rethink our
entire strategy and involve local agencies.
"It needs to come down to a community level - communities have to take some sort of responsibility," she says. "It has
to be broken down to a local issue and rather than looking at a big bureaucracy, we've got to look at setting up
something in local areas that can work for children. If we moved away from a big government bureaucracy in favour of
bringing local agencies together, we may be able to deliver more.
"I'd like to see local agencies such as Barnardos, churches and councils work together to set up some type of local
organisation working towards the objectives of strengthening families and creating safer communities for our children."
Ms Moriarty says adding to her concern is the fact that the numbers are continuing to increase.
The Child Development Foundation is a charitable educational trust established to develop, implement, monitor and
promote educational programmes directed towards the development and enhancement of personal and social skills in
children and young people.
The Foundations programmes provide school age children with skills and awareness to be able to take action to protect
themselves if they in a situation where they being abused.
Ms Moriarty says attention has to be paid to providing a mechanism that can respond to children in need - which will
listen to them and provide help.
All to often she says, there is no help available.
ENDS