Editorial: Public view can lead to change

Moko Rangitoheriri.

Another big wave of grief and disgust washed over New Zealand this week.

After marching for young Moko Rangitoheriri in May, his killers were sentenced on Monday.

Tania Shailer and David Haerewa were each jailed for 17 years. It will be at least nine years before they can seek parole.

The pair admitted the manslaughter of Moko, over a two-month period last year when they physically abused him in Taupo while his mother was in Auckland with a child at Starship Hospital.

Justice Sarah Katz said their sentence was the highest imposed in New Zealand for the manslaughter of a child.

Around the country on Monday people gathered at courthouses and town squares in disgusted solidarity.

Moko's death had some sad similarities to Nia Glassie's death.

The Rotorua toddler's death in 2007 also prompted nationwide revulsion at how she had been treated. And out came the hackneyed cliches about the type of town Rotorua was.

I lived there then.

Poor wee Nia's death had nothing to do with the town she lived in, and everything to do with the excuses for adults and parents that looked after her.

Just down the road in Taupo, here was a similar case. A toddler bullied to death by adults with seemingly no idea how to treat a child.

Retrospective opinion and outrage over the death of a child should always be given in the hope that it changes things, and maybe even saves a life.

But ultimately, the most important opinion is not the public one, but the private one. The one that says, "Hey, that's not OK."

But public opinion is the chicken to the private opinion's egg. If you have ever wondered "what's the point" when it comes to how we react publicly to these tragedies, bear in mind public opinion may influence someone's private view. And if it takes thousands of people to turn out to prevent one child's death, then as a nation we should say, "That's OK, we'll take that every time."