“ I'm not sure whether CYF New Zealand fully appreciates the long term implications of what they have done to this mother and her child. They've used the words of a 7-year old son to drive a permanent wedge between him and his mother!
Did the innocent child understand the likely consequences of what he said to the CYF officers about his mother? Or was he being coerced by the CYF officers to 'report' on his mom? Or have the CYF staff developed a totally negative perception of parenting in the Pacific Island family? Don't have anything more important to do than investigating mothers' methods of disciplining their 7-year old children?
The saddest of this case is the fact the mother is to be deported to Tonga, a totally different cultural context, where she'll live for the rest of her life, and to raise her family including the son who had 'betrayed' her love.
Wish this family the best. ”