fact that through the censor's certificates they, the parents,
have a reliable guide provided exclusively for their benefit and
intended for their use.
=(3) Broadcasting=
Disapproval has been expressed of many of the broadcast serials and
suggestive love songs. If considered dispassionately by adults, most of
these are merely trashy, but quite possibly, and particularly in times
like the present, the words of a song, or the incidents of a serial, may
more readily give offence. Obviously, the New Zealand Broadcasting
Service can never please each individual listener, but, equally
obviously, it should seek to avoid giving any public offence. The
Service seems conscious of its responsibilities and tries to make its
programmes generally suitable for family audiences; but it also aims to
reflect the standards of its listeners, and some may feel that it should
try to raise those standards.
Although the Service considers that it should never give the appearance
of dictating what listeners should, or should not, hear, it has its own
auditioning standards that should satisfy the morals of the most
particular. Records must first conform with the very strict code of the
Broadcasting Service, after which they are classified as suitable for
children's sessions, for general sessions, or only for times when
children are assumed not to be listening. The Service can, and does,
reject episodes from overseas features, and in doing so experiences no
difficulty with either overseas suppliers or local advertising sponsors.
Restrictions on dollar purchases and the nonavailability of
"sponsorable" programmes from the United Kingdom curtail the
availability of commercial features, and generally restrict them to
those produced in Australia.
On the other hand, the Service points out that listeners have a wide
choice of broadcast programmes, advertised well in advance, and it
assumes that listeners will be selective in tuning in their sets, and
restrictive in not allowing their children to listen after 7 p.m. when
programmes specially suited for them cease. This assumption, however, is
not well founded. Once switched on, the radio frequently stays on, and
children are then allowed to continue listening far too long.
Consequently, they not only lose part of their essential sleep, and
sometimes even the mental state conducive to sleep, but they hear radio
programmes not intended for them.
Just when, how long, and how often, children, adolescents, and even
parents listen to the radio is something that has never been accurately
determined in New Zealand. It is well known that young children listen
after 7 p.m. and that adolescents listen until a very late hour,
particularly on holidays, and for this last-named fact no allowance is
made when the programmes are being arranged. Adolescents listening to
the latest songs stimulate the demand for popular sheet music. It is the
words of those "hits" that form the chief target for criticism
expressed to this Committee. Popular songs are transitory in nature, and
it is the tune, rather than the words, that makes an impression.
Crime serials for the young, and the not so young, are another target
for criticism, but provided that the Service is adamant in its rule that
"crime must never pay" loss of sleep is, possibly, the most serious
consequence of over-indulgence by child listeners.
Some people claim that they can detect a definite pattern of suggestive
songs and unsuitable thrillers in the programmes. In times like the
present the Service should critically re-examine its programmes in order
to remove any wrongful impression that might be created, either by a too
frequent repetition of items where sex and crime are prominent, or by
the possibility of a meaning being taken out of them which was not
intended.
The Broadcasting Service should similarly review its ideas about
children's listening hours and rearrange its classified times
accordingly.
When crime serials are broadcast it should be made obvious that crime
does not pay.
A married woman might well be included on the auditioning panel.
Even if the Service does all these things, the major responsibility will
still rest upon the parents, who should select their children's
programmes and see that their listening hours are reasonably restricted.
=(4) Press Advertising=
An examination of advertisements in New Zealand newspapers during recent
years clearly shows how far the bounds of propriety have been extended.
What was a generation ago considered improper is now generally accepted
as a subject for display. Advertisements, more and more based on sex
attraction, horror, and crime, occupy a large and increasing proportion
of all advertising. Because this trend is obviously objectionable to a
section of the community, such advertising must partially fail in its
object of attracting. In addition, this advertising may be harmful to
those juveniles and adolescents with whom this Committee is primarily
concerned. Advertisers should, in their own interests, raise their
standards--perhaps by establishing a voluntary Advisory Council similar
to that in the United Kingdom.
=(5) Television=
Although television is not yet available in New Zealand, its
introduction is inevitable. Overseas reports of its effects on children,
adolescents, and even adults indicate that plans to minimize any harmful
effects in New Zealand should be made without delay.
The arrival of another visual and auditory influence will add weight to
the suggestion made to the Committee that liaison should be established
between all the various censoring authorities.
* * * * *
Objectionable publications, films, broadcasting, and television have
been the subject of expert appraisal in many countries. The Committee
has made its recommendations in this section of the report fully aware
that many authorities can describe these matters as no more than
secondary influences in the causation of juvenile delinquency.
To what degree these things are directly causative no one can say. Their
influence is imponderable. But whatever their influence, the Committee
is firmly of the opinion that practical measures to control what is
offensive to many would be an indication of a renewed concern for the
moral welfare of young people. The result would be the replacement of
undesirable material with something much better.
_VIII. The School_
=(1) Teacher and the Child=
For several reasons, there has been a change in the relationship that
used to exist between teacher and child. Earlier the teacher lived in,
and was part of, the community and so knew something of local conditions
and the tensions of his pupils' lives. This gave him a more intimate
knowledge and sympathetic understanding of a child's difficulties.
Today in the cities, and particularly in the quickly growing urban
areas, there are different conditions. Schools are new and big, without
a tradition of long community service; teachers have difficulty in
finding accommodation in the district from which their pupils come; to
meet the shortage of permanent staff many partially trained persons have
to be used as relieving teachers; even qualified teachers have to move
frequently to meet promotion requirements.
As a result the knowledge that once came to a teacher from sharing the
same environment as the child has now to be acquired in some other way
and, probably, from within the school. This knowledge is of great
importance in diagnosing maladjustments that might lead to delinquency.
In primary schools the situation is met by the establishment of a
system of visiting teachers who can investigate the circumstances of a
problem child. Perhaps of greater importance, the presence of visiting
teachers reminds class teachers that children have difficulties out of
school. The Committee feels that:
(_a_) As many of the problems have a medical origin, there should
be as much official liaison as possible between the public health
nurses and the visiting teachers. This would automatically make
the services of a medical officer available.
(_b_) Particularly in rapidly growing industrial areas, the number
of visiting teachers should be increased.
In pos
t-primary schools there is at present no official system of
linking the home and school in the investigation of problems.
Traditionally the headmaster has done this, but with the increase in the
size and complexity of schools he has now too little time for this work.
Post-primary principals, in their evidence, appeared worried by the
problems of conduct arising from the inability of pupils to leave school
until they have reached fifteen years of age. It has already been shown
that the pattern of juvenile delinquency which is the subject of this
investigation is found particularly in this age group.
It therefore seems desirable that some help should be given to
post-primary schools. The Committee makes no specific recommendation[2]
how this should be done, although it is emphatically of the opinion that
there is a need for this help, and that the personality of those doing
the work is of more importance than the question as to which
organization should control them.
This is only the immediate step. Everything possible should be done to
restore the community bond between teacher, parent, and child--by the
stabilizing of the teaching service, by the provision of houses for
teachers in newly developed areas, and by continuing the effort to
increase the number of women in the service.
=(2) Co-education=
At the hearing of the immorality charges in the Court at Lower Hutt the
prosecuting officer attributed the delinquency, in part, to the
association of boys and girls in co-educational schools. This directed
the attention of the Committee to the effect on morality of the
propinquity of the sexes in schools.
There seemed to be no disagreement on the question of educating boys and
girls of primary-school age together. The desirability of co-education
at the post-primary school level, however, was frequently disputed. Many
opinions were heard, for and against.
The Committee was not concerned with the relative values of the
different types of school, except in so far as they had an effect on
juvenile delinquency.
Statements were made that co-educational schools did, in fact, increase
the chances of immorality, but although the Committee investigated these
charges it could not find that acts of immorality among pupils did in
fact arise from their association at school.
There was evidence that one girl had incited seven boys to sexual
misbehaviour on the way home from a co-educational school. Thorough
investigation proved to the Committee that the group came from the same
neighbourhood and had become known to one another from their home and
street association. Acts of indecency had occurred long before they went
to the post-primary school.
Senior pupils of an intermediate school were concerned in depravity,
both heterosexual and homosexual. The trouble probably spread through
the acquaintanceships made at school, but in all cases the history of
the instigators, in intelligence and environment, showed either that
they were already concerned in immoral acts outside the school or that
they had home circumstances conducive to delinquency.
In many of the cases that were brought to the notice of the Committee
the name of the school was associated with the offender, even although
the offences did not occur within the school or arise from it. This
linking of the school with the offender is unfortunate, as it is
unsettling to the other pupils of the school and disturbing to the
parents of the district.
=(3) School Leaving Age=
The school leaving age is now 15, but there are obviously some pupils,
in the upper forms of primary schools and the lower in post-primary,
who, either through lack of ability or lack of interest, are not only
[not][3] deriving "appreciable benefit" from their further education,
but are indeed unsettling and sometimes dangerous to other children.
The School Age Regulations (1943/202) permit of exemption from
attendance at school in cases where the Senior Inspector of Schools in
any district certifies that a child of 14 who has completed the work of
Form II is not likely to derive any appreciable benefit from the
facilities available at a convenient school or the Correspondence
School.
The Committee recommends:
(_a_) That the Department should consider whether some better
method of educating these children can be evolved. It feels that
the mere granting of an exemption certificate may transfer the
problem from the school, where there is at least formal oversight,
to the community, where this is not the case.
(_b_) Where the underlying reason for exemption is the misconduct
of the child, the Senior Inspector should have power to grant the
exemption subject to the child being supervised by the Child
Welfare Division of the Department.
=(4) Relations With the Child Welfare Division=
From the evidence received it is clear that principals of schools would
welcome a closer liaison, by regulation, with the Child Welfare
Division. A high degree of co-operation already exists in some places,
but it depends on the personalities of the people concerned and is not
general.
With a full realization of the desirability of secrecy in the affairs of
a delinquent child, but also with the knowledge that the principal of a
school should know as much as possible of his pupils, and in most cases
has known them longer, and in conditions of less tension than the Child
Welfare Officer, it is suggested that:
(_a_) Where a child in a school, or transferred to it, has come to
the notice of the Child Welfare Division for acts of delinquency,
the principal of the new school should be informed.
(_b_) Where a pupil is to be charged before the Children's Court
the principal should be asked to make a recommendation regarding
the future of the child either independently of, or jointly with,
that of the Child Welfare Officer. At the present time the
principal is merely asked to report to the Child Welfare Officer,
although, from his longer experience of the child, he may be in a
better position than that officer to suggest what should be done.
=(5) Sex Instruction in School=
The views of the Committee on the whole subject of sex instruction are
given elsewhere in the report. Here it is emphasized that, apart from
the biological aspect as a part of nature study in the primary schools
and general science in the post-primary schools, the school in general
is not the place for class instruction in sex matters.
Incidental features of sex hygiene will arise naturally from physical
education and can be adequately treated there.
It is felt that the teaching of the fuller aspects of the sex relation
between men and women requires an emotional link between the teacher and
the taught, and it should not be looked on as a duty of the school to
forge this link. But where ignorance persists, through the failure of
the natural agencies, the school should try, if a suitable person is
available on the staff, or by the employment of a specialist, to remedy
the omission.
=(6) "New Education"=
Several witnesses have claimed that the philosophy underlying the New
Zealand education system is a predisposing cause of sexual delinquency,
but in the absence of direct evidence, which is obviously difficult to
obtain, such claims can only be an expression of personal opinion.
Similarly, the terms "play way" and "free expression" have been quoted
to show that traditional external disciplines have given way to a
concentration on the development of the personality of the child--a
development which could lead to licence. But as there are not sufficient
comparative figures available for New Zealand, and as reports from
overseas suggest that the pattern of immorality is a world-wide one, the
Committee is unable to reach a conclusion on this matter.
It does, however, feel justified in suggesting that nothing but benefit
could come from representatives of the Department of Education attending
meetings of Parent-Teacher and Home-and-School Associations to enable
responsible and interested parents to obtain a clearer understanding of
modern educational aims before expressing their views.
_IX. Community Influences_
In an examination of the factors which promote juvenile delinquency
special attention must be given to the type of community in which
children grow up. The more normal and well balanced a community is, the
greater are the child's chances of developing a well-balanced
personality. The teaching at school may be good, the home training
satisfactory, but these good influences may be upset by defects in the
neighbourhood. When the atmosphere of home or school is unsatisfactory,
the chances of normal healthy development are made progressively worse
for any child whose community environment is also poor.
=(1) Housing Development=
In New Zealand there are a number of communities which have grown
quickly and have become unbalanced. No one doubts the urgent need that
there has been for houses to accommodate a rapidly expanding population.
On the other hand, in the light of experience, it is considered that
wise planning in the future could avoid some of the disadvantages which
have become evident in these areas. These disadvantages are:
_(a) Fewer Adults_
Large-scale housing is primarily for married people with growing
families. Eventually the number of young people is much greater than the
number of adults. There is a pronounced difference between a settlement
of mushroom growth and one that has developed gradually with large
family homes and smaller homes, grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts,
and children.
In order to illustrate the disparity between the adult and juvenile
population in all such areas the Committee obtained from the Education
Department a statement of the primary and secondary school children in
Wellington and the Hutt Valley as at 30 August 1954:
_Wellington Hutt_
Pupils at primary public and private schools 15,300 12,250
Pupils at secondary public and private schools 5,750 3,000
------ ------
21,050 15,250
It must not be overlooked that the homes of many children who attend
schools in Wellington are situated outside the ordinary confines of the
city; many of the children are resident in the Hutt Valley. For
instance, 250-300 of the girls at Wellington College come to that
college from the Hutt, and many more children from outside the city
attend other city schools. The exact total is not readily assessable,
but it is known to be considerable. On the other hand, it is not thought
that the rolls of Hutt schools are increased by the attendance of pupils
from outside that district.
Another statement shows that in Wellington city 70.4 per cent of the
total population are adults, whereas in the Hutt only 60.1 per cent are
adults.
If that abnormal distribution of population is a causative factor in
juvenile delinquency, the situation will have to be carefully watched
because:
(i) A graph compiled for the Committee shows that the biggest
number of children is in the two-to-four-year-old group. When one
considers that the delinquency now being considered is in the
13-to-17-year-old group, the period of greatest danger will not be
reached until about another nine years have elapsed. This is a
disturbing prospect and demands serious consideration.
(ii) There are many similar housing settlements in New Zealand.
The absence of public disclosures of delinquency in any of those
places must not be taken to mean that they are free from it.
(iii) In areas settled largely by people with growing families the
rate of increase is striking. In planning one post-primary school
the rate of 0.7 children to a family was adopted. Three years
later the rate was found to be 1.5 per family.
_(b) Absence of a Community Spirit_
In the normal development of towns and suburbs a community spirit comes
from an ability to make one's own choice of dwelling. A newly-married
couple prefers one district or one suburb to another, either because
their relatives or friends are there, because it is handy to the
husband's work, because of "the view", or for similar reasons. The house
they build or buy or rent was the house of their choice. In that way
they develop pride of ownership or of possession. They join such of the
local churches, societies, and clubs as already exist, and themselves
organize and support other agencies of community value.
In quickly settled housing areas this community spirit has not yet had
time to develop. The people have not chosen to live there: a house has
been "allotted" to them. With a feeling of relief that their immediate
problem is solved, they move in; but they soon find themselves in an
area without any established traditions or the buildings associated with
those traditions. Churches, schools, halls, and monuments are entirely
non-existent or very new. The areas left for sports grounds, parks, and
reserves are still largely undeveloped. The occupants of the new houses
have not the financial capacity to provide these things, and there are
seldom any private benefactors, because there is not a stratum of
wealthy people in or near these settlements who might be benevolently
inclined to help the district where they reside. The help which the new
residents can give, or obtain from the State, churches, or other
organizations to provide a community fellowship, must fall far short of
what is usually obtainable in areas which grow up normally and
naturally.
_(c) Overcrowding of Houses_
Houses in the new areas are often found too small as the boys and girls
grow up. The result is streets of overcrowded homes unsuitable for
family life. The tendency for the young people to seek their pleasures
away from their home and district is therefore greater than it is in
mature communities.
_(d) Tendency to Form Groups or Gangs_
Where a large number of children live near one another, and many of them
are left by their parents to their own devices, the formation of groups
or gangs is inevitable. Some of these children are not moulded into the
activities of churches or other helpful organizations. They simply
coalesce by the accident of their circumstances, and make their own fun,
in which, unfortunately, the influence for good of the better among them
is often outweighed by the misbehaviour and dangerous propensities of
others.
_(e) Emotional and Mental Factors_
New housing areas tend to be populated by a large proportion of those
people whose outlook on life has been affected by disturbances in their
early married years. Marrying during, or soon after, the Second World
War, they were obliged to live in small apartments or transit camps and
were thereby unable to live the normal life of a married couple. Either
because of this, or because of conditions existing in the housing areas,
there does not seem to be the same group willingness to improve their
conditions as is seen in older communities. Indeed, individual cases
show a virtual lack of self-reliance.
There is the further factor that when the breadwinner has to travel a
long distance to work he is not able to spend as much time with his
family as is desirable, or to share in the work of the community.
_(f) Little Variety in Amenities_
Young communities cannot immediately provide, from their own resources
and enthusiasm, all the amenities normal in an established settlement.
Necessarily, these must be added one by one, and in the meantime the
residents have to participate in a restricted range of activities.
* * * * *