I think a law like that is a good thing, and to me it seems like such legislation is very late in coming. I also feel that schools should be more regulated- I don't know about in New Zealand, but here, in 27 states, teachers may use corporal punishment to discipline children. While it doesn't happen most of the time, there have been instances that seem severe but the teacher got away with only a slap on the wrist.

Adults are much, much larger than children- why should we ever be allowed to use force on them? Anything could happen. Not to mention, violence as a punishment is not as effective as many other methods. Plus, even if you have a well-behaved child, you will probably have an anxious one if you hit your kids. To me "spanking" and "slapping" are the same thing- you are striking a child. It boggles my mind that parents would actually see striking their children as a legitimate way to "punish" their children.