The Slap

An alternative view of The Slap. Read it now

The ABC is screening the highly anticipated adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas's best-selling novel The Slap. The drama series examines how the lives of eight people are affected by an incident at a birthday barbecue in which an adult man slaps a child called Hugo, not his own, who is misbehaving. As a court case proceeds, each of the episodes examines the event from the view point of a different adult. But conspicuous in its absence throughout the drama is, arguably, the perspective that matters most - that of the child.

Read what Save the Children's Karen Flanagan AM, one of Australia's leading experts on child protection, thinks of ABC's provocative new drama series, The Slap. An alternative view of The Slap. Read it now.

Save the Children has developed resources for parents on Positive discipline. Positive discipline is an approach to parenting that teaches children and guides their behaviour, while respecting their rights to healthy development, protection from violence and participation in their learning. Positive discipline is based on research on children's healthy development and effective parenting, and founded on child rights principles.

What does Child Protection mean?

The broad definition of Child Protection means the responsibilities, programs and activities undertaken by government and non-government organisations to prevent or stop children being harmed in any way. This includes the prevention of all forms of child abuse such as physical and sexual abuse. It also includes the prevention of any form of discrimination, exploitation or neglect.

 At Save the Children, our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.
 
For example, Article 19 in the UNCRC  says – “All children should be protected from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”.

In order to protect children from harm we need to make sure they survive in healthy and safe environments, get access to an education and are able to participate fully in life. This is why Save the Children provides a range of programs in Australia. All of them aim to make life better for children, their parents and caregivers and give them opportunities, today and in the future.