Smacking - where do parents stand now? - CFN Newsletter Week 127

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 127

> The Government's new Children's Bill just seems to have confused everyone on the legality of smacking
> News:
> Gentler soaps not so harmless
> CARE conference promotes internet purity
> Unmarried households with kids double in 10 years
> Sites:
> Shadowmancer
> Spring Harvest holidays in France
> Online Christian learning
> Classic sermons to download as mp3s
> Marriage MOT: Love is ... kind
> You've got to laugh: Songs and hymns
> Members' Zone latest

> OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS WEEK

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> FROM THE EDITOR

Stacks to inform, encourage, challenge and support you in this latest update:

• tips on supporting those you know with cancer
• a youth workers assesses the Government's latest sex education programme
• is worry stealing your peace of mind? How to genuinely trust God with your future
• in-depth advice and resources for church-based parent and toddler groups

Plus ... Eric Spellmann on tidying up your PC desktop ... great sites to visit ... the latest news ... Kate's marriage tips and more.

Next update: what's in the forthcoming Families Together magazine

And do let us know your thoughts on smacking and parental discipline!

Shalom!

Russ Bravo
Christian Family Network
info@cfnetwork.co.uk
http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk

PS Christian Family Network is here to direct you to the best in parenting, marriage and family resources; to link you up with other Christian families up and down the UK; and to help you make the most of life as a follower of Christ - at home, at work, at school and college, at play and online.

Your feedback, positive and negative, enables us to develop CFN in the way that is most useful for you - so please tell us if we're off the rails or on the button!

And don't forget - if we can pass on material (sample copies of Families Together, leaflets) which will help you tell your friends and your church about CFN, just mail Lyn Bedford at marketing@christianmedia.org.uk and she'll be glad to help you out.

> INSIGHT

Smacking amendment 'will cause confusion'

The Evangelical Alliance has welcomed the House of Lords rejection of an absolute ban on smacking, but says it is disappointed at the decision to accept Lord Lester's compromise amendment to the Children Bill.

The Alliance believes it will remove the longstanding legal defence of reasonable chastisement, while still failing to address the serious issue of child abuse.
Lord Lester's amendment was agreed because most peers believed they were voting for continued legal approval for a mild form of smacking so long as it does not cause 'bruises, scratches, reddening of the skin, mental harm, and outlaws the use of implements.'

However, the Alliance believes the effect of this amendment will cause confusion about how to interpret the law in practice, making it either unworkable or leading to a complete ban on smacking in due course.

Don Horrocks for the Evangelical Alliance commented: "There is little doubt that this amendment to the Children Bill has the potential to produce a high level of Court intervention against caring loving parents who choose, where appropriate, to employ physical discipline.

"This would criminalise good parents and intrude into family life. It is regrettable that the law seems incapable of making a distinction between smacking and negative, emotive categories such as 'assault', 'battery' and 'beating'. While many parents choose not to use physical discipline in the home, nevertheless we continue to believe that the option of employing moderate smacking within a loving family environment can benefit the development and growth of children. Parents - not the State - are best placed to make such decisions."

He continued, "Along with many lawyers and concerned members of the public we shall be looking closely at the practical implications of the amendment and will be seeking legal clarification."

• What’s your view on smacking? Mail us at info@cfnetwork.co.uk or post your views on the Bulletin Board
• Go to News Extra at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for CARE's perspective on the legislation

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

> 'Gentler' soaps not so harmless

Indirect aggression is alive and well on the most popular programmes watched by young people in the UK – and can lead to “anxiety, loneliness, depression, bulimia and even suicide”, according to Dr Sarah Coyne, psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> CARE conference promotes internet purity

Web porn is rife in British churches, says the Christian social concern charity CARE, which has organised a conference to help address the problem.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

> Unmarried households with children double in 10 years

The number of unmarried couples who live together and have children has almost doubled in the decade leading up to 2001, according to a report highlighted in The Telegraph this week.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> MARRIAGE MOT

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

Love is … kind!

Kindness is not something you hear spoken about much these days. To me kindness is a gift of warmth and concern. It is about caring about another person, treating them thoughtfully and gently, wanting their good and well-being. It involves taking into account the consequences of our actions and how other will react to them.

There’s also something about kindness which isn’t calculating or looking for something in return. It’s focused on the other person and how they can benefit from what we do. It’s going beyond what’s needed to help or bless someone.

Just think what a difference spontaneous or even well-planned acts of kindness could make to our marriages.

What could you do today out of kindness for your loved one?

> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

A young, new Christian from the city came to visit the local church in asmall town. He went home and his mother asked him how it was.
"Well," said the young man, "it was good. They did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."
"Hymns?" asked his mother. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his mother.
The young man said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha, the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:

"Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweetcorn have chewed.

So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn."

"Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well, that would be a hymn."

(To find out what a chorus is like, or see an alternative ending suggested by a reader, visit Humour on the Grove website at www.grovebooks.co.uk)

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> Di Turner has advice for church-based parent and toddler groups
> How do you provide support when someone you know has cancer? Marion Stroud has some helpful suggestions
> Kate's Marriage advice - Love is kind
> In his latest computer/internet advice column, Eric Spellmann looks at 'cleaning up your PC desktop'

> Resources

> Is worry stealing your Christian growth away?
> A little humour ... when God made kids

> News

> Gentler soaps not so harmless
> CARE conference promotes internet purity
> Unmarried households with kids double in 10 years
> Sites:

> News extra: Confusion over new 'smacking' legislation

> Top sites this week

> Shadowmancer
> Spring Harvest holidays in France
> Online Christian learning
> Classic sermons to download as mp3s
> A checklist of current UK Christian portals

> Events: What's on near you

> Webwatch index: more than 700 sites categorised at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 1,000-page plus archives

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