Hi <<First Name(s)>>
 Welcome to this week's Midweek Update. Thank you to the many many families who either became members of the Family First 'Coffee Clan' or gave us a birthday gift. We are so grateful for your support and encouragement.
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And by the way - have a meaningful Easter and great family time this weekend!
Children Concerned About Sex, Violence in Media
 Media Release 30 Mar 2015
Family First NZ says that the Children’s Media Use Study by NZ on Air and the BSA is sounding alarm bells about the levels of violence and sexual content being viewed by children 9-14 years old, and the concerns of the children themselves and also their parents.
The study shows that parents’ main concerns with television include children being exposed to violence (71%), sexual content (61%), adult programmes (40%), and bad language (39%). Online, it is children being exposed to sexual material (72%), violence (46%), unintentional access to inappropriate sites (44%), or adult sites (36%). Three in five children said they have been exposed to some content on TV or online that they didn’t like, or that bothered or upset them. Exposure to aspects of violence, sex, pornography and inappropriate advertising has increased since 2007. Foul language is the most common type of challenging content heard on radio.
“The good news is that parents are being far more active in monitoring their children’s use – but why are children being exposed to this material in the first place. Our first concern should be the protection and welfare of children.”
READ MORE OF OUR MEDIA RELEASE READ THE REPORT
Litigious Approach to School Discipline Worrying Trend
 Media Release 30 March 2015
Family First is warning that a litigious approach to school disciplinary decisions will undermine the authority and special character of individual schools and has the potential to send some schools bankrupt. The comments come in response to two recent cases where parents have gone to court to challenge school rulings, including the St Bede’s rowers and the haircut ruling at Hasting’s St John’s College last year.
“Schools are working hard to instill values, discipline and respect in their students and they should be allowed to develop policies and rules to the benefit of the whole school community – not just the rights and demands of individual students and their parents.”
READ MORE OF OUR MEDIA RELEASE
A 'Motherless Generation'
 From our friends in Australia who are battling attempts to redefine marriage over there, this is the second in a series of ads from the Australian Marriage Forum which gives the child-centred case against same-sex ‘marriage & parenting’. It reflects on the 1950s-1970s government policy of ‘forced adoption’, for which there was a heartfelt national apology in Australia on March 21st 2013. It then considers the proposed policy to institutionalise two-man marriage (and therefore two-man adoption and surrogacy)
WATCH their first ad "Marriage Equality? What about equality for kids?"
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'Gay Wedding Cake' case could set precedent for Muslims (UK)
The Independent 18 Mar 2015: A human rights lawyer has claimed that a potential ruling that would force a Christian bakery to bake a same-sex marriage cake could set a sweeping precedent - READ MORE
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4D Ultrasound shows what smoking does to an unborn child
NZ Herald 24 Mar 2015: A new study appears to shed more light on the harmful effects of smoking while pregnant using 4D ultrasound scans to detect the tiny movements made by foetus in the womb. READ MORE
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Q&A Domestic Violence Program Ignored Male Victims (Aust)
Brisbane Times 25 Feb 2015: While the increased awareness of domestic violence issues is to be welcomed, its manipulation by those with other agendas is an entirely different matter. The producers rejected a well known psychologist and author on men’s health because she was an eloquent and insightful woman who wanted to speak up for men and children who were the victims of domestic violence. You see, the problem was she didn’t fit the stereotype. READ MORE
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Catholic view of Marriage leads to suspension - at a Catholic School!
Family Research Council 19 Mar 2015: Is it possible to be too Catholic to teach at Catholic school? New Jersey’s Immaculata High School thinks so. In a story that would be shocking even for a public school, Immaculata suspended a long-time teacher for defending what its own church espouses about marriage! READ MORE
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Happy World Down Syndrome Day
Last weekend was the 10th annual World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD). Watch 2 great clips HERE and HERE
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Dear Gay Community: Your Kids are Hurting
The Federalist 17 Mar 2015: Gay community, I am your daughter. My mom raised me with her same-sex partner back in the ’80s and ’90s. I’m writing to you because I’m letting myself out of the closet: I don’t support gay marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think. It’s not because you’re gay. I love you, so much. It’s because of the nature of the same-sex relationship itself. READ MORE
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Nature vs.Synthetics: The Dolce and Gabbana Controversy
Public Discourse 19 Mar 2015: When a public war of words erupted a few days ago between Sir Elton John and world famous Italian designers Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana, a mostly ignored schism within the gay community was suddenly cast in high relief. Trust me, I know. I’m a gay man opposed to gay marriage. Dolce and Gabbana are bravely standing against a future of state-enforced genderlessness, against a tidal wave of adult selfishness that overwhelms children’s rights and their best interests,,, READ MORE
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Family-supported suicide and the Duty to Die
First Things 20 Mar 2015: In 1991, my friend Frances invited me to a “going away party.” She wasn’t moving or going on vacation. Frances wanted her closest friends to come to her home, to tell her how much she meant to us, and to hold her hand as she committed suicide. We refused. Validating Frances’s suicide was unthinkable. We supported her life, not her death. READ MORE
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NZ First to put forward Bill stripping paedophile name suppression
Stuff co.nz 25 Mar 2015: A new bill to remove name suppression from paedophiles when the victims want their attacker named, is to be introduced to Parliament by NZ First. READ MORE
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Why won't Liberals talk about the most important kind of privilege in America
National Review 23 Mar 2015: It’s marriage. Much has been written about privilege in academic settings over the past few decades. READ MORE
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When My Father Told Me He Wanted to be a Woman
Public Discourse 27 Mar 2015: What was your biggest concern when you were nine years old? In a sense, I lost my dad that day, when he told me he wanted to become a woman. READ MORE
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