Guest editorial: Norm Hewitt on tackling abuse

It's Christmas time and so another year is over. It's been a tough year for our children, our tamariki, with several appalling cases of child abuse in the headlines.

The Christmas-New Year period is a time when we often become reflective, both about the year that's gone and the year that's coming. It's also a time usually spent with family, and a time we may think about families less fortunate than ours, and what we can do to help them and their children.

The names of children who have been killed through mistreatment are all too familiar. Those most recently in the media are names such as Chris and Cru Kahui, JJ Lawrence, Serenity Jay Scott, Cezar Taylor, Terepo Taura-Griffith, and 5-year-old Sahara Baker-Koro who died four days before Christmas last year. But these are just the names we know. They are only a tiny representation of the thousands of other New Zealand children who silently live with abuse and neglect each day.

Each year, on average, 10 children are killed by family members - people who should have protected them.

In New Zealand it's estimated that 160,000 children are considered vulnerable, which means several factors in their lives reduce their chances of reaching their potential. Non-government and government agencies are trying to help our children and their struggling families, but it's not working.

In July the Government released its Green Paper for Vulnerable Children.

This is a discussion document posing challenging questions and asking for our opinions - anyone's opinions - on what we, the public, think should be changed to strengthen our communities and ensure our children reach their full potential.

I am very proud to be one of the champions of that Green Paper, along with South Auckland lawyer Sandra Alofivae, and Barnardos chief executive Murray Edridge. We've spent the last few months travelling around the country, getting people talking about child abuse and the Green Paper.

Since leaving the All Blacks, I've dedicated my life to working for children. I am utterly determined to bring about social change in families and the wider community. I see the Green Paper as a great start to this change because the Government is asking for our opinions - what do we think will work?

Some of the questions in the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children are challenging.

Should all children be tracked from birth? Should personal information be more easily shared? Should some people receive less funding so our children can receive more?

Should communities be encouraged to take more leadership and responsibility on the issue?

It doesn't matter what you say; you just need to say something.

In fact, that's become the catch-phrase of this discussion document and the name of our new website, www.saysomething.org.nz.

On that website you will find it's very easy to have your say. You can also mail in a submission, or post comments on Facebook or Twitter. After the submissions are read, a children's action plan will be developed and released during 2012.

No submission is too small to be considered.

You don't have to be an expert to be part of the conversation.

I think it's safe to say we all feel angry and sad when we hear of another child being deliberately hurt, but we probably feel powerless to stop it, or to make a change.

Now's our chance to change the end of the story for children who are being abused - have your say on the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children and help make 2012 the year we start getting it right for our next generation of New Zealanders.

Norm Hewitt is a Champion for the Green Paper for Vulnerable Children. He is a former All Black, and now runs the Nga Mauri Pounamu Ora Trust.