1954

NEW ZEALAND

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

ON

MORAL DELINQUENCY

IN

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

_Laid upon the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave_

BY AUTHORITY: R. E. OWEN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON. --1954

 20 September 1954. 

The Right Honourable the Prime Minister, Wellington. 

Sir, Having taking into consideration the matters referred to us on 23 July1954, we submit herewith the report and recommendations upon which weare all agreed. 

Accompanying the report, for purposes of record, are four volumescontaining the evidence of the witnesses who appeared before us and alarge file of the submissions which were made in writing. 

 We have the honour to be, Sir, Your Obedient Servants, O. C. MAZENGARB, Chairman. R. A. BLOODWORTH } J. LEGGAT } G. L. MCLEOD } Members. Lucy V. O'BRIEN } J. S. SOMERVILLE } F. N. STACE }

_The Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children andAdolescents_

 CHAIRMAN

Dr OSWALD CHETTLE MAZENGARB, Q. C. 

 MEMBERS

Mrs RHODA ALICE BLOODWORTH, J. P. (_Children's Court_). 

Mr JAMES LEGGAT, E. D. , M. A. , _Headmaster, Christchurch Boys' HighSchool_. 

Dr GORDON LOGIE MCLEOD, LL. B. (N. Z. ), M. B. Ch. B. (N. Z. ), D. P. H. (Eng. ), _Director, Division of Child Hygiene, Department of Health_. 

Mrs LUCY VERONICA O'BRIEN, _Vice-President of Women's Auxiliary ofInter-Church Council on Public Affairs: Arch-Diocesan President, Catholic Women's League_. 

Rev. JOHN SPENSER SOMERVILLE, M. C. , M. A. , _Chairman of the Inter-ChurchCouncil on Public Affairs_. 

Mr FRANCIS NIGEL STACE, B. E. (Elec. -Mech. ), B. E. (Mech), _President, N. Z. Junior Chamber of Commerce_. 

 SECRETARY

LEN JOSEPH GREENBERG, O. B. E. , J. P. 

_Contents_ _Page_

I. Preliminary Observations-- (1) Sensational Press Reports 7 (2) Press Reports from Overseas 8 (3) A World-wide Problem 9

II. Order of Reference and Procedure followed 10

III. Narrative-- (1) The Hutt Valley Cases 11 (2) Cases in Other Districts 13

IV. Has Juvenile Immorality Increased?-- (1) Difficulties of Comparison in Absence of Statistics 13 (2) Unreliability of Available Statistics for Comparative 14 Purposes

V. A Change of Pattern in Sexual Misbehaviour-- (1) Younger Groups Now Affected 18 (2) Precocity of Girls 18 (3) Organization of Immorality 19 (4) Recidivism 19 (5) Changed Mental Attitudes of Girls and Boys 19 (6) Homosexuality 20

VI. Searching for the Cause 20

VII. Some Visual and Auditory Influences-- (1) Objectionable Publications 21 (2) Films 23 (3) Broadcasting 25 (4) Press Advertising 26 (5) Television 26

VIII. The School-- (1) Teacher and the Child 27 (2) Co-education 28 (3) School Leaving Age 29 (4) Relations with the Child Welfare Division 30 (5) Sex Instruction in School 30 (6) "New Education" 31

IX. Community Influences-- (1) Housing Development 31 (2) Recreation and Entertainment 35 (3) Liquor and Gambling 36

X. The Home Environment-- (1) Feelings of Insecurity: The Unloved Child 37 (2) Absent Mothers and Fathers 39 (3) High Wages 40

XI. Information on Sex Matters-- (1) When Should This Information be Given? 41 (2) Who Should Give This Information? 42 (3) The Source of Information 42

XII. The Influence of Religion on Morality-- (1) The Need for a Religious Faith 43 (2) The Need for Religious Instruction 44 (3) The Need for Family Religion 44

XIII. The Family, Religion, and Morality-- (1) The Importance of the Family 44 (2) The Place of the Family in the Legal System 45 (3) The Sanctions of Religion and Morality in Family Life 46 (4) The Moral Drift 46

XIV. Changing Times and Concepts-- (1) Contraceptives 47 (2) The Broadening of the Divorce Laws 48 (3) Pre-marital Relations 48 (4) "Self Expression" in Children 49 (5) Materialistic Concepts in Society 49

XV. The Law and Morality-- (1) History of the Law Regarding Morality 50 (2) Protection of Women and Girls from Defilement 51 (3) Consent as a Defence 51 (4) Weaknesses in the Law 52 (5) Proposed Reforms 54

XVI. Child Welfare in New Zealand-- (1) History of Legislation 54 (2) The Children's Court 55 (3) Corporal Punishment Abolished 57 (4) Defects in the Act and its Application 57 (5) Changes Proposed 60

XVII. Summary of Conclusions 63

XVIII. Recommendations-- (1) Proposals for Legislation 66 (2) Proposals for Administrative Action 67 (3) Parental Example 68

XIX. Appreciation 68

Appendix A: Table of Sexual Offences for WhichProceedings Were Taken in New Zealand 69

Appendix B: List of Witnesses, Submissions, andOrder of Appearance 70

_I. Preliminary Observations_

=(1) Sensational Press Reports=

In the second week of July 1954 various newspapers throughout theDominion featured reports of proceedings in the Magistrate's Court atLower Hutt against youths charged with indecent assault upon, or carnalknowledge of, girls under 16 years of age. 

The prosecuting officer was reported as saying that:

 The police investigations revealed a shocking degree of immoral conduct which spread into sexual orgies perpetrated in several private homes during the absence of parents, and in several second rate Hutt Valley theatres, where familiarity between youths and girls was rife and commonplace. 

He also stated that:

 ... In many cases the children came from excellent homes. 

A few weeks previously reports had appeared in the press of statementsmade by a Child Welfare Officer and a Stipendiary Magistrate thatjuvenile delinquency (meaning delinquency in general and not only sexualdelinquency) had more than doubled in recent years, and that in manycases the offenders came from:

 ... Materially good homes where they are well provided for. 

Such statements naturally provoked a good deal of private and publiccomment throughout the Dominion. The anxiety of parents deepened, andone leading newspaper asserted editorially that:

 It is probably quite safe to assert that nothing that has occurred in the Dominion for a long time has caused so much public dismay and so much private worry as the disclosure of moral delinquency among children and adolescents. 

There is room for difference of opinion as to whether or not the ensuingpublic discussion of sexual offending was desirable. On the one hand itprovoked many conversations on the subject between children themselvesand a noticeable desire to purchase newspapers on the way to and fromschool. On the other hand the focusing of attention on the existence ofthe peril to school children caused many parents, temporarily at anyrate, to take a greater interest in the training and care of theirchildren than they might otherwise have taken; it caused some heads ofschools to arrange for sex instruction; and it also resulted in a publicdemand that something should be done to bring about a better state ofmorality in the community. 

Following hard upon the newspaper reports of these cases in the HuttValley there was the news that two girls, each aged about 16 years hadbeen arrested in Christchurch on a charge of murdering the mother ofone of them. It soon became widely known (and this fact was establishedat their subsequent trial) that these girls were abnormally homosexualin behaviour. 

There were also published in the press extracts from the annual reportof the Justice Department to the effect that sexual crime in New Zealandwas, per head of population, half as much again as the sexual crime inEngland and Wales. The reasons why the Committee does not accept thisstatement at its face value are stated later under Section IV (2). 

=(2) Press Reports from Overseas=

In view of the fact that the happenings in the Hutt Valley were reportedin all New Zealand newspapers, and by many newspapers in Australia andGreat Britain, the Committee points out that the increase of sexualdelinquency is not confined to any one district or any one country. 

It cannot be too strongly asserted that the great majority of the youngpeople of the Hutt Valley are as healthy-minded and as well behaved asthose in other districts, whether in New Zealand or elsewhere. It justhappened that, through the voluntary confession of one girl in Petone, many cases were immediately brought to the knowledge of the police. 

In the absence of comparable statistics from other countries, theCommittee can merely quote from some of the reports received in NewZealand at about the same time that the Hutt Valley cases were reported. 

(_a_) _England_

 In Monmouthshire last year there was an increase of 88 per cent in sexual offences. The biggest increases recorded were for indecent assault on females--132 in 1953, compared with 75 in 1952--and for offences against girls under 16 years of age. In his annual report the Chief Constable states that this shocking record is a further indication of the general lowering of moral standards ... --_The "Police Review" (London), 19 February 1954. _

(_b_) _New South Wales_

 POLICE UNCOVER WILD TEENAGE SEX ORGIES

 Detectives have uncovered evidence of an amazing sex cult in which a bodgie "high priest" and a number of pretty teenagers indulged in wild orgies in a Sydney suburb. 

 It is alleged that the "high priest" made the girls participate in lewd rituals, swear a profane oath on "the bodgies' bible" and worship at a "bodgies' altar". 

 Following these sensational allegations, four men were arrested. Police expect to arrest another seven. Disappearance of the 15-year-old daughter of a respected Erskineville family started the police investigation which uncovered the sex cult. Both the girl and the "high priest" undressed, and, as she lay on a bed, he compelled her to engage in grossly obscene acts with him. 

 Then, while the "high priest" performed a gross act of indecency, the girl swore the "widgies' oath" on the "bodgies' bible". --_Sydney "Truth" 27 June 1954. _

(_c_) _South Australia_

 ADELAIDE POLICE SEIZE TEENAGERS IN SWIFT RAIDS

 In a series of lightning raids Port Adelaide police have arrested six teenagers who they claim are members of a sex cult. Vice Squad detectives say the cult indulged in sex and drug parties. The Port Adelaide Police Chief Inspector, G. E. Mensfort, said that when the cases came to Court he suspected revelations similar to those in the Hutt Valley, which recently shocked New Zealand. A number of teenage youths have already appeared in Port Adelaide Police and Juvenile Courts on carnal knowledge charges ... --_Telegram in the "Dominion", 30 July 1954. _

(_d_) _London_

 MANY GIRLS IN BAD COMPANY

 One black spot in an otherwise more optimistic report by the Police Commissioner on crime in London is a disturbing increase in the number of 17-and 18-year-old girls who are coming under the notice of policewomen on their beat, says the _Daily Mirror_. --_N. Z. P. A. To "Evening Post", 2 September 1954_. 

=(3) A World-wide Problem=

There have been waves of sexual crime in various countries at varioustimes. 

Juvenile delinquency itself has been the subject of much research(especially in the United States) during the past fifty years. Butalthough such offences as indecent exposure and sexual assault byjuniors have been included in published figures, no special mention hasbeen found by this Committee of the aspect of sexual delinquency nowbeing discussed in New Zealand. What is entirely new in New Zealand (andprobably in other places, too) is the attitude of mind of some youngpeople to sexual indulgence with one another, their planning andorganization of it, and their assumption that when they consent togetherthey are not doing anything wrong. 

Clergymen and publicists in various parts of the world have beendeclaiming about illicit sexual practices and their effects on youngpeople, but this is the first time that any Government has set up aCommittee to sift the available data on sexual misbehaviour with a viewto finding the cause and suggesting a remedy. 

While this report was being typed there appeared in the localnewspapers the following telegram despatched from London on September14:

 INQUIRY INTO VICE WAVE IN BRITAIN

 A Government committee, including three women, is to open tomorrow a searching probe into Britain's homosexuals and prostitutes, to decide whether the country's vice laws should be changed. 

 The Government's decision to set up the committee followed public alarm at the vice wave in Britain, highlighted by a steep increase in homosexual offences. 

 The Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, has charged the committee with considering the law and practice relating to homosexual offences and the treatment of persons convicted of such offences, and offences against the criminal law in connection with prostitution and solicitation for immoral purposes. According to the police, prostitutes in London alone have soared to a record of more than 10, 000. Convictions for sexual offences exceed 5, 000 a year, compared with the immediate pre-war total of 2, 300. The figures for male homosexual offences have bounded even more sharply. 

The extent of juvenile immorality in New Zealand may have been greatlymagnified abroad. If the good name of this Dominion has been sullied bythese reports, the Committee hopes that any damage may be repaired bysetting out the facts in their true perspective and by demonstratingthat we can, and will, do something in the interests of morality whichmay also give a lead to other countries. 

_II. Order of Reference and Procedure Followed_

On 23 July 1954 a Special Committee was appointed by the Government withthe following Order of Reference:

 _To inquire into and to report upon conditions and influences that tend to undermine standards of sexual morality of children and adolescents in New Zealand, and the extent to which such conditions and influences are operative, and to make recommendations to the Government for positive action by both public and private agencies, or otherwise. _

The Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, 27 July, to determinepoints of procedure and to make arrangements to hear all who desired tomake submissions. There were placed before the Committee files ofletters which had been written to Ministers of the Crown, and hundredsof newspaper clippings, relating to this topic. Some days were occupiedin the sorting and reading of this material in anticipation of the taskwhich lay ahead. 

The Committee commenced the hearing of evidence at Wellington onTuesday, 3 August. It sat in Christchurch for the convenience of peoplein the South Island on 31 August and 1 September, and in Auckland from 6September to 10 September. 

Altogether 145 persons (18 on more than one occasion), appearing eitherin a representative capacity or as private individuals, were heard. Inaddition, 203 written submissions were made by interested organizationsand private persons, and a large volume of relevant correspondence, addressed direct to the Committee, was considered. A list of the personswho appeared before the Committee and of the organizations or societieswhich made either written or oral representations is attached. 

It should here be observed that the Committee, not having the powers ofa Commission of Inquiry, could not summon witnesses before it. Allofficers of the Crown, and all public agencies from whom information wassought, were helpful. Much of the evidence, however, was secondary orhearsay evidence. The Committee had not the power to trace some of thestated facts back to their source. 

It was thought undesirable to interview any of the children involved inrecent happenings. Reliance had to be placed on information regardingeach individual made available by the police and Child Welfare Officers, and, in some cases, by the heads of their respective schools. Similarly, there was much secondary evidence of indecent behaviour and of otherfacts said to have been derived from reliable sources. The absence ofdirect evidence on some of these matters, however, did not prevent theCommittee from looking at the problem in its broad general aspects, andfrom reaching conclusions which could not be affected by a closerscrutiny of some of the individual matters narrated to the Committee. 

_III. Narrative_

=(1) The Hutt Valley Cases=

Before proceeding to examine the extent of sexual laxity among childrenand adolescents it is convenient to narrate the factual happenings whichcaused this problem to assume such large proportions in the public mindin July and August last. 

On the 20th day of June 1954 information was sought from the policeconcerning the whereabouts of a girl 15-1/2 years of age who was missingfrom her home at Petone. A few hours later this girl called at thePetone Police Station. She stated that, being unhappy at home with herstepfather, she had, since the previous Christmas, been a member of whatshe called a "Milk Bar Gang" which (in her own words) met "mostly forsex purposes"; she had "become tired of the sex life", was worried aboutthe future of its younger members, and desired the police to break upthe gang. She gave the names of other members of the gang to the police. By interviewing persons named by this girl, and then interviewing otherswhom they in turn named, the police were able, without difficulty, toobtain admissions and evidence of sexual misconduct by 65 children. 

The procedure followed was for the parents to be visited at theirresidences by a constable in plain clothes, told the nature of theinquiry, and informed of the desire of the police to interview thechildren at the police station. When a parent and child attended at thetime appointed the parent was informed that, either through a sense ofshame or fear of the parent, the child might not make a full disclosureof the facts known to her. Some parents consented to their childrenbeing interviewed alone; others desired, and were allowed, to remain forthe questioning. After each interview the parents were permitted to readthe statements of their children and to sign them before the childrenthemselves were asked to sign. 

The disclosures thus made, immediately recalled certain similaroccurrences in the same district during October/November 1952. Itspeedily became apparent that the 1954 situation was much more seriousin that there were approximately three times as many children dealt withand that three of the children had been involved in the earlier trouble. 

For purposes of comparison the Hutt Valley cases are set out as follows:

Girls involved 6 17Girls pregnant 2 ... Boys involved 11 37Boys over eighteen ... 5Charges laid 61 107Committed to care of State 3 girls 5 girls 1 boyPlaced under supervision 3 girls 4 girls 7 boys 7 boysAdmitted to probation 1 boy 6 boysAdmonished and discharged or otherwise dealt with 3 30Dismissed in Children's Court ... 3Acquitted in Magistrate's Court ... 1Acquitted in Supreme Court ... 3(One boy appeared in both Supreme Court and Magistrate's Court; thusshowing 60 persons dealt with. )

=(2) Cases in Other Districts=

It cannot be supposed that sexual misbehaviour was confined to the Huttdistrict. Similar environmental conditions obtain in other districts. Itwas reliably stated in evidence at Wellington that if a girl elsewherewere to carry her story to the police similar revelations would be madethere. 

In Auckland matters came to the knowledge of the Committee which docause grave concern. Here again the Committee was not engaged on afact-finding mission, but was seeking to evaluate the evidence in abroad way. 

It appears that, a few weeks before the Hutt cases were reported, theheadmaster of an intermediate school informed the police of a case oftheft of money by a schoolboy who was found to have £22 in his wallet. In the course of their inquiries into this the police were started on atrain of investigation into sexual practices of children on their wayhome from school, at the homes of parents, and elsewhere. As a result, about 40 boys and girls in the 12--15-year-old group (but including alsoa girl of 9 years) were implicated. In addition to this, there were twocases before the Court in which several girls had given evidence oftheir agreement to sexual intercourse with older men. One of the accusedmen has recently been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, while theother is still awaiting trial. As this latter case, and also a charge ofmurder against a boy aged 14, are still _sub judice_, the Committee isunable to comment on any of the factors involved. 

This much may, however, be said that, from the police, welfare officers, a headmaster, and social workers in Auckland, the Committee learned ofan accumulation of sordid happenings occurring within a short space oftime which people who regard themselves as men of the world couldscarcely believe possible in this Dominion. 

No submissions were presented to the Committee that sexual offending byjuveniles in the South Island had increased to any alarming extent. Suchcases as were mentioned to the Committee followed previously recognizedpatterns. 

_IV. Has Juvenile Immorality Increased?_

=(1) Difficulties of Comparison in Absence of Statistics=

In seeking to ascertain whether immorality among children andadolescents has increased or is increasing it should be pointed out thatthere are not any statistics available either in New Zealand orelsewhere from which reliable guidance may be obtained. Sexualimmorality is, by its very nature, a clandestine vice. Any availablefigures can comprise only such things as detected offences against thelaw, or registration of ex-nuptial births, or births which haveresulted from pre-marital intercourse. Figures are not availableconcerning immoral acts which do not become the subject of a criminalcharge. 

Charges of unlawful carnal knowledge or indecent assault arise, for themost part, from complaints made by females. From feelings of chivalry orother reasons it is not in the nature of the male to inform on thefemale. The common experience is that a charge of sexual improprietycomes from information supplied by the female. So long as a girl isprepared to be silent, the offenders remain unknown. As with olderpeople, so also with children. 

Whether sexual laxity has been increasing must be a matter largely ofimpression based, perhaps, upon inference from certain known facts. Onthis matter there is room for a wide divergence of opinion. Ifpolicemen, teachers, or social workers in the Hutt district had beenasked in June of 1954 whether immorality had increased there, they wouldprobably have replied that the wave of 1952 had receded and matters wereback to normal. Yet a month later that district had achieved anunenviable, and even unfair, reputation in this respect. 

Sad to relate, the cases in respect of which the police took action inthe Hutt do not represent the full extent of known sexual immoralityamong juveniles there. This is shown by the following pieces ofevidence:

 (_a_) The office bearers of one Church gave to the Committee particulars of several recent cases which had come to their notice in the ordinary course of their social welfare work (two of them girls who had become pregnant before their sixteenth birthdays). These were cases which had not been investigated by the police. It was also the conclusion of these Church officers that the cases which had been revealed to them were far outnumbered by those which were not so revealed. 

 (_b_) It was quite obvious to the police officials who made the investigations in July that no useful purpose would be served by extending their inquiries further. 

=(2) Unreliability of Available Statistics for Comparative Purposes=

The previous section was written to show the difficulty of obtaining acomparison between vice at one period and that at another. This sectionis to indicate the difficulties which arise in making comparisons (evenwhen figures are available) between different sections of the people atdifferent times and between different groups of people. 

_(a) Sexual Crime Among Adults_

No inference can be drawn from any comparisons between sexual crime ofadults and sexual misbehaviour among children. The Committee did, however, examine the statistics of sexual crime in New Zealand to seeif there was any marked increase which might throw light upon theconduct of children. From the annual reports which had been submitted bysucceeding Commissioners of Police it collated the figures of sexualcrime. The table as prepared is set out in Appendix A to this report. Aperusal of that table will show that the increase of sexual crime in theyears 1920-1953 is not any greater than might reasonably have beenexpected having regard to the increase in population. In other words, the rate has remained constant. But the great increase in the number ofindecent assaults on females (from 175 in 1952 to 311 in 1953) did callfor special investigation. At the request of the Committee, thesefigures were broken down into the several districts in which the crimeshad occurred and, as a result, it appeared that there had been anastonishingly big increase in the Auckland district. The Committee hashad two separate explanations of this. In the first place, it wasexplained that the apparent increase was due to a change in the methodof compiling the returns in Auckland. On reference to Auckland officialsthe Committee was informed that the method of compilation had not beenchanged. Whether or not this type of crime increased substantiallythroughout the Dominion in one year must, for the present, remainundetermined. 

_(b) Statistics of Juvenile Delinquency_

The figures compiled for the Committee by the Superintendent of theChild Welfare Division show that:

 (i) There was a substantial increase in juvenile delinquency during the Second World War. 

 (ii) After the war was over, the rate settled down to something like the pre-war rate. 

The following is a fair selection of these figures (alternate yearsbeing taken):

 _Number of Offences and Rate per 10, 000 of Complaints of Children Juvenile PopulationYear Out of Control, etc. 7-17 years 10-17 years_1934 1, 653 53 731936 1, 786 57 791938 2, 447 77 1051940 2, 464 79 1071942 2, 421 79 1071944 2, 493 84 1131946 1, 786 60 831948 1, 589 51 741950 1, 464 46 661952 1, 883 56 781954 2, 105 56 81

In making comparisons it should be noted (as explained later) thatduring recent years the Department has undertaken much preventive workwhich may account for a return to the pre-war rate in spite of theexistence of other factors leading to an increase in delinquency. 

_(c) Juvenile Delinquency in Maoris and Non-Maoris_

Another illustration of the care required in the use of statistics isafforded by a comparison as between Maori and non-Maori offenders in the10-17-year-old group. (For the purpose of these figures "Maori" means ofthe half-blood or more). 

For the year ended 31 March 1954 there were 565 Maori delinquents, or 28per cent of the total number of juvenile delinquents. During this sameperiod there were 1, 433 non-Maori offenders, or 72 per cent of thosedelinquents. But the Maori offenders came from 10 per cent of thejuvenile population, whereas the non-Maoris came from 90 per cent ofthat population. On that basis juvenile delinquency among Maoris wasthree and a half times that among the rest of the child inhabitants ofNew Zealand. 

The Committee has been unable to arrange for a dissection of the figuresto ascertain whether there was a bigger percentage of sexual offendersamong young Maoris than among other sections of the people. Aconsiderable portion of offences may come from factors inherent in theculture and traditions of the Maori and their difficulty in conformingto another mode of living. 

_(d) Children Under Control or Supervision_

It is interesting to find that after the war there was a steady declinein the number of children committed to the care of the State, or placedunder supervision, until the year 1953. This is shown by the followingtable:

_Year Ended_ | _Under Control or_ _31 March_ | _Supervision_ |1934 | 7, 2591936 | 7, 2721938 | 7, 4031940 | 8, 0431942 | 8, 2211944 | 8, 5311946 | 8, 0481948 | 7, 2671950 | 6, 5251952 | 6, 0881953 | 6, 1771954 | 6, 283

There would have to be reservations in any inferences drawn from thesefigures. For instance, the decrease may have been due to extrapreventive work done by welfare officers. The earlier reduction or thelater increase in the number of children placed under care orsupervision may have been affected by the varying recommendations ofChild Welfare Officers or the decisions of Magistrates. Finally, is theslight increase from 1952 to 1954 something to cause concern?

_(e) Comparison Between New Zealand and England_

Almost coincidentally with the publication abroad of reports ofimmorality in the Hutt district and of juvenile murders in New Zealand, an extract from a brochure of the Justice Department was published. Thisextract was to the effect that, in relation to population, there wereone and a half times as many adults convicted of sexual offences in thisDominion as there were in England and Wales. That statement results froma comparison of the figures in the two jurisdictions, but it may createa wrong impression unless it is remembered that in England only 47 percent of the indictable offences reported to the police are "cleared up", whereas in New Zealand 64 per cent of indictable offences are "clearedup". A comparison which takes this and all other relevant factors intoaccount could probably place this Dominion in a much more favourablelight. 

Whatever inferences may be drawn from the statistics presented in thisreport--whether juvenile immorality has increased or not--any nation iswise that, from time to lime, surveys its moral health. 

_V. A Change of Pattern In Sexual Misbehaviour_

When this inquiry was mooted all members of the Committee heard theoft-repeated comment that sexual delinquency was not new--it had beengoing on through the ages and always would go on. Many people also said"You cannot make people moral by Act of Parliament". 

Although there is some truth in each of these statements the Committeedoes not feel that the matter should be dismissed in that way. First, such an attitude is not a desirable one to adopt when seeking a remedyfor a social evil. Secondly, the continued existence of a vice, howeverfar back it may be traced, is not a reason why special measures shouldnot be used to deal with it when it assumes considerable proportions. 

Intemperance and dishonesty have always been apparent. But there havebeen times when these vices have reared their heads in new ways and innew circumstances which have compelled action by the Legislature. Theconsumption of alcohol by persons in charge of motor vehicles is but oneillustration of the way in which an old vice may become such a greatevil in altered circumstances that stern measures have to be taken. Stealing was reprehended in the Ten Commandments, and so wascovetousness. Theft was always punishable at common law; but, soon aftercompany promotion became a feature of our commercial life in the latterpart of the nineteenth century, firm action had to be taken by theLegislature to protect the public from the effects of a misleading orfraudulent prospectus. 

Similarly, in this matter of improper sex behaviour among children, itis not merely its extent, but certain features in its new pattern, whichcommand attention. These features are:

=(1) Younger Groups now Affected=

Immorality appears to be more prevalent now among younger groups in thecommunity. In the Hutt, and also in Auckland, most of the cases were ofboys and girls whose ages ranged from twelve to fifteen years; but someof the young girls also associated with boys several years older thanthemselves. 

=(2) Precocity of Girls=

In former times it was the custom for boys to take the initiative inseeking the company of girls; it was conventional for the girls to awaitany advances. Nowadays, girls do not always wait for an advance to bemade to them, nor are they as reticent as they used to be in discussingintimate matters with the opposite sex. It is unfortunate that in manycases girls, by immodest conduct, have become the leaders in sexualmisbehaviour and have in many cases corrupted the boys. At one schoolthere were 17 children involved--10 of them were girls of an average ageof 13. 2 years and 7 boys of an average age of 15 years. Anotherdisturbing feature is that in the case of boys more than half werecommitting their first offence, whereas only one-fifth of the girls wereoffending for the first time. The Committee has not overlooked the factthat the offending girls may themselves have been corrupted by a male inthe first place. But the fact remains that four-fifths of the girlsinvolved in the particular cases that prompted this inquiry had anadmitted history of prior sexual misconduct. 

The following extract from the evidence of a headmaster is impressive ofthis new feature:

 ... We have not the same worry about boys as we have about girls. The worst cases we have are girls, and it is quite clear some of them are an absolute menace. They have dragged boys into this sort of thing. In general the girls are far worse than the boys. 

=(3) Organization of Immorality=

These immoral practices have been _organized_ in a way that was notevident before. For example, a boy of 17-1/2 years, trusted by hisparents with the charge of their home, abused the trust by arrangingsexual parties on three successive weekends for groups of several girlsand boys. There was also the case of a girl of 14 years who invited agirl of the same age to her home during the absence of her parents forthe express purpose of having intercourse[1] with her brother aged 15. This improper use of a parent's home has also occurred in otherdistricts. 

=(4) Recidivism=

The second outbreak of Hutt Valley cases revealed that two boys, onegirl, and one family had become involved in misbehaviour within eighteenmonths of their previous offences. In another district three-quarters ofthe boys concerned had previously been before the Court as delinquents, though not all for sexual offences. 

=(5) Changed Mental Attitude of Girls and Boys=

Perhaps the most startling feature is the changed mental attitude ofmany young people towards this evil. Some offend because they cravepopularity or want to do what their friends are doing. Some assert aright to do what is regarded by religion, law, and convention aswrongful. It was reported that some of the girls were either unconcernedor unashamed, and even proud, of what they had done. Some of the boyswere insolent when questioned and maintained this attitude. TheCommittee has not overlooked the fact that in some cases this attitudemay have been due to a defensive reaction. 

The recent disclosures caused one headmistress of a city college toarrange for sex instruction to be given by a lady doctor to variousforms. The girls were invited to submit written questions for the doctorto answer. Having read the questions, the doctor commented that she musthave prepared the wrong lecture--it should have been for an older group. A transcript of the questions was produced to the Committee. They wereinquiries which one would assume might be made by young women who hadmarried or were about to marry. Whether these young girls were sincerein their questioning of the doctor, whether they wanted to exhibitadvanced knowledge, or whether they were endeavouring to create asensation, the fact remains that they had in mind aspects of sex whichwere well in advance of their years. 

This change in the mental attitude of offending children was furtherexemplified by evidence that, in one series of cases in Auckland, records were kept, and there was some competition between girlsconcerning the number of immoral acts in which they were involved. TheCommittee were shocked to hear from the police that one girl claimed atotal of 148 instances in her favour. 

=(6) Homosexuality=

The Committee has read reports from Great Britain of an increase inhomosexual practices there. Recent New Zealand happenings might be takento indicate a similar increase in this country. The Committee has madeno investigation of these matters, but considers it wise to remindparents that sexual misbehaviour can occur between members of the samesex. 

The conclusion of the Committee is that the above pattern of immoralityis of a kind which was not previously manifest in New Zealand. It cannotbe dealt with on the footing that it has always been with us. Theattitude of mind shown by those who have planned and organized sexualparties, and sometimes caught others within their net, is somethingwhich demands serious consideration. The subject cannot be dismissed inthe light, airy way of those people who, without any adequate knowledgeof the facts, have been saying that there is nothing new about thesexual misbehaviour of young people and that nothing can be done toimprove matters. The situation is a serious one, and something must bedone. 

_VI. Searching for the Cause_

Many have been the views expressed as to the reasons for this immoralityand the suggested remedies. After considering the evidence, afterreading much literature on the subject, and weighing up all thesuggested factors, the view of the Committee is that the matter is notcapable of simplification by regarding any, or even all, the causessuggested and discussed below as being the main cause. In seeking toremedy the evil it must steadily be borne in mind that we have not onlyto deal with the immediately apparent causes. Letters to the press, letters to this Committee, and many of the submissions made reveal afailure to dig below the surface or to look beyond the factors whichcame immediately to the mind of the writers or those which, frompersonal experience, appeared to them to be the decisive or motivatingfactors. 

The way in which the Committee approached a consideration of thisproblem was to distinguish between those causes which appeared to be theprecipitating causes and those which it regarded as predisposing causes. The precipitating causes are those which are closely related in time orcircumstance to the actual misbehaviour. The predisposing causes arethose which create an emotional maladjustment in a person and thusinduce a susceptibility to the precipitating cause. For instance, asemi-nude figure or a song with a double meaning will not incite aproperly instructed adolescent to sexual misconduct. But if by parentalneglect or failure to control a young person is predisposed toanti-social conduct, there is danger in any form of suggestiveness. 

The Committee has carefully considered many suggested causes (whetherprecipitating or predisposing) and now sets out its views on those whichmerit special mention. 

If, as the Committee believes, immoral behaviour should be regarded as aphase or facet of juvenile delinquency, the same influences which tendto incite other anti-social behaviour are in operation here. 

Much has been written in textbooks, in journals, and in variousscattered articles about the causes of juvenile delinquency. Whatapplies in other communities, and in other aspects of juveniledelinquency, must apply with much the same force in this Dominion aselsewhere, and to the sexual deviant as to all other juveniledelinquents. In searching for the real or substantive cause it must beborne in mind that juvenile delinquency, of the type now beingconsidered, is a new feature of modern life and a facet of juveniledelinquency which does not appear to have engaged the attention ofresearch workers. 

The state of affairs which has come about was uncertain in origin, insidious in growth, and has developed over a wide field. In searchingfor the cause, and in suggesting the remedies which may be applied, theCommittee must not be thought to be laying the blame on any one sectionof the community more than another. 

_VII. Some Visual and Auditory Influences_

=(1) Objectionable Publications=

There has been a great wave of public indignation against somepaper-backed or "pulp" printed matter. Crime stories, tales of "intimateexciting romance", and so-called "comics" have all been blamed forexciting erotic feelings in children. The suggestiveness in the coverpictures of glamour girls dressed in a thin veiling often attracts moreattention than the pages inside. 

Immorality would probably not result from the distribution of thesepublications, unless there were in the child, awaiting expression, anunhealthy degree of sexual emotionalism. Some of these publications are, possibly, more harmful to girls than to boys in that girls more readilyidentify themselves with the chief characters. One striking piece ofinformation which was conveyed to the Committee was that the girls underdetention in a certain institution (the greater number of them had had agood deal of sexual experience) decided that various publications weremore harmful than films because the images conveyed by the printedmatter were personal to them and more lasting. 

The Committee has been deluged with periodicals, paper-backed books, and"comics" considered by their respective senders to be so harmful tochildren and adolescents that their sale should not be permitted. But, while all the publications sent are objectionable in varying degrees, they cannot be rejected under the law as it at present stands becausethat law relates only to things which are indecent or obscene. 

An Inter-departmental Committee set up in 1952 to report on worthlessand indecent literature similarly found that, while publicationsintended for adults are controlled by the Indecent Publications Act(which in the opinion of that Committee, was adequate providing thepublic initiated action under it), comics and other publications outsidethe scope of that Act might be objectionable for children. 

When considering comics it is essential to appreciate the differencebetween the traditional comic, intended exclusively for children, andthe more modern style which is basically designed for low-mentalityadults. Both styles and variations of them circulate widely in NewZealand among children and adolescents. In general, however, youngerchildren buy, and even prefer, the genuine comic which is not harmfuland may even be helpful. Adolescents, and adults also, are attracted bycomic books that have been denounced by various authorities asanti-educational, and even pernicious, in moral outlook. 

The Inter-departmental Committee recommended that all comics beregistered and that it be made an offence to deal in unregisteredcomics. There are strong doubts whether the adoption of those proposalswould provide a satisfactory solution. Once registration were obtained(which would be almost automatic on application) much damage might bedone by the distribution of a particular issue before registration couldbe cancelled. 

Surely a simpler, faster, and safer procedure would be to make initialregistration more difficult and subsequent deregistration more speedy. 

Amendments recently made to the laws of various Australian States shouldresult in a general improvement in the standard of publicationsdistributed in Australia, and consequently in New Zealand. On the otherhand, this tightening of the law may induce distributors to dump in NewZealand publications for which they have no longer a market inAustralia. 

A banning, rather than a censorship, of printed matter injurious tochildren should be the subject of immediate legislation for threereasons:

 (_a_) To prevent the Dominion being used as a market to offset any trade lost in some Australian States;

 (_b_) To encourage the efforts of those people who seek to lead children through good reading to better things; and

 (_c_) To let publishers know that the time has passed when publications likely to be injurious to the minds of children and adolescents may be distributed by them with impunity. 

In order to meet the situation, it would be desirable for the Governmentto promote special legislation along the lines of the Victorian PoliceOffences (Obscene Publications) Act 1954. 

The Victorian legislation is particularly effective since not only doesit widen the definition of "indecent" and "obscene", and enables thepolice themselves to institute proceedings for breaches of the Act, butit also compels all distributors to be registered. Then, should adistributor be convicted of an offence, he may be deregistered, and inthat case would be unable to distribute any other publication whatever. 

Despite frequent reference to distributors dumping objectionablepublications on a newsagent or bookseller, who has to accept the badbefore he can get the good, the Committee has not received any definiteevidence of this practice occurring in New Zealand. 

=(2) Films=

The cinema is the only field of entertainment in New Zealand whereofficial supervision in the interest of juveniles is exercised by apublic servant with statutory powers. The Government Film Censorinterprets his role chiefly as one of guiding parents. On occasions hebans a film; more often he makes cuts in films; most often he recommendsa restriction of attendance to certain age groups. The onus is then onparents to follow the censor's advice, on theatre managers to adhere tohis rulings, and on the Government to see that the law is enforced. 

It is not part of the censor's duty to see that his rulings areobserved. A survey taken in 1952 revealed that about one-quarter of allfilms advertised in the press were advertised with wrong certificates. Reliance upon such incorrect advertisements therefore deprived parentsof the protection which the legislature intended for them. 

Few prosecutions have ever been taken for such offences, and it is evendoubtful whether, if they were taken, convictions would be recorded. Some regulations (essential for this purpose) under the 1934 AmendmentAct have never been gazetted; nor have any under the 1953 amendment. 

Although the censor receives few specific complaints, and although filmdistributing and exhibiting interests state that they are complying withthe spirit of the unwritten law, the following undesirable practicesirritate a large section of the thinking public:

 _(a) Publication of Grossly Extravagant Posters and Newspaper Advertisements_ in which sex and sadism are often featured. The theatre managers concerned state most definitely that nothing more than genuine showmanship is behind this. 

 _(b) Screening of Inappropriate Trailers on Unsuitable Occasions:_ By their very nature, trailers are difficult to censor adequately and, because of their origin and intent, are designed to have an exaggerated impact upon audiences. Trailers of the worst type, however, are sometimes shown at special children's sessions. 

 _(c) Mixing "A" and "U" Certificate Films:_ In the words of the exhibitors, this is done "to obtain balanced programmes". 

 _(d) Admitting Children and Adolescents to Films With Restricted Certificates:_ It is difficult for theatre managers to determine the age of their patrons, and the warning notice of restricted attendance exhibited at the theatre may have little effect. Should the age be queried when entry is sought, an incorrect answer will probably be given. Worst of all, perhaps, should the presence of an accompanying adolescent or adult be required, there is always the danger of undesirable strangers taking the place of a _bona fide_ parent or friend. 

 _(e) Misbehaviour in Theatres:_ Once inside a darkened theatre, children, adolescents, and undesirable persons may behave improperly and the manager may have difficulty in exercising control. 

 * * * * *

Appropriate steps recommended are:

 (i) The gazetting of the outstanding regulations empowered by the 1934 and 1953 Amendment Acts. 

 (ii) The provision to the maximum extent possible of non-restricted or "U" programmes for children's sessions. 

 (iii) The drawing of the attention of parents, repeatedly, to the 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 andsuggestive love songs. If considered dispassionately by adults, most ofthese are merely trashy, but quite possibly, and particularly in timeslike the present, the words of a song, or the incidents of a serial, maymore readily give offence. Obviously, the New Zealand BroadcastingService can never please each individual listener, but, equallyobviously, it should seek to avoid giving any public offence. TheService seems conscious of its responsibilities and tries to make itsprogrammes generally suitable for family audiences; but it also aims toreflect the standards of its listeners, and some may feel that it shouldtry to raise those standards. 

Although the Service considers that it should never give the appearanceof dictating what listeners should, or should not, hear, it has its ownauditioning standards that should satisfy the morals of the mostparticular. Records must first conform with the very strict code of theBroadcasting Service, after which they are classified as suitable forchildren's sessions, for general sessions, or only for times whenchildren are assumed not to be listening. The Service can, and does, reject episodes from overseas features, and in doing so experiences nodifficulty with either overseas suppliers or local advertising sponsors. Restrictions on dollar purchases and the nonavailability of"sponsorable" programmes from the United Kingdom curtail theavailability of commercial features, and generally restrict them tothose produced in Australia. 

On the other hand, the Service points out that listeners have a widechoice of broadcast programmes, advertised well in advance, and itassumes that listeners will be selective in tuning in their sets, andrestrictive in not allowing their children to listen after 7 p. M. Whenprogrammes specially suited for them cease. This assumption, however, isnot well founded. Once switched on, the radio frequently stays on, andchildren are then allowed to continue listening far too long. Consequently, they not only lose part of their essential sleep, andsometimes even the mental state conducive to sleep, but they hear radioprogrammes not intended for them. 

Just when, how long, and how often, children, adolescents, and evenparents listen to the radio is something that has never been accuratelydetermined in New Zealand. It is well known that young children listenafter 7 p. M. And that adolescents listen until a very late hour, particularly on holidays, and for this last-named fact no allowance ismade when the programmes are being arranged. Adolescents listening tothe latest songs stimulate the demand for popular sheet music. It is thewords of those "hits" that form the chief target for criticismexpressed to this Committee. Popular songs are transitory in nature, andit is the tune, rather than the words, that makes an impression. 

Crime serials for the young, and the not so young, are another targetfor criticism, but provided that the Service is adamant in its rule that"crime must never pay" loss of sleep is, possibly, the most seriousconsequence of over-indulgence by child listeners. 

Some people claim that they can detect a definite pattern of suggestivesongs and unsuitable thrillers in the programmes. In times like thepresent the Service should critically re-examine its programmes in orderto remove any wrongful impression that might be created, either by a toofrequent repetition of items where sex and crime are prominent, or bythe possibility of a meaning being taken out of them which was notintended. 

The Broadcasting Service should similarly review its ideas aboutchildren's listening hours and rearrange its classified timesaccordingly. 

When crime serials are broadcast it should be made obvious that crimedoes not pay. 

A married woman might well be included on the auditioning panel. 

Even if the Service does all these things, the major responsibility willstill rest upon the parents, who should select their children'sprogrammes and see that their listening hours are reasonably restricted. 

=(4) Press Advertising=

An examination of advertisements in New Zealand newspapers during recentyears clearly shows how far the bounds of propriety have been extended. What was a generation ago considered improper is now generally acceptedas a subject for display. Advertisements, more and more based on sexattraction, horror, and crime, occupy a large and increasing proportionof all advertising. Because this trend is obviously objectionable to asection of the community, such advertising must partially fail in itsobject of attracting. In addition, this advertising may be harmful tothose juveniles and adolescents with whom this Committee is primarilyconcerned. Advertisers should, in their own interests, raise theirstandards--perhaps by establishing a voluntary Advisory Council similarto that in the United Kingdom. 

=(5) Television=

Although television is not yet available in New Zealand, itsintroduction is inevitable. Overseas reports of its effects on children, adolescents, and even adults indicate that plans to minimize any harmfuleffects in New Zealand should be made without delay. 

The arrival of another visual and auditory influence will add weight tothe suggestion made to the Committee that liaison should be establishedbetween all the various censoring authorities. 

 * * * * *

Objectionable publications, films, broadcasting, and television havebeen the subject of expert appraisal in many countries. The Committeehas made its recommendations in this section of the report fully awarethat many authorities can describe these matters as no more thansecondary influences in the causation of juvenile delinquency. 

To what degree these things are directly causative no one can say. Theirinfluence is imponderable. But whatever their influence, the Committeeis firmly of the opinion that practical measures to control what isoffensive to many would be an indication of a renewed concern for themoral welfare of young people. The result would be the replacement ofundesirable material with something much better. 

_VIII. The School_

=(1) Teacher and the Child=

For several reasons, there has been a change in the relationship thatused to exist between teacher and child. Earlier the teacher lived in, and was part of, the community and so knew something of local conditionsand the tensions of his pupils' lives. This gave him a more intimateknowledge and sympathetic understanding of a child's difficulties. 

Today in the cities, and particularly in the quickly growing urbanareas, there are different conditions. Schools are new and big, withouta tradition of long community service; teachers have difficulty infinding accommodation in the district from which their pupils come; tomeet the shortage of permanent staff many partially trained persons haveto be used as relieving teachers; even qualified teachers have to movefrequently to meet promotion requirements. 

As a result the knowledge that once came to a teacher from sharing thesame environment as the child has now to be acquired in some other wayand, probably, from within the school. This knowledge is of greatimportance in diagnosing maladjustments that might lead to delinquency. 

In primary schools the situation is met by the establishment of asystem of visiting teachers who can investigate the circumstances of aproblem child. Perhaps of greater importance, the presence of visitingteachers reminds class teachers that children have difficulties out ofschool. 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 post-primary schools there is at present no official system oflinking the home and school in the investigation of problems. Traditionally the headmaster has done this, but with the increase in thesize and complexity of schools he has now too little time for this work. 

Post-primary principals, in their evidence, appeared worried by theproblems of conduct arising from the inability of pupils to leave schooluntil they have reached fifteen years of age. It has already been shownthat the pattern of juvenile delinquency which is the subject of thisinvestigation is found particularly in this age group. 

It therefore seems desirable that some help should be given topost-primary schools. The Committee makes no specific recommendation[2]how this should be done, although it is emphatically of the opinion thatthere is a need for this help, and that the personality of those doingthe work is of more importance than the question as to whichorganization should control them. 

This is only the immediate step. Everything possible should be done torestore the community bond between teacher, parent, and child--by thestabilizing of the teaching service, by the provision of houses forteachers in newly developed areas, and by continuing the effort toincrease the number of women in the service. 

=(2) Co-education=

At the hearing of the immorality charges in the Court at Lower Hutt theprosecuting officer attributed the delinquency, in part, to theassociation of boys and girls in co-educational schools. This directedthe attention of the Committee to the effect on morality of thepropinquity of the sexes in schools. 

There seemed to be no disagreement on the question of educating boys andgirls of primary-school age together. The desirability of co-educationat the post-primary school level, however, was frequently disputed. Manyopinions were heard, for and against. 

The Committee was not concerned with the relative values of thedifferent types of school, except in so far as they had an effect onjuvenile delinquency. 

Statements were made that co-educational schools did, in fact, increasethe chances of immorality, but although the Committee investigated thesecharges it could not find that acts of immorality among pupils did infact arise from their association at school. 

There was evidence that one girl had incited seven boys to sexualmisbehaviour on the way home from a co-educational school. Thoroughinvestigation proved to the Committee that the group came from the sameneighbourhood and had become known to one another from their home andstreet association. Acts of indecency had occurred long before they wentto the post-primary school. 

Senior pupils of an intermediate school were concerned in depravity, both heterosexual and homosexual. The trouble probably spread throughthe acquaintanceships made at school, but in all cases the history ofthe instigators, in intelligence and environment, showed either thatthey were already concerned in immoral acts outside the school or thatthey had home circumstances conducive to delinquency. 

In many of the cases that were brought to the notice of the Committeethe name of the school was associated with the offender, even althoughthe offences did not occur within the school or arise from it. Thislinking of the school with the offender is unfortunate, as it isunsettling to the other pupils of the school and disturbing to theparents 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 fromattendance at school in cases where the Senior Inspector of Schools inany district certifies that a child of 14 who has completed the work ofForm II is not likely to derive any appreciable benefit from thefacilities available at a convenient school or the CorrespondenceSchool. 

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 wouldwelcome a closer liaison, by regulation, with the Child WelfareDivision. A high degree of co-operation already exists in some places, but it depends on the personalities of the people concerned and is notgeneral. 

With a full realization of the desirability of secrecy in the affairs ofa delinquent child, but also with the knowledge that the principal of aschool should know as much as possible of his pupils, and in most caseshas known them longer, and in conditions of less tension than the ChildWelfare 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 aregiven elsewhere in the report. Here it is emphasized that, apart fromthe biological aspect as a part of nature study in the primary schoolsand general science in the post-primary schools, the school in generalis not the place for class instruction in sex matters. 

Incidental features of sex hygiene will arise naturally from physicaleducation and can be adequately treated there. 

It is felt that the teaching of the fuller aspects of the sex relationbetween men and women requires an emotional link between the teacher andthe taught, and it should not be looked on as a duty of the school toforge this link. But where ignorance persists, through the failure ofthe natural agencies, the school should try, if a suitable person isavailable on the staff, or by the employment of a specialist, to remedythe omission. 

=(6) "New Education"=

Several witnesses have claimed that the philosophy underlying the NewZealand education system is a predisposing cause of sexual delinquency, but in the absence of direct evidence, which is obviously difficult toobtain, such claims can only be an expression of personal opinion. Similarly, the terms "play way" and "free expression" have been quotedto show that traditional external disciplines have given way to aconcentration on the development of the personality of the child--adevelopment which could lead to licence. But as there are not sufficientcomparative figures available for New Zealand, and as reports fromoverseas suggest that the pattern of immorality is a world-wide one, theCommittee is unable to reach a conclusion on this matter. 

It does, however, feel justified in suggesting that nothing but benefitcould come from representatives of the Department of Education attendingmeetings of Parent-Teacher and Home-and-School Associations to enableresponsible and interested parents to obtain a clearer understanding ofmodern educational aims before expressing their views. 

_IX. Community Influences_

In an examination of the factors which promote juvenile delinquencyspecial attention must be given to the type of community in whichchildren grow up. The more normal and well balanced a community is, thegreater are the child's chances of developing a well-balancedpersonality. The teaching at school may be good, the home trainingsatisfactory, but these good influences may be upset by defects in theneighbourhood. When the atmosphere of home or school is unsatisfactory, the chances of normal healthy development are made progressively worsefor any child whose community environment is also poor. 

=(1) Housing Development=

In New Zealand there are a number of communities which have grownquickly and have become unbalanced. No one doubts the urgent need thatthere has been for houses to accommodate a rapidly expanding population. On the other hand, in the light of experience, it is considered thatwise planning in the future could avoid some of the disadvantages whichhave become evident in these areas. These disadvantages are:

_(a) Fewer Adults_

Large-scale housing is primarily for married people with growingfamilies. Eventually the number of young people is much greater than thenumber of adults. There is a pronounced difference between a settlementof mushroom growth and one that has developed gradually with largefamily homes and smaller homes, grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and children. 

In order to illustrate the disparity between the adult and juvenilepopulation in all such areas the Committee obtained from the EducationDepartment a statement of the primary and secondary school children inWellington and the Hutt Valley as at 30 August 1954:

 _Wellington Hutt_Pupils at primary public and private schools 15, 300 12, 250Pupils 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 attendschools in Wellington are situated outside the ordinary confines of thecity; many of the children are resident in the Hutt Valley. Forinstance, 250-300 of the girls at Wellington College come to thatcollege from the Hutt, and many more children from outside the cityattend other city schools. The exact total is not readily assessable, but it is known to be considerable. On the other hand, it is not thoughtthat the rolls of Hutt schools are increased by the attendance of pupilsfrom outside that district. 

Another statement shows that in Wellington city 70. 4 per cent of thetotal population are adults, whereas in the Hutt only 60. 1 per cent areadults. 

If that abnormal distribution of population is a causative factor injuvenile delinquency, the situation will have to be carefully watchedbecause:

 (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 comesfrom an ability to make one's own choice of dwelling. A newly-marriedcouple prefers one district or one suburb to another, either becausetheir relatives or friends are there, because it is handy to thehusband's work, because of "the view", or for similar reasons. The housethey build or buy or rent was the house of their choice. In that waythey develop pride of ownership or of possession. They join such of thelocal churches, societies, and clubs as already exist, and themselvesorganize and support other agencies of community value. 

In quickly settled housing areas this community spirit has not yet hadtime to develop. The people have not chosen to live there: a house hasbeen "allotted" to them. With a feeling of relief that their immediateproblem is solved, they move in; but they soon find themselves in anarea without any established traditions or the buildings associated withthose traditions. Churches, schools, halls, and monuments are entirelynon-existent or very new. The areas left for sports grounds, parks, andreserves are still largely undeveloped. The occupants of the new houseshave not the financial capacity to provide these things, and there areseldom any private benefactors, because there is not a stratum ofwealthy people in or near these settlements who might be benevolentlyinclined to help the district where they reside. The help which the newresidents can give, or obtain from the State, churches, or otherorganizations to provide a community fellowship, must fall far short ofwhat is usually obtainable in areas which grow up normally andnaturally. 

_(c) Overcrowding of Houses_

Houses in the new areas are often found too small as the boys and girlsgrow up. The result is streets of overcrowded homes unsuitable forfamily life. The tendency for the young people to seek their pleasuresaway from their home and district is therefore greater than it is inmature communities. 

_(d) Tendency to Form Groups or Gangs_

Where a large number of children live near one another, and many of themare left by their parents to their own devices, the formation of groupsor gangs is inevitable. Some of these children are not moulded into theactivities of churches or other helpful organizations. They simplycoalesce by the accident of their circumstances, and make their own fun, in which, unfortunately, the influence for good of the better among themis often outweighed by the misbehaviour and dangerous propensities ofothers. 

_(e) Emotional and Mental Factors_

New housing areas tend to be populated by a large proportion of thosepeople whose outlook on life has been affected by disturbances in theirearly married years. Marrying during, or soon after, the Second WorldWar, they were obliged to live in small apartments or transit camps andwere thereby unable to live the normal life of a married couple. Eitherbecause of this, or because of conditions existing in the housing areas, there does not seem to be the same group willingness to improve theirconditions as is seen in older communities. Indeed, individual casesshow a virtual lack of self-reliance. 

There is the further factor that when the breadwinner has to travel along distance to work he is not able to spend as much time with hisfamily 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 resourcesand enthusiasm, all the amenities normal in an established settlement. Necessarily, these must be added one by one, and in the meantime theresidents have to participate in a restricted range of activities. 

 * * * * *

All the above matters show how difficult it is to expect a communityspirit in any area which is just an aggregation of houses. Many yearsmust pass before there can be anything like a desirable balance ofcommunity interests in such an area. Juvenile delinquency in new housingsettlements might conceivably be reduced, if, in future, State houseswere not erected in extensive blocks, but were built in such smallernumbers as could be more easily integrated into existing communities ofpeople. 

=(2) Recreation and Entertainment=

As in other forms of delinquency, the recent outbreak of immorality or, more correctly, the revealed evidence of it has directed the minds ofmany to an assumed dearth of organized recreation and entertainment. Such a thought more easily rises to the mind when it is known that manycases have occurred in new settlements where the building of Statehouses has gone far ahead of the ability of the community to arrange forthe provision of playing fields, halls, and clubs. 

Further, those who have special ideas of the importance of hobbies, petanimals, square dancing, and things of that sort have been active inurging upon the Committee that greater attention should be given to suchmatters as possible ways of alleviating the trouble. 

It is true that a child who joins sporting and other clubs, or has itsmind directed towards hobbies or other interests, is less likely tobecome a delinquent than one whose thoughts are not similarly occupied. But it is wrong to assume that the present trouble can be cured by theextension or encouragement of such activities. The reason is that thepre-delinquent is not attracted by such forms of recreation or healthypleasure. If he is persuaded to join a club or society, he may soon makesuch a nuisance of himself that the leader will be obliged, for the goodof the club, to rebuke him or warn him that he will not be allowed toattend in future unless he behaves. The pre-delinquent, therefore, either does not join, or else soon leaves, a club where he cannot feelhappy. He is inclined toward a friendship with somebody else whosenature is compatible with his own. From this companionship a group ofwayward children may be formed. They incite one another; they conspiretogether; they attract the attention of others; the group may become agang. From the pairs, the group, or the gang, mischief or immoralitysoon begins, while all around there are many clubs and societiessuitable and available for them. 

Furthermore, single-sex clubs will not provide the answer for those whodesire the companionship of the other sex. In our society, boys andgirls must meet socially. It is part of the growing-up process and, ifsupervised carefully and unobtrusively[4], the mixing of boys and girlscan be very advantageous. 

From the evidence given by witnesses, the following four points emerge:

 (_a_) The school today provides so many interests and activities that the time of the pupil is fully occupied. Since it is essential to retain the family group as much as possible, in general, children should not be encouraged to go out excessively on week nights. The competition of organizations for good school children as leaders can become unsettling to the young. 

 (_b_) Adolescents who have left school provide a field in which club organizations are able to provide interests and activities for those who have left the directed conditions of school life and are entering on the freedom of adulthood. Many of these activities will be for both sexes and their success depends upon trained leadership. 

 (_c_) There is much advantage in having the clubs and organizations within a community locally co-ordinated. Over lapping can be avoided, facilities are more easily provided, and the opportunity is given to youth to share in the interests and efforts of the adult community. 

 (_d_) The Committee warmly commends the work of all those societies and clubs which have been active in promoting the well-being of young people. Chief among the difficulties faced by these character-building organizations which have made representations to the Committee is the lack of trained leadership. Their appeal is for more leaders and for some means by which these leaders may be trained. 

 But however desirable and commendable all these services to youth are, and even allowing for the fact that without them some children might slip into bad ways, their further development will not provide the cure. Indeed, much of the immorality which has occurred has been among children who have had the fullest opportunity for healthy sport and recreation. 

=(3) Liquor and Gambling=

It was strongly urged by religious and benevolent organizations, andalso by many private people, that juvenile delinquency could beattributed in part to the effects of drinking and betting. 

The Committee realizes that drinking and gambling to excess may well besymptomatic[5] of the type of home where there is child neglect. Thereis no need to stress the obvious. But the matter does not rest there. Much danger is inherent in the view that no social occasion is completewithout liquor. It has come to the notice of the Committee that manyparents are conniving at the practice of having liquor at adolescentparties. Such parents are being unfair to young people, and theCommittee considers that if right-thinking parents took a firm stand inthis matter a sound lead would be given to the community as a whole. 

_X. The Home Environment_

=(1) Feelings of Insecurity: The Unloved Child=

A harmonious emotional development during childhood is one of the mostimportant factors influencing human behaviour. Any child who feelsunloved, unwanted, or jealous of the care and attention given to othermembers of the household suffers from a feeling of insecurity. Thisfeeling of insecurity renders the child more susceptible to influencesleading to delinquency. 

The mother's attitude to the child is of prime importance. There is apsychological link between mother and child from the very moment ofbirth--a link that can be substantially strengthened by breast feedingas far as it is practicable. The attitude of the mother to the child, even before birth, may well have a marked effect upon the child's senseof security. If pregnancy was not welcomed by the mother, her child maycome into the world under a distinct handicap, that of being an unwantedchild. Subsequent adjustment may not be as satisfactory as she imaginesit to be. 

There is often, however, a vast difference between the parents' love ofa child and the child's subsequent idea of being loved. The love thatevery child needs is affection combined with wisdom--a wisdom that willshow itself in a watchful concern for the child's well-being throughoutchildhood to late adolescence. It can be summed up as the kind of lovefound in a warm family life where all the members--father, mother, andchildren--are in a proper relationship the one to the other. Thisrelationship is mere difficult to obtain where the child was unwanted orwhere one parent becomes unwilling to share with the child the lovewhich he or she formerly alone received from the other parent. 

A child living in an abnormal family environment, whether thatabnormality arises from the birth of the child or the maladjustedpersonality of a parent, is the type of child which may later seekcompensation in irregular sexual behaviour. But the child who, duringits early years, lives in an environment where it feels secure, loved, and accepted is not likely to become a deviant. 

Evidence has been presented to the Committee of many cases ofdelinquency which may fairly be traced to one of the following causes:

 _(a) Emotional Disturbances_ that have arisen out of a divorce, separation, or remarriage. An emotional upset may arise from a home that is broken by a divorce or separation or, equally important, from a home in which tension follows discord between the parents. 

 _(b) Poor Discipline_ arising out of a parental notion that love for the child can be shown by gifts in money or kind, or by allowing the child to do what it wants to do. Many of the parents of delinquent children are in that category of people who have been far too indulgent with their children and have been unable to say 'No'. It is a big mistake to suppose that the respect and love of a child will be lost by firm, kindly guidance. The Committee has evidence that a large group of delinquents detained in an institution attributed their situation to the failure of their parents to be firm with them in early life. 

 _(c) Lack of Training for Parenthood:_ It was somewhat alarming to find that many parents have found the responsibilities of home life too much for them. They had entered into matrimony without having had their attention drawn to the ways in which a home can, and should, be managed. 

 The duties which one spouse legally owes to the other are fairly well known. Thanks particularly to the efforts of the Plunket Society, great help is available in the rearing and management of babies. But there is a big gap in the knowledge of the art of home-making possessed by many parents. Much of that gap has been filled in by the school, the church, and various youth organizations, but the more these outside agencies do the less inclined are some parents to shoulder their own personal responsibilities. The home should be the place in which all these activities are co-ordinated: they should supplement home training and not subtract from it. 

 _(d) Lack of Responsibility:_ There was no need for anybody to stress this factor before the Committee--it stood out as a matter of grave concern. Many of the parents of children affected by recent happenings throughout the Dominion showed a deplorable lack of concern for their responsibilities not only to their own children, but to the associates of their children. It is one thing to trust a youth; it is quite another thing for parents to go away for a day of golf or to spend their week-ends away from home leaving the boy to his own devices. It is one thing for Mrs A to give her daughter permission to stay the week-end with Mrs B's daughter, and for Mrs B, to give permission for her daughter to stay the same week-end with Mrs A's daughter. It is quite another thing when neither Mrs A nor Mrs B shows that interest in their daughter which would prevent their being shocked on finding from the police weeks later that the week-end was spent with other adolescents in the house of Mr and Mrs X, while those parents in turn had trusted their son. A simple inquiry by the parents of A, B, or X during or after the week-end could not be resented, and, indeed, children would respect their parents more if such an inquiry were made. 

 Of lesser import, but still indicative of a lack of awareness of responsibility, is the attitude of parents who give money to their children to go to the pictures in order to get them out of the way without even bothering to look at the programme to see if it is a suitable one for children. 

 Admittedly, parenthood, if it is not to end in disaster or the fear of disaster, is a great responsibility. It involves a continual struggle against harmful influences from outside. It demands also parental interest in the activities of the children and sometimes a measure of self-denial for the children's sake. Wisdom and experience combine in suggesting to all parents that they should guide their children, and not be governed by them. 

 Those who read this report might usefully ponder the question whether the ever-increasing way in which responsibilities in character building are being assumed by schools, libraries, clubs, and many other organizations has not made parents less heedful of their own personal responsibilities for the training of their children. 

 While the Committee realizes that the care shown by some parents for their children has proved to be inadequate, there are many parents who are examples of what parents ought to be. Above all, the Committee wishes to stress that parents should not suffer from feelings of inadequacy owing to a spate of modern knowledge often expressed in semi-technical terms. Parents should enjoy their children, and this enjoyment will lead to increasing co-operation within the family. 

=(2) Absent Mothers and Fathers=

Many persons have expressed the opinion that sexual immorality amongyoung people arises, in part, from the fact that mothers are frequentlyabsent from their homes at times when their children need their care andguidance. 

Mothers who leave children to their own devices are in three categories:

 (_a_) Nearly one-third of the delinquent children whose cases were considered by the Committee belonged to homes where the mother worked for wages. Another survey showed that, in a closely populated area, 25 per cent of the mothers of pupils of a post-primary school went out to work. Some mothers may need to work; but many of them work in order to provide a higher standard of living than can be enjoyed on the wages earned by their husbands, or because they prefer the company at an office, shop, or factory to the routine of domestic duties. 

 (_b_) The second category comprises those wives and mothers who extend their social, and even their public, activities beyond the hour at which they should be home to welcome their children on return from school. Happy and desirable is the home where the children burst in expectantly or full of news concerning something that interests them!

 (_c_) The third category of absentee mothers consists of those who give their children money to go to the pictures, while they themselves go to golf, or to a football match, or pay a visit to friends. 

When dealing with this kind of thoughtlessness it should be pointed outthat fathers are not free from blame. As breadwinners they havenecessarily to be away from home throughout the day, but they haveopportunities in the evenings and at week-ends to identify themselveswith their children's interests and activities. 

A satisfactory home life can be attained only by the co-operation ofboth parents in the upbringing of their children. 

=(3) High Wages=

In striking contrast to the contention that the cost of living is sohigh that mothers are obliged to work is the complaint that many youngpeople have too much money. This applies both to school children and toboys and girls who have commenced working. 

It cannot be denied that many children have too much spending money, andthat others show too great a desire to have it. 

It is also a well-known fact that many children are not content to donormal tasks at home when they are able to obtain good pocket money bydoing odd jobs for others. 

The starting wage for adolescents is often somewhat high, and thrift isnot practised by them. A few years hence, these adolescents may be inthe ranks of those who complain of their inability to obtain homes. Thishas prompted people to urge that a compulsory savings scheme should beinstituted to guard young people from the evils of misspent leisure andto develop in them that sense of reliability which is so often lacking. 

There is certainly something wrong when mothers work to increase theincome of the household while youths, who may be paid nearly as much asparents with family responsibilities, spend their earnings on expensiveluxuries. 

If juvenile delinquents were admitted to probation instead of beingadmonished or placed under supervision, it might be practicable for theCourts, in suitable cases to make it a condition of probation that theoffender paid a portion of his earnings into a compulsory savingsscheme. Even if such a procedure could be devised it would apply only tothose who have become delinquents when the major consideration should begiven to the problem of the pre-delinquents. This is a matter to beconsidered further in Section XVI of this report. 

_XI. Information on Sex Matters_

For many years the expression "sex instruction" has been used andunderstood by most people. The Committee makes clear its appreciation ofthe fact that the term is inadequate as not indicating that the sexualrelations of man and woman should be a harmonious blend of the physicaland the spiritual. Many parents of children will agree that theythemselves obtained only a knowledge of the mechanical aspects of sexfrom school companions. Even this information was often gleaned fromundesirable conversations. Such parents wish that their children shouldreceive this knowledge in a totally different fashion. 

The terms "sex instruction" and "sex knowledge" are employed here forother terms are not yet in common usage. 

In some of the cases investigated by the police the children concernedappear to have been very ignorant of the rudimentary facts of thesubject. In other cases they showed knowledge far in advance of whatwould be expected. This advanced knowledge was, however, only in respectof isolated portions of the subject. 

The striking contrast between ignorant and precocious children confirmsthe view that a statement is required as to when the information shouldbe given, who should give it, and what should be its source. 

=(1) When Should This Information be Given?=

The best time to give any information is when a child asks a question. The simple answer giving no more than is necessary is the desirable one. The question "Mummy, where do babies come from"? should not involve adissertation on sex. If this method of approach is clearly understood, the parent need never be worried about the time to impart information. 

=(2) Who Should Give This Information?=

As children show varying degrees of curiosity concerning the subject atvarying ages, the initial information should not be given as part ofschool instruction, but should come from a parent or parent-substitute. 

Since parents are obviously those best suited for imparting thisknowledge, why do they so frequently fail to carry out this duty--afailure that is not restricted to any intellectual or economic group?

First, there is a sense of guilt in parents concerning sexual relations, born out of their own unfortunate initiation into a knowledge of asubject discussion of which was generally frowned upon in their youngdays. 

Secondly, there is a real difficulty. As the sex organs are also thechannels for the elimination of waste, exaggerated modesty often hindersdiscussion. 

Thirdly, there is often a genuine ignorance on the part of parentsconcerning what to say in answer to the natural questions of a child andwhat terms to use in reply--terms that will be neither embarrassing tothe parent nor unintelligible to the child. 

Fourthly, many parents are not convinced of the necessity for anyspecial action by them. They feel that, as the child grows, it willassimilate this knowledge, but they do not give consideration to thesource from which the knowledge may be obtained, or the manner in whichit will be imparted. 

=(3)The Source of Information=

There is a need for reliable sources of knowledge for the parents. Suitable literature with a matter-of-fact approach that may yet includethe spiritual factor will remove self consciousness. An indirectapproach is not helpful. Specimen conversations between parent and childcan be readily adapted for any family. 

Not all available literature on this subject is of equal quality. Several religious organizations already have publications suitable forthe members of their respective denominations. The Committee is alsoinformed that the Federation of Parent-Teacher and Home and SchoolAssociations, in conjunction with several experts, is now in the courseof publishing pamphlets suited to different age groups. 

The barrier between parent and child can be lifted by meetings wheretalks are given and films shown. Heads of schools, in conjunction withParent-Teachers' Associations could invite, on separate occasions, mothers with their daughters, fathers with their sons, or both parentstogether. The special value of such gatherings would be to enable thosewith adolescent children to do what they regret having avoided doing inearlier years. 

It will be argued that, whatever is done to help parents, there willstill be a proportion likely to baulk at giving the information. Somemay even remain indifferent. There could be no objection to someunaccompanied girls or boys attending the meetings for parents andchildren. The Committee states its views on sex instruction in schoolselsewhere in the report. It is stressed here that sex instruction givenin the absence of the parents may well increase the number of parentswho neglect what should be a jealously guarded privilege. 

In conclusion, parents should remember that, even though adolescents mayappear to possess a great deal of knowledge, it may be factuallyinaccurate and, above all, may require putting into correct perspective. This applies particularly to the older adolescents who have beeninvolved in criminal charges. That group may have practical experienceof the mechanics of sex; what they require is a more wholesome outlookon the intimate relations of man and woman. 

_XII. The Influence of Religion on Morality_

A common element in many of the statements made to the Committee is adesire for a better spiritual basis in our society on which a sound codeof morals may be built. 

=(1) The Need for a Religious Faith=

The consensus of opinion before the Committee is that there is a lack ofspiritual values in the community. This is not merely because themajority of people do not go to church, but because of the generaltemper of society and standards of morality. Most people would affirmsome sort of belief in God, but are unable to relate it to their dailylives. 

It may be a matter of argument that morality is dependent on religion, but the structure of western society and our codes of behaviour have, infact, been based upon the Christian faith. If this faith is notgenerally accepted, the standard of conduct associated with it mustdeteriorate. 

Signs are not lacking that people are turning away from a purelymaterialistic conception of life, and seeking a more spiritual basis forconduct. 

The recent disclosures in the Hutt Valley indicate a largely nominalchurch affiliation in most of the cases under review. Although it wasstated that thirty-six per cent of the offenders attended church orSunday School regularly, and that sixty-four per cent had never attendedor had ceased to attend, closer examination of the individual caseswould be required before any deduction could be drawn from the figuresgiven to the Committee. It is, however, safe to assume that there waslittle religious teaching; and it is unfortunately true that there was afailure to observe moral standards. The acceptance of the Christianposition cannot fail to promote good conduct in all fields including therelationship between the sexes. 

=(2) The Need for Religious Instruction=

The Committee considers that the Nelson system of religious teaching inschools should be encouraged and developed. In so far as the basicphilosophy of education in New Zealand may not be religious, theCommittee notes that a conference between the Department of Educationand the New Zealand Council for Christian Education is being arranged. 

Church activities among youth affected were criticized on the groundsthat they appealed only to the "good boys and girls", or to those whoalready belong to a church. This situation presents a challenge whichneeds to be met, and it will demand, in particular, a consideration ofhow young people are to be encouraged to spend their time on Sundays. 

=(3) The Need for Family Religion=

As family life is vital in this inquiry something must be said aboutreligion in the home. It is clear that, other things being equal, a homewith a real religious atmosphere is a good safeguard against immorality, and a sound background for moral teaching, particularly for thedevelopment of knowledge about sex. 

The practice of family religion is to be strongly endorsed. 

_XIII. The Family, Religion, and Morality_

=(1) The Importance of the Family=

From all that has been above written it will be seen that there is notany one cause of the sexual delinquency among children which hasprovoked this inquiry. There are many predisposing and precipitatingcauses. If there be any common denominator in the majority of casesstudied by the Committee it is lack of appreciation by parents of theirpersonal responsibility for the upbringing and behaviour of theirchildren or, if they do appreciate their responsibility, they are unableto guide them correctly and to maintain control of them. This finding isin harmony with the current of public opinion expressed in thestatements that "it all comes back to the parents" or "the parents areto blame". That much cannot be gainsaid. 

But what is the root cause of this failure or inability on the part ofpresent-day parents? This is an aspect of its assignment to which theCommittee has paid great attention. 

It should be made quite plain that the Committee does not subscribe tothe view that the sexual immorality which has recently been brought tonotice is entirely of the pattern which prevailed in former generations. Nor can the Committee be content with platitudinous recommendations asto how this immorality among young persons may be kept in check withinthe existing processes of the law. It is the view of the Committee thatduring the past few decades there have been changes in certain aspectsof family life throughout the English-speaking world leading to adecline in morality as it has generally been understood. A remedy mustbe found before this decline leads to the decay of the family itself asthe centre and core of our national life and culture. 

=(2) The Place of the Family in the Legal System=

The emphasis which the Committee places upon this section of its reportcalls for a statement of the place of the family in English law. 

The family (meaning thereby the father, mother, and children) from timeimmemorial has had a definite and recognized status in our nationallife--a place which it has not always occupied or enjoyed in othercultures and other systems of law. There is in our culture an air ofsanctity about the home where parents and children dwell. The rights ofa parent against any intrusion into his family affairs have beenexpressed in such statements as "A man's house is his castle". 

Our law of domestic relations centres upon the home. When theLegislature or the law-courts have interfered in the conduct of a homeit has only been because one member of the family has failed todischarge the duties which an individual is required to perform towardsother members of the family or towards society. Speaking generally, therights and duties of individual members of the family have beenpreserved and enforced in our statute law. Illustrations are to be foundin the Infants Act, the Destitute Persons Act, the Child Welfare Act, the Family Protection Act, and the Joint Family Homes Act. 

The policy of English law is, and always has been, to keep the familytogether and to uphold the rights of parents. Those rights havecorrelative duties attaching to them. It is the failure of some parentsto perform those duties which has now become a matter of grave concern. 

The irony of the situation is that this slipping of parentalresponsibility has occurred contemporaneously with the granting offinancial and other help to parents. Family allowances and State homesshould be concomitants of an increased sense of responsibility. Despiteall that the State has done, and is doing, for families, the moralstandards of the community have somehow been undermined. Is this becauseof a general lowering of the moral standards of adults? Is the attitudeof children towards sexual matters a direct reflection of the thoughtsand conduct of their elders? To borrow the words of a Jewish proverb"the apple never falls far from the tree". It has been firmly urged uponthe Committee that there has been a "breakdown of the moral order andmoral standards". That may be putting the matter too strongly, but therecan be no denying the fact that the sanctions of morality today are notas strong as they were, say, forty or fifty years ago. 

=(3) The Sanctions of Religion and Morality in Family Life=

Up till early in this century the chief sanctions operating in societywere those dictated either by religion or by wisdom and past experience, i. E. , religious sanctions and moral sanctions. The standard of religiousmorality is that which is prescribed in the Bible, interpreted perhapsin different ways by different denominations at different times. Thestandard of conventional morality is that which has been handed downfrom generation to generation. There have at times been differencesbetween the religious standard and the conventional standard. Forinstance, the Church has always reprobated adultery, but even as late asthe nineteenth century society accepted, without very much concern, theconduct of a man who had both a legal wife and a mistress. Despite thoseoccasional differences between the religious standard and theconventional standard, our system of morals has been based on thestandards of Christianity. 

=(4) The Moral Drift=

During last century it was strongly urged by some scientists that areligion based on faith was untenable. Man, it was contended, shouldaccept only what could be proved by reasoning from observed facts. Onceagain there emerged, particularly in scientific and literary circles, the belief that there could be a code of morals entirely devoid ofreligious content. 

This intellectual standpoint helped to undermine the authority of thechurches. The views of the scientists were not the cause of, butundoubtedly did accelerate, the drift from organized religion. 

There is evidence of the effects of beliefs developed during the presentcentury in another field of learning, that of psychology. On the onehand, it is held that there was in former days suppression of thenatural development of human personality and, on the other, that a greatdeal of misery has been caused by feelings of guilt. Ill health, evenmental illness, has been attributed to these two factors. 

Between the two world wars much of the material of the new psychologistsbegan to drift into circulation in so-called popular editions. Doubtlessmuch of the writing was from reputable sources, but the new views, goodin origin, began to suffer as had religious faith in the past from poorexponents. 

A desire for scientific accuracy is understandable, a wish to understandthe working of the human mind wholly commendable, but many people whoseloose behaviour was instinctive, rather than inspired, now hadapologists for their conduct. The moral drift had become moral chaos. 

_XIV. Changing Times and Concepts_

Since the beginning of the twentieth century the undermentioned aspectsof a changed social order have become evident. It is not within theprovince of this Committee to make an appraisal of the tenets implicitin any of them. Ecclesiastics may preach against the sins involved;opposition may arise to the philosophy of education; commercial andprofessional interests may inveigh against the inroads of the State, butthis Committee is concerned only in their effects on the sexualbehaviour of young people whose habits and characters are beingaffected. It is now necessary to examine them. 

=(1) Contraceptives=

Perhaps the first major shock to "respectable" society regarding sex waswhen it became known, soon after the beginning of the First World War, that the Army authorities were distributing "condoms" to troops about togo on leave. Probably this was the first recognition by the New ZealandGovernment of contraceptives. This decision by the Army was accepted bysociety, not without misgivings, on the basis that it was much moreimportant to guard against the spread of venereal disease than toendeavour to enforce continence among the troops. Society was obliged tochoose between two evils, and it chose what it regarded as the lesser. Contraceptives thereafter came into common use, are now purchased by amajority of married couples, and by many unmarried persons. Theiracceptance by the married has posed some problems which have requiredthe attention of the Courts in England. It was not foreseen, when theycame into use, that questions would arise as to the validity of certainmarriages where one party used contraceptives to avoid having children. 

The Committee has found a strong public demand that contraceptivesshould not be allowed to get into the hands of children and adolescents. Whatever views may be held concerning the use of contraceptives by olderpeople (married or unmarried) no responsible father or mother wouldcountenance their possession by their young sons and daughters. 

The Committee is unanimous that adolescents should not buy or havecontraceptives in their possession. 

=(2) The Broadening of the Divorce Laws=

The subject of divorce was very fully discussed in the Houses ofParliament in England, in New Zealand, and elsewhere after the FirstWorld War. 

If parents are unable to live happy lives together or to becomereconciled after differences have arisen, the interests of the childrenmay be improved, or may be worsened, by a legal separation or a divorce. Tension in the home may be just as big a factor in the causation ofdelinquency as a divorce or separation of the spouses. 

Juvenile delinquency in all its forms is frequently associated withhomes where the marriage is broken either by a divorce, separation, ordiscord. It is not so much the separation as the tension which precedesand succeeds it that results in children getting out of control. 

The matter is noted here solely because, if parents cannot agreetogether, they are less likely to discharge their duties to theirchildren. Greater is the responsibility which rests upon them in theseunhappy circumstances. If parents are unwilling to shoulder the extraburden caused by the break-down of their marriage, some action by theState may be required if it seems likely that children may suffer. 

=(3) Pre-marital Relations=

One aspect of the moral drift is the number of people who entertain thenebulous idea that it is somehow not wrong to have pre-marital relationsor to live together as man and wife without marriage. 

Such a view is opposed to all the ideas of chastity which are inherentin our morality. Apart from that, an irregular sex relationship may bepsychologically[6] disadvantageous. 

However much adults may desire a good moral standard to be observed bychildren and adolescents, they have no right to expect it unless theyconform to proper moral standards themselves. 

=(4) "Self-expression" in Children=

Early in this century psychologists said that the repressive influencesof early discipline were stultifying to the development of the child. They advocated that the child's personality would mature better ifuninhibited. This has been interpreted by many people to mean that youshould not use corrective measures in the upbringing of children andthat their natural impulses must not be suppressed. Some of these peoplehave even thought it wrong to say "No" to a child. 

People brought up in this way have now become parents. It is difficultfor them to adopt an attitude to their children which does not go toextremes either way. As a revolt against their own upbringing, they areeither too firm in their control or too lax. Children brought up in bothof these ways have been featured in the case notes of delinquentchildren placed before the Committee. 

=(5) Materialistic Concepts in Society=

Education, medical and hospital treatment, industrial insurance, sickness and age benefits, and other things are all provided by theState, when the need arises, without direct charge upon the individual. The virtues of thrift and self-denial have been disappearing. Incentivedoes not have the place in our economy which it used to have. Thetendency has been to turn to the State for the supply of all materialneeds. By encouraging parents to rely upon the State their sense ofresponsibility for the upbringing of their children has been diminished. The adolescent of today has been born into a world where thingstemporal, such as money values and costs, are discussed much more thanspiritual things. The weekly "child's allowance" is regarded by somechildren as their own perquisite from the benevolent Government. 

The dangers inherent in this materialistic view is that many youngpeople who could profit from further education do not feel a sufficientinducement to continue study. They leave school too soon, and thebroadening influences which could come from further education in thedaytime, or the evenings, is lost to them. In the result, these youngpeople, having too much interest in material things, and not enough inthe things of the mind and the spirit, become a potential source oftrouble in the community. 

One suggestion made to the Committee was that saving and thrift shouldbe encouraged, or that this might be enforced through the Children'sCourt in cases where it is found that offenders have fallen intocriminal immorality through having more money than suffices to pay thereasonable necessaries of life. While the powers of the Children's Courtmight be extended or used for this purpose in extreme cases whereadolescents are brought before the Court, the best help can come fromwise action by parents to prevent their powers of direction and controlbeing undermined through young persons having too much freedom and toomany of the material things which are not necessary for theirwell-being. 

_XV. The Law and Morality_

=(1) History of the Law Regarding Morality=

At no time in the history of the British Commonwealth have Parliamentsor the law-courts endeavoured to impose a system or code of morality onthe people. Men are not required by the governing powers to observe themoral law, any more than they are required to attend Divine worship. ButParliament, in the shaping of legislation, and the Judges in theadministration of justice, have frequently had regard to thatindefinable sense of right and wrong which becomes implanted in thehuman breast. Furthermore, the law, while not coercing any one intofollowing a particular course of moral conduct, has, nevertheless, always been careful to restrain people from acting in such a way as maycause offence to those who do observe the principles of religion or ofmorality. 

Offences against religion (for example, blasphemy and disturbing publicworship), and offences against decency and morality (for example, indecent exposure, indecent publications, and prostitution) are stronglyreprehended. 

In determining what conduct on the part of an individual should becondemned the law has always endeavoured to maintain a balance betweenfreedom of the individual and the rights of the community not to beharmed by the exercise of that freedom. 

The law is not interested in sin, or even immorality, but it is vitallyinterested in the effects of them. A person may stay away from church, but he must not scoff at the Holy Scriptures. He may bathe in the nude, but not at a public beach or near where persons are passing. A humanmodel may be posed for an artist, but must not be exhibited in a shopwindow. 

One other feature of the law regarding morals is that there are somethings which adults are not restrained from doing but which the law willnot suffer to be done by minors. Common examples are found in therestraints which are imposed on children smoking, or entering uponpremises open for "drinking" or betting. 

Similarly, through reason and experience, the law has found it necessaryto set some limits on the right of an individual to do what he likeswith his own person. The community has an interest in the life of everycitizen. More particularly may this be said to be so when the Statespends much money on the education and health of the people. Suicidehas always been wrongful; attempts at suicide are therefore punishable, partly because the State has an interest in maintaining human life, andpartly because suicide is a result of sin and a breach of morality. 

=(2) Protection of Women and Girls from Defilement=

At common law the woman was always regarded as the mistress of her ownperson. Consent was therefore a defence to a charge of rape. TheLegislature subsequently interfered for the good of society and in theinterests of morality by legislating against abortion, againstsoliciting for the purpose of prostitution, against the keeping ofbrothels, and against procuration for the purpose of carnal knowledge. 

The next development of consequence in the law on this matter was in theCriminal Law Amendment Act of 1885 (England). This statute, which wassubsequently followed in New Zealand, made it a criminal offence to havecarnal knowledge of girls. The penalties were graded according to theages of the girls involved. 

As an indication of the seriousness with which the law, by successivestages, has regarded sexual offences it is convenient here to summarizethe penalties set out in sections 212 _et seq. _ of the Crimes Act(N. Z. ). 

Rape Imprisonment for life. Attempted rape Imprisonment for 10 years. Carnal knowledge of girl under 10 Imprisonment for life. Carnal knowledge of girl 10 to 11 years Imprisonment for 10 years. Attempted carnal knowledge of girl under 12 years Imprisonment for 7 years. Carnal knowledge of girl 12 to 16 years Imprisonment for 5 years. Indecent assault on female Imprisonment for 7 years. 

The above are the maximum penalties. The modern tendency is to inflictmuch lesser punishment upon an offender, to grade the punishment havingregard to such matters as the damage done, the past history of theoffender, and the prospect of reform. 

=(3) Consent as a Defence=

The consent of a girl under 12 years of age cannot be raised as adefence to any defilement charge. 

But where the girl is over 12 and under 16 her consent may be raised asa defence if:

 (_a_) The girl is older than or of the same age as the person charged; or

 (_b_) It is made to appear to the jury that the accused is under the age of 21 and had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or over the age of 16 years. 

The law on this point is not uniform throughout the Commonwealth. InVictoria the defence of consent is available only when the girl is olderthan, or of the same age as, the accused (_vide_ Crimes Act 1928, Vict. 3664, sec. 45). The Committee has been officially informed that this law(most rigid when compared with the defence of consent available in thisDominion) has been working well since it was first enacted about fiftyyears ago. 

In England the defence of consent is available to any accused under theage of 23 years, but only on the first occasion on which he is chargedwith the offence. 

In an English case, _R. _ v. _Banks_, (1916) 2 K. B. 621, this defence ofconsent was raised by a man who said that he had no idea that the girlwas under the age of 16 and that he did not think about her age at all, but that she had the appearance of a girl of 16. The Court of CriminalAppeal held that he was properly convicted. On the other hand, the Courtof Appeal in New Zealand in _R. _ v. _Perry and Pledger_, (1920) N. Z. L. R. 21 (despite the argument of the Solicitor-General to the contrary), decided that, if in the eyes of the jury the girl might well be taken byan ordinary person to be of the age of 16, that would be evidence (notnecessarily proof) of a reasonable cause for the belief that she was ofthat age. Hence it comes about that under our law it is not necessaryfor an accused person to go into the witness box or to call any evidenceto show that the girl appeared to him to be over the age of consent. Thenature of her clothing, red on her lips, the fact that she is said tosmoke and drink, and evidence on other similar matters, enable a verdictof acquittal to be given. 

=(4) Weaknesses in the Law=

_(a) Operation of the Rule Regarding Age of Consent_

The readiness of juries to acquit in cases of carnal knowledge of, orindecent assault upon, girls may be due to several facts, of which thefollowing may be mentioned:

 (i) The failure of the law to make it an offence for a sophisticated girl to entice a male into carnal knowledge of her. 

 (ii) The modern practice of not publishing the names of the girls involved. 

 (iii) The fact that the defence of consent is available to persons under 21 years of age is a factor making it more difficult to obtain a conviction when the person charged is over 21 years. 

_(b) Girls Not Liable for Permitting Indecency or Carnal Knowledge_

The law has always been chivalrous to females. It is not an offence forthem to allow to be done to themselves things which, when they are done, render the other party liable to heavy terms of imprisonment. 

There is also a practical reason why the State has not legislatedagainst females on this point, viz. , the anticipated difficulty ofobtaining convictions if the female, when called as a witness, is ableto plead that she should not be required to testify lest by doing so shemight incriminate herself. This practical objection, however, would loseall force, both as regards cases where the accused are under 21 yearsand those in which they are over 21 years, if the proposed offence byfemales were restricted to girls under 16 and thus triable in theChildren's Court, and not by indictment. The judicial process in theChildren's Court is, or can be, such a speedy process that the Crownwould not be hampered in making its charge against the male in theordinary Criminal Court by the possibility that the case would fail ifthe girl pleaded that she should not be required to answer questions. 

_(c) Girls Not Liable for "Indecent Assault" on Boys_

It should also be made an offence punishable in the Children's Court forany girl to indecently assault a male. 

Under section 208 of the Crimes Act every person, male or female(including a boy under 14 years of age), may be convicted and sentencedto seven years imprisonment for an indecent assault on a female. Undersection 154 a male may be sentenced to ten years imprisonment for anindecent assault on a male (consent is not a a defence); but a femalecannot be convicted of "indecent assault" on a male if he permitted theact. 

This anomaly may have arisen because, in ancient times and, later, whenthe criminal law was set out in statutory form, it was not consideredlikely that females would descend to conduct which would entice malesinto the commission of one of these offences. 

Having regard to the evidence before the Committee that many boys havebeen tempted and encouraged into sexual crime by the indecent conduct ofgirls themselves, in picture theatres and elsewhere, the time hasarrived when boys should be protected by letting the girls know thatthey too commit an offence when they act towards boys in an indecentmanner. 

=(5) Proposed Reforms=

(_a_) It should be made an offence punishable in the Children's Courtfor a girl whose age is under 16 years to permit a person to have carnalknowledge of her or to handle her indecently. 

(_b_) It should also be made an offence punishable in the Children'sCourt for any girl to indecently assault a male. 

(_c_) Consideration should also be given to the desirability of amendingsections 208 and 216 of the Crimes Act and section 203 of the Justicesof the Peace Act. There are three courses which might be followed:

 First, to allow the law to remain as it is. 

 Secondly, to strike out the proviso which permits this defence of consent to be raised in cases where the accused is under 21 years and older than the girl. 

 Thirdly, to alter the wording of the provision regarding age of consent from--

 " ... It is made to appear ... That the accused was under 21 and had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or over the age of 16. "

 to--

 " ... If the accused (being a person under the age of 21 years) took all reasonable steps to ascertain that the girl was of or over the age of 16 years and did as a result thereof believe that she was of or over the age of 16 years. "

Any legislation such as is suggested in this subheading would involve anamendment of the Crimes Act and not merely an amendment of the ChildWelfare Act. The Committee therefore suggests to the Government thatfurther information be obtained as to how the law regarding "age ofconsent" is operating in other jurisdictions and that the information soobtained be submitted to the Law Revision Committee for itsconsideration. 

_XVI. Child Welfare in New Zealand_

=(1) History of Legislation=

In order the better to understand the limits and extent of the powersunder the Child Welfare Act, and how these powers are capable ofimprovement and extension, it is desirable to set out briefly thehistory of the law pertaining to institutions and homes established inNew Zealand for children in need of care or correction. 

The first provisions were contained in the _Neglected and CriminalChildren Act 1867_. This statute provided that boys and girls underfifteen years of age could be committed to industrial schools orreformatories for periods up to seven years. In 1873 the Master of anyIndustrial School established under the Act became _in loco parentis_ tochildren of parents who, because of their criminal and dissolute habits, were unfit to have the guardianship of their children. 

In 1874 a _Naval Training Schools Act_ was passed under which boys of 10to 14 years of age, convicted by magistrates for reasons varying fromvagrancy to bad associations, could be detained in naval trainingschools or on training ships and apprenticed to the sea. 

In 1882 the _Industrial Schools Act_ was passed making better provisionfor the control, maintenance, education, and training of children underthe apparent age of fifteen years who were found to be destitute, neglected, uncontrollable, living in a detrimental environment, orassociating with persons of ill repute, and also for children who hadcommitted offences against the law. Prior to the passing of this Actseveral homes, orphanages, and schools had been established in variousparts of the Colony by religious organizations and benevolent societies. They received financial aid out of a vote for charitable institutionsadministered by the Colonial Secretary. 

The _Private Industrial Schools Act_ of 1900 was introduced as a resultof public resentment against the treatment of boys in a private school. For the protection of inmates a right of inspection of these privateschools was given to Judges, Members of Parliament, and other namedpersons. 

The _Industrial Schools Act_ of 1908 was mainly a consolidation of thelaw up to that time but the age of children subject to the Act wasincreased to 16 years. 

The _Child Welfare Act_ of 1925 and the amending Act of 1927 madesubstantial changes in the attitude of the State towards children whohad erred. They gave legislative expression to a new world-wide desirefor a more scientific approach to the social problem of dealing withchildren who had manifested anti-social tendencies. 

The new features provided for in these Acts were:

 (_a_) A special branch (later renamed a Division) of the Department of Education to be known as the "Child Welfare Branch" was established. The Branch or Division consisted of the Superintendent of Child Welfare, who, under the control of the Minister and the Director of Education, was charged with the administration of the Act; a Deputy Superintendent; and such Welfare Officers, managers, etc. , as might be required. 

 (_b_) Power was taken for the creation of Children's Courts. 

=(2) The Children's Court=

The idea of treating children who misbehaved as "delinquents" ratherthan as offenders against the law arose in Illinois in 1899. Thisexperiment in social welfare was followed in other States of America, and the principle was introduced into New Zealand in 1925. 

There has been, and still is, much misunderstanding concerning theprocedure in these Children's Courts and the duties of Welfare Officers. As some recommendations about to be made by this Committee could not beproperly appreciated without a knowledge of the procedure of that Court, and the way in which Welfare Officers perform their duties, it isdesirable to make the following brief explanation:

Under the Act of 1925 it is the parent and _not_ the child, who issummoned to appear before the Children's Court. Section 13 (1) of theAct reads:

 On the complaint of any constable or of any Child Welfare Officer that any child is a neglected, indigent, or delinquent child, or is not under proper control, or is living in an environment detrimental to its physical or moral well-being, any Justice may issue his summons addressed to any person having the custody of the child requiring him to appear before a Children's Court at a time to be named in the summons, _either with or without the child_, in order that the child may be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act. 

This new feature in our law did not displace the jurisdiction ofMagistrates to deal with offences charged against young persons. Anydoubt regarding the continuance of their powers was removed by thepassing of the Child Welfare Amendment Act of 1927. All offences bychildren (except murder and manslaughter) are therefore still dealt withby a Magistrate, but in the Children's Court. In other words, it is notat present mandatory upon a parent to attend the Children's Court when achild is charged. 

In practice it is frequently found that the parent comes to Court with achild who is charged with a breach of the law. This may be due to afamily interest; it may be due to a direction by a Magistrate in somedistrict that he will not deal with a child in the absence of theparent; it may be due to a misunderstanding of the law that, because aparent is summoned for having a delinquent child and may be required tobring the child with him, therefore when the child is summoned theparent must also attend. 

This distinction between summoning the parent of a delinquent child tothe Children's Court and bringing an offending child up on an offencecan best be illustrated by what happened in the cases of carnalknowledge and indecent assault which were brought prominently to thenotice of the public recently. 

The offending boys were charged under those sections of the Crimes Actwhich prescribed maximum penalties of five or seven years imprisonment. In most cases convictions were recorded and the boys were admonished anddischarged; in a few cases the charges were dismissed; in other casesthe boys were committed to the care of the Superintendent or placedunder the supervision of a Child Welfare Officer. 

The girls, not having committed a breach of the Crimes Act or any otherstatute, could not be charged. Their parents were, in appropriate cases, summoned to Court upon the complaint that they had the custody of a"delinquent", or a child not under proper control. 

That the above distinction is not merely a formal one is shown by thefact that an offending boy's name, and the decision of the Courtregarding him, is always recorded in the _Police Gazette_. As the girlis not charged as an offender her name is not so recorded, even although(as shown in Section V (2) of this report) it may have been themisbehaviour of the girl which led the boy into the commission of theoffence charged against him. 

When a sophisticated girl entices a boy into the commission of anoffence it is anomalous[7] that his name should be recorded in the_Police Gazette_ while the girl, who may be the real offender, is notcharged and, even when the girl is committed to the care of the State, her offending is not recorded in the _Police Gazette_. 

=(3) Corporal Punishment Abolished=

By the Statutes Amendment Act 1936 the power which formerly existed forthe Court to order a whipping was abolished in so far as children areconcerned. (The penalty of whipping was later abolished in all othercases by section 30 of the Crimes Amendment Act 1941. )

Representations have been made to this Committee that the abolition ofcorporal punishment as a deterrent may have led to an increase in sexualmisbehaviour. It was pointed out that parents and school teachers mayresort to physical chastisement where thought desirable, and it wassuggested that a Magistrate should have power to order a whipping insuitable cases. 

There is, however, a big difference between a parent or teacher himselfpunishing by the cane or strap soon after the offence, and a Magistrateordering a beating to be inflicted by a complete stranger at a laterdate. 

The Committee, therefore, does not recommend the restoration of corporalpunishment. It merely notes the matter here as part of the history ofthe law relating to child welfare and to show that the representationson this point have been considered. 

=(4) Defects in the Act and its Application=

Several matters have come to the notice of the Committee during itsinvestigations which prompt it respectfully to point out to theGovernment that the present statutory provisions are out-moded and thatthe time has arrived for a complete redrafting of the statute to removeanomalies and to suit the needs of the times. 

The terms of the order of reference scarcely require the Committee tomake detailed recommendations. It should suffice to point out certainrespects in which the Act itself might be improved and a new meaninggiven to "child welfare" which might go a long way towards reducing theamount of juvenile delinquency. 

_(a) "Child Welfare" a Misnomer_

The preamble to the Act of 1925 describes the limited nature of itsintention. It is:

 An Act to make Better Provision with respect to the Maintenance, Care, and Control of Children who are specially under the Protection of the State; and to provide generally for the Protection and Training of Indigent, Neglected, or Delinquent Children. 

In other words, the Act aimed at dealing with children _after they havebecome delinquents_. The new provisions for the welfare of children weregrafted on to statutes which were designed for "neglected" and"criminal" children and for the establishment of "industrial schools". The Act did not purport to have regard for the welfare of children who_might_ become delinquent. It did not contain any provisions for thedoing of preventive work. That being so, it is not surprising to findthat it operates in different ways in different districts. The Committeewas impressed by the preventive work done in some districts, althoughthe officers doing this work were unable to point to any provisions inthe Act which required them to do it. In these circumstances it is notpossible to blame any Child Welfare Officer for failing to do preventivework which, under the statute, he is not obliged, and, indeed, has noauthority to perform. 

_(b) "Child Welfare" Merely a "Division"_

The Superintendent of Child Welfare is under the control of the Ministerof Education and the Director of Education. But his duties do not appearto be integrated with those of the Education Department. The work of theDivision appears to be more associated with the police and the Courtsthan the Education Department. In former times "industrial schools"conveniently came under the Education Department. But nowadays, whenvery many of the children committed to the care of the State are boardedout among foster-parents, the work of the Child Welfare Division is moreclosely associated with that of "Justice" than "Education". 

The establishment, a few years ago, of a Ministry of Social Welfare, andthe urgent need for more preventive work to be done, suggest thepossibility of better administration if "Child Welfare" were given anindependent status under the control of the Ministry for SocialWelfare. 

_(c) No Regulations Under the Act_

The Acts of 1925 and 1927 made provision for the gazetting ofregulations. In particular, clause 45 of the 1925 Act contemplatedregulations (_inter alia_) "regulating the appointment and prescribingthe duties of Child Welfare Officers". After the lapse of twenty-nineyears those duties have still not been defined and gazetted. 

Furthermore, "Child Welfare Officers" are, under section 6, "officers ofthe Public Service". It is astounding, therefore, to hear that, year byyear, "Honorary Child Welfare Officers" are appointed. The Committee hasbeen informed that this year 179 people were appointed or reappointed as"honorary" officers, although there is no statutory authority for theirappointment and their duties are not prescribed. 

The Superintendent, in his evidence regarding honorary Welfare Officersstated: "Some of them have nominal office only. They have the name andthat is all it amounts to". Such a position cannot be regarded assatisfactory. If any of them do perform useful functions (as to which noopinion can be here expressed) at least their duties should be defined. It is very easy (as happened a few weeks ago) for a person to pose as aChild Welfare Officer in such circumstances as pertain at present. 

_(d) No Special Selection of Magistrates_

The Act contemplates (section 27 of 1925 and section 16 of 1927) thatMagistrates shall be specially appointed to the Children's Court. Inpractice, however, all Magistrates have been given jurisdiction to sitin the Children's Court. As a result, the practice and procedure of theCourt varies throughout the Dominion. 

_(e) Separate Court Buildings Not Used_

The Act also contemplated that, when a Children's Court was established, it should not be held in an ordinary Court building. There is aprovision that if a Court has not been established in any district theproceedings should be in a room other than the ordinary Court Room. 

Serious complaints were made to the Committee that some children in theHutt cases had to remain in the precincts of the Magistrate's Court atLower Hutt awaiting an opportunity for the cases as regards them to becalled. After the children and parents had waited about for a long timemost of these cases were adjourned till another date, when again muchthe same sort of thing happened. One special purpose of the Children'sCourt was defeated by the fact that the Children's Court in that citywas held in the ordinary Court building. 

_(f) Should Proceedings be Open to the Press_

There may be reasons why a Children's Court should be open to the publiceven although the publication of names is prohibited. Under section 30press reporters may not attend a sitting of the Children's Court unless"specially permitted or required by the Court to be present". It hasoften happened that a series of offences has created considerableapprehension in the public mind. On investigation they have been foundto be due to the work of a gang or to the influence of some definiteadverse factor in the community. The public has a right to know howchild offenders have been dealt with. The Committee does not recommendany alteration in the provision prohibiting the publication of the nameof any child or of any name or particulars likely to lead toidentification. Subject to this, it is desirable that reporters shouldbe allowed to attend. The Court should not be a completely secretchamber, the decisions of which have to be gathered by rumour or by theseeking of information through interviews away from the Court. 

_(g) No Follow-up Procedure_

When children are placed "under supervision" there is not any procedurewhereby reports are submitted to the Court or other body concerningtheir welfare or their doings. Again, when children are committed to thecare of the State or are under supervision as a result of delinquencythey may lawfully be transferred from one institution to another or maybe boarded out in foster-homes without any intimation being made totheir own parents. If a child is boarded out in another district it maybe enrolled at a school without the principal being given suchinformation as might enable him to be of assistance in its reclamation. 

The Committee feels that there should be some person or body apart fromthe departmental officers to whom a child could turn for help if it isunhappy in its new surroundings or feels that it is not being properlytreated. 

=(5) Changes Proposed=

In the foregoing subsections it was sought to show how it came aboutthat the statute itself is not a completely satisfactory one. Some ofits provisions were adapted from earlier statutes which dealt with"neglected" and "criminal" children, and "industrial schools". 

In the course of the history of the legislation the age of a "child" hasbeen progressively raised from 14 to 15, to 16, to 17, and to 18 years. Many of those dealt with would scorn to be regarded as "children" in theoutside world, but they are glad to have the advantages accruing frombeing dealt with in a Children's Court. 

It is pleasing to know that some officers of the Division areconcentrating upon preventive work, but just where, and how such work isbeing done, and the effect of it cannot be measured. 

The Committee makes the following recommendations for amendments to theexisting legislation:

_(a) The Creation of a New Offence_ under which children of either sexwho are guilty of indecent behaviour may be charged as "delinquents" inlieu of the present procedure under which the boy must necessarily becharged and gazetted as a criminal while the girl is not charged at all. 

A suitable amending clause would be:

 Every child shall be deemed to be a delinquent child within the meaning of the Principal Act who--

 (i) Being a male, carnally knows or attempts to carnally know any female child under the age of sixteen years;

 (ii) Being a female, incites or encourages a male to carnally know her and permits or suffers him to do so;

 (iii) Indecently assaults any other child. 

 It shall not be a defence to an information or complaint under this section that any child consented to the act. 

_(b) The Attendance of Parents at a Children's Court Should be MadeCompulsory:_ There is not at present any provision whereby the parentsof a child who commits an offence must attend Court. The provision insection 13 (1) that the Justice may require the person having thecustody of a "delinquent" child to attend, with or without the child, does not meet present needs. 

The Committee therefore recommends the acceptance by the legislature ofthe following new provision:

 In every case in which a complaint or information is laid against any child, or against the parent or guardian of a child, under section 13 of the principal Act, the Justice before whom the said complaint or information is laid shall issue his summons to at least one of the parents of the said child or to the guardian or other person having the custody of such child to appear before the Children's Court with the said child. 

_(c) The Court Should Have Power to Make Orders Against the Parents ofOffending or Delinquent Children:_ Suitable clauses in this connectionsubmitted for the consideration of the Government are:

 (1) Where a child is charged with any offence for the commission of which a fine or costs may be imposed, if the Court is of the opinion that the case would be best met by the imposition of a fine or costs, whether with or without any other punishment or remedy provided by the principal Act, the Court may order that the whole or any part of the fine or costs awarded to the informant or complainant be paid by any parent or guardian of such child unless the Court is satisfied that such parent or guardian has not conduced to the commission of the offence by neglecting to exercise due care and control of the child. 

 (2) In the case of a child charged with any offence the Court may, in addition to or without entering a conviction against the child, order that the parent or guardian give security for the good behaviour of such child in the future for such period as to the Court may appear just and expedient. 

 (3) The Court may also in its discretion make an order directing that the children's benefit or family benefit payable to the parent or guardian in respect of such child by the Social Security Commission be suspended until the parent or guardian gives the security required by the preceding subsection hereof for such future further or other period as the Court may think fit or until the Court is assured that the said parent or guardian is exercising due care and control of the child. 

 (4) A copy of any order made in directing the suspension of the payment of any children's benefit or family benefit shall immediately be forwarded by the Court to the Social Security Commission. 

 (5) The Court may suspend the coming into force of any such order or may at any time terminate the period of suspension or revoke any order made by it, whereupon the Commission of Social Security may pay to the parent or guardian all such benefits or allowances as would have been payable but for the order of suspension from the date of the said suspension or from such other date as the Court may think fair and just. 

 (6) Nothing herein shall be deemed to effect or limit the powers vested in the Social Security Commission by sections 62 and 72 of the Social Security Act 1938. 

 (7) An order under this section may be made against a parent or guardian who, having been required to attend at the Court with the said child, has failed to do so, but, save as aforesaid, no such order shall be made without giving the parent or guardian an opportunity of being heard. 

 (8) A parent or guardian may appeal to the Supreme Court against any order made under this section. 

_(d) When Any Child is Expelled From School Notification of the FactShould Immediately be Given to the Child Welfare Division:_ Thefollowing draft clause expresses what the Committee has in mind:

 When any child under the school leaving age has been expelled from school for any reason or any other child has been suspended or expelled for immoral behaviour, it shall be the duty of the principal or the governing body of the school or other person (whichever has the power to suspend or expel), to inform the Superintendent of Child Welfare or the nearest Child Welfare Officer of the fact that the said child has been suspended or expelled from the school, and the said Superintendent or Child Welfare Officer shall immediately on receipt of such information take such action as may be proper or desirable in the interests of the said child. 

_(e) Whenever Any Child Has Been Found by the Court to Have Committed anOffence or to be a Delinquent Child or a Child Not Under Proper Controlthe Principal of the School Should be Informed:_ The suggested clausemight read as follows:

 Whenever any child has been found by the Court to have committed an offence or to be a delinquent child or a child not under proper control and is either a pupil of a school or is subsequently enrolled as a pupil it shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Child Welfare to inform the principal of such school of the nature of the offence and the circumstances which led to the delinquency in order that the principal may assist the said child and protect the other pupils of the school. 

_(f) That the Statute Should be Completely Redrafted and the ChildWelfare Division Reorganized on an Autonomous Basis:_ In this redraftingand reorganization special regard should be had to:

 (_a_) The precise duties expected of every Child Welfare Officer, whether he or she be a member of the Public Service or an "honorary Child Welfare Officer". 

 (_b_) The provision of Children's Court rooms away from the Magistrate's Court or the holding of sittings of the Children's Court on days when no other Court business is being conducted. 

 (_c_) The selection of Magistrates who are specially qualified to perform the duties required of a Justice of the Children's Court. 

 (_d_) The opening of proceedings to accredited representatives of the press, who should not, however, be permitted to publish the names of persons brought before the Court whether as offenders, parents, or witnesses, or any facts by which they may be identified. 

 (_e_) The taking of the opinion of a school principal on any recommendation affecting the future of one of his pupils. 

 (_f_) Provisions for a right of appeal from any decision of the Children's Court or from any decision of the Superintendent regarding any child. 

_XVII. Summary of Conclusions_

1. Sexual immorality among juveniles has become a world-wide problem ofincreasing importance, but the great majority of the young people ofthis Dominion are healthy-minded and well-behaved. 

2. As sexual immorality is generally clandestine, is often not criminal, and even when criminal may not be detected, there are not any statisticsfrom which it can be shown whether, or to what extent, it has increased. 

3. During recent years the pattern of sexual misbehaviour has changed:it has spread to younger groups; girls have become more precocious;immorality has been organized; the mental attitude of some boys andgirls towards misconduct has altered; and there is evidence thathomosexuality may be increasing. 

4. The new pattern of juvenile immorality is uncertain in origin, insidious in growth, and has developed over a wide field. 

5. Objectionable publications ought to be banned by establishing asystem for the registration of distributors of certain printed matter. Urgent action is necessary so that publications now banned in othercountries will not be dumped into this Dominion. 

6. The absence of regulations necessary to make the Film Censor'srecommendations effective deprives parents of the protection which theLegislature intended for them. 

7. The possibility that children may hear radio programmes unsuitablefor them calls for firmness and discretion on the part of parents andmore care by the Broadcasting Service in arranging and timingprogrammes. Serials and recordings giving undue emphasis to crime or sexare not desirable, nor is the frequent repetition of recordings that arecapable of misinterpretation, particularly in times like the present. 

8. Advertisers should realize that the increasing emphasis on sexattraction is objectionable to some and, possibly, harmful to others. 

9. Although television may not be introduced into New Zealand for sometime, plans to cope with its effects on children should be made well inadvance of its introduction. 

10. There should be a closer bond between school and home. The system ofvisiting teachers should be expanded and as much liaison as possibleestablished between them and public health nurses. 

11. The evidence that the propinquity of boys and girls atco-educational schools contributed to sexual delinquency was notconvincing. 

12. The value of insisting upon all children remaining at school tillthey are 15 years of age should be further investigated. When theunderlying cause for an application for exemption is misconduct, theexemption should only be granted subject to supervision by a ChildWelfare Officer. 

13. Whenever a pupil under the care or supervision of the Child WelfareDivision is enrolled at a school the principal should be informed of anymatters pertaining to the pupil which are within the knowledge of thatDivision. He should also be consulted as to any recommendation which itis proposed to make to the Court in respect of any of his pupils. 

14. The school is not the proper place for fully instructing childrenabout sex, although it may be a convenient place in which mothers anddaughters together, fathers and sons together, or parents together, maylisten to addresses or see appropriate films. This would help to breakdown some of the barriers of self-consciousness. 

15. In the new housing settlements the younger age groups predominate. They are without the stabilizing influence of older people andestablished institutions. 

16. The work of all organizations which aim at building character iswarmly commended as they help to prevent children from becomingdelinquent; but facilities for recreation and entertainment will notcure juvenile delinquency. 

17. Liquor and gambling are symptomatic of some homes where there ischild neglect. The Committee deprecates the growing practice of parentsconniving at the consumption of liquor at young people's parties. 

18. Tension in the household, separation of the parents, lack oftraining for parenthood, the absence of a parental sense ofresponsibility or poor discipline all help to create an unsatisfactoryhome environment; the child of such a home often feels unwanted orunloved. This unsatisfactory environment or feeling of being unloved isproductive of much delinquency. 

19. Nearly one-third of the delinquent children whose cases wereconsidered came from homes where the mothers, possibly out of necessity, went out to work. Fathers themselves are also to blame when they neglectthe opportunities available in the evenings or at the weekends tointerest themselves in the welfare of their children. 

20. The high wages paid to adolescents on leaving school are animportant contributing factor especially when those youths have not beentrained in the virtues of thrift and self-reliance. 

21. In many of the cases investigated by the police the children haveeither been ignorant of the functions of sex or have too advanced aknowledge of its physical aspects. When, how, and by whom theinformation should be given is very important. 

22. The present state of morals in the community has indicated the valueof a religious faith, and of family religion. Encouragement should begiven to the work of the New Zealand Council of Christian Education. 

23. There has been a decline in certain aspects of family life becauseof a failure to appreciate the worth of religious and moral sanctions. 

24. During the past forty years new concepts have entered into society. These concepts resulted from the unsettlement following two world wars. The changes were the increased use of contraceptives, the broadening ofthe divorce laws, an increase in pre-marital sexual relations, and thespread of new psychological ideas. 

25. The Committee is unanimously of the opinion that adolescents shouldnot buy or be in possession of contraceptives. There is, however, somedifference of opinion as to how this decision could be made effective. 

26. The state of the law regarding indecent conduct on the part of boysand girls operates very unfairly. Boys who admit this offence arecharged in the Children's Court under sections of the Crimes Act forbreach of which they are liable to terms of imprisonment of five toseven years. Their names and particulars of the offence are recorded inthe _Police Gazette_. The girls (some of whom may have incited the boysto offend) cannot be charged; if they are brought before the Court atall, it is only when their parents are summoned for having delinquentchildren and their names are not gazetted. 

27. The Child Welfare Act should be broadened to provide for the doingof preventive work. At present it provides only for the correction ofchildren who have committed offences or who are delinquents. There arealso grave weaknesses in this statute and in the whole procedure fordealing with offending and delinquent children. 

_XVIII. Recommendations_

=(1) Proposals for Legislation=

(_a_) The definition of "obscene" and "indecent" in the statute lawrelating to printed and published matter should be enlarged so as tocover all productions which are harmful in that they place undueemphasis on sex, crime, or horror. 

(_b_) All distributors of books, magazines, and periodical (other thannewspapers and educational or scientific publications) should berequired to register their names and the names of their variouspublications. If they offend against the proposed law regardingobjectionable publications, their licences to produce or distributeshould be cancelled. 

(_c_) A new offence should be created whereunder boys and girls who areguilty of indecent conduct with one another should both be liable to becharged as delinquents in the Children's Court and the practice ofrecording the names of boys in the _Police Gazette_ as having beensummarily dealt with should cease. 

(_d_) In all cases where children are summoned to Court their parents(if available) should be required to attend with them. 

(_e_) The Court should have the power to require the parent or guardianof an offending or delinquent child to pay the fine or costs and to givesecurity for the future good behaviour of the child unless the Court issatisfied that the conduct of the parent or guardian has not conduced tothe child's wrong doing. 

(_f_) The Court should also be given power to direct that the children'sbenefit or family benefit payable to any parent or guardian by theSocial Security Commission be suspended until he gives the securityrequired by the Court or for such further or other period as the Courtmay order. The material interests of the child should be preserved byenabling the Court to suspend the operation of the order, or to cancelit upon being satisfied that the parent or guardian has given therequired security to exercise due care and control. 

(_g_) Effect should be given to the recommendations regarding enrolmentor expulsion of children as set out in Section XVI (5) (_d_) and (_e_)of this report. 

(_h_) The Child Welfare Act should be completely recast in such a way asto remove the weaknesses indicated in this report and to suit modernneeds. "Child welfare" should be given an autonomous status under theMinister of Social Welfare. 

=(2) Proposals for Administrative Action=

The following outlines of administrative action are not dependent uponthe amending of any Acts of Parliament such as were recommended above:

_(a) Police Department_

The training and duties of policewomen should be considered with a viewto deciding the best method of dealing with girls involved in sexualoffences. 

_(b) Department of Internal Affairs (Films)_

To facilitate the practical working of film censorship steps should betaken to gazette the outstanding regulations empowered under therelevant Acts of 1934 and 1953. 

_(c) Broadcasting Service_

It is suggested:

 (i) That the service ensure that the concept "Crime must never pay" is more prominently featured in crime serials. 

 (ii) That a married woman be immediately appointed to the auditioning panel. 

_(d) Censoring Authorities_

Any Departments concerned with censorship should maintain a liaison toproduce as far as possible a uniform interpretation of public opinionand taste. 

_(e) Department of Education_

(i) The Department of Education should discuss with the Department ofHealth the respective duties of public health nurses and visitingteachers to prevent overlapping and to ensure the best possibleemployment of these officers. 

(ii) Following upon the conference outlined in the previous paragraphthe appointment of additional visiting teachers should be accordedpriority. 

(iii) The Department should consider what type of officer is best suitedto help with problem pupils in post-primary schools. 

(iv) The Department should request that residences be set aside for someteachers in housing settlements. 

(v) In areas where there is a lack of facilities for recreation andentertainment the Department should consider the possibility of makingschool grounds and buildings available to responsible organizations. 

_(f) Research into Juvenile Delinquency_

A long-term project for the investigation of juvenile delinquency in allaspects should be undertaken. 

=(3) Parental Example=

New laws, new regulations, and the prospect of stricter administrationmay help to allay the well-founded fears of many parents for the futureof their children. It would, however, be a pity if parents were therebyled into any relaxation of their own efforts. Wise parenthood impliesfirm control and continual interest in the doings of sons and daughters. But what is most needed is that all people should, by right living andby the regularity of their own conduct, afford the best example for theconduct of the rising generation. 

_XIX. Appreciation_

As a supplement to this report the Committee desires to place on recordits thanks to all those who have assisted it in discharging itsresponsibilities. 

The many organizations and witnesses who have expressed their views havebeen most helpful, and the Committee is also obliged to all those whohave sent letters, books, and papers for consideration. The many pressclippings of editorials, news articles, and letters to editors haveenabled the Committee to obtain an understanding of public sentiment onvarious matters. 

The heads of Government Departments have answered every inquiry forinformation which has been submitted to them. 

The Public Service Commission has placed facilities at the disposal ofthe Committee and has released stenographers and typists from theirordinary duties to enable this report to be presented on the date fixedby the Committee early in its deliberations. 

In particular, the Committee expresses its great appreciation of themanner in which Mr L. J. Greenberg has performed the secretarial duties. He has dealt with correspondence, and has shown a splendid sense oftiming in arranging for the appearance of witnesses. 

=APPENDIX A=

=Table of Sexual Offences for Which Proceedings Were Taken in New Zealand=

 _1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944_Rape and attempted rape 11 16 16 19 12 6 22 40 34

Carnally knowing girls under 16 14 55 68 86 99 41 69 69 71

Attempts to carnally know girls under 16 7 9 8 14 15 6 5 5 2

Indecent assault: Females 63 98 107 122 153 113 171 105 134

Indecent assault: Males 12 47 38 46 103 104 118 68 61

 _1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953_Rape and attempted rape 27 14 32 14 24 31 29 35 19

Carnally knowing girls under 16 59 73 66 61 82 90 81 106 109

Attempts to carnally know girls under 16 17 18 14 13 7 27 23 36 33

Indecent assault: Females 112 104 147 164 153 149 183 175 311

Indecent assault: Males 119 89 109 110 86 82 91 122 183

=APPENDIX B=

=List of Witnesses, Submissions, and Order of Appearance=

One hundred and forty-five (145) witnesses appeared before the Committeein Wellington, Christchurch, or Auckland, and 18 of these witnesses wererecalled on one or more occasion. 

_(a) Witnesses_

Witnesses are grouped as follows:

_Government Officials_--

 Departmental Heads: Broadcasting, Education, Police. Other Officers: Customs, Film Censor, Police (4), Superintendent of Child Welfare 10

_Educational Authorities_--

 New Zealand Council of Christian Education New Zealand Council of Education Research New Zealand Educational Institute (2) Professor of Social Science Director of Physical Education Tutor, Adult Education Director, Catholic Education Child Welfare Officers (5) Chairman, Board of Governors Principals (9) Inspectors (4) Visiting Teacher Federation of Parent Teachers Association 29

_Welfare Organizations_--

 Religious-- Christian Endeavour Union Methodist Presbyterian (2) Roman Catholic (6) Salvation Army (8) 18 Other-- Boy Scouts (2) Crichton Cobbers Club (2) Girls' Life Brigade Hutt Valley Youth Survey Nursery Play Centres (3) Orphanages (3) Sea Cadets (2) Youth Hostels (2) Y. M. C. A. (3) Y. W. C. A. (4) 23

_Church Bodies_--

 Inter-Church Council on Public Affairs (2) Hutt Valley Ministers Fraternal (4) Baptist Church of England Methodist Presbyterian (6) 15

_Women's Organizations_

 Anglican Mothers' Union (2) Catholic Women's League National Council of Women (2) 5

_Commercial Interests_--

 Booksellers (3) Chemists' Guild Film Distributors and Exhibitors (7) Milk Bars (3) Newspaper Editor 15

_Professional Societies_--

 Christchurch Psychological Society (4) New Zealand Paediatric Society 5

_Civic Leaders_--

 Mayor, Lower Hutt 1

_Sporting Bodies_--

 Wellington Hockey Association 1

_Miscellaneous Groups_--

 Communist Party of New Zealand New Zealand Rationalists Association 2

_Private Individuals_ 21

Total 145

(_b_) SUBMISSIONS

Practically all the above witnesses, jointly or severally, providedwritten submissions, and some provided more than one submission. In allthere were 83 written submissions from 77 witnesses or groups ofwitnesses. 

In addition, 120 submissions were received from individuals ororganizations that did not appear before the Committee. Many otherpersons wrote to the Committee, and a large number supplied samples ofpublications containing material considered harmful. 

Submissions may be grouped as follows:

 (1) Those supplied by the witnesses whose names are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list showing the order of appearance. 

 (2) Those supplied by the 120 other individuals and organizations listed below. 

Anglican Provincial Youth Council (J. C. Cottrel, Secretary), Auckland. Archibald, Jean K. , Teacher's College, Ardmore. Arnold, Miss E. S. , Children's Editress, Nelson Evening Mail, Nelson. Associated Booksellers of New Zealand (D. K. Carey, Secretary), Wellington. Associated Churches of Christ in New Zealand (Religious Education Department), Christchurch. Auckland Provincial Public Relations Office Inc. (George F. Gair), Auckland. 

Bell, Gordon C. , 6 Kohia Terrace, Auckland. Bennett, L. , Lower Hutt. Blamires, Rev. E. O. , 13 Lighthouse Road, Napier. Brewerton, N. V. , Box 2192, Auckland. Brough, Miss Aileen, 68A Wrigley Street, Tauranga. Burns, J. , 575 New North Road, Kingsland. 

Caldwell, C. L. , 9 Market Road, Auckland. Cane, Mrs C. M. , 35 Waldegrave Street, Palmerston North. Carrington, Hon. C. J. , P. O. Box 36, Tauranga. Catholic Youth Movement (Father Curnow), Christchurch. Child Welfare Officer (A. L. Rounthwaite), Whangarei. Child Welfare Officer (P. Goodwin), Chiropractic Health Institute Inc. , Auckland. Christian and Co. , Ltd. , Devonport Road, Tauranga. Clark, T. J. , 10 Church Road, Templeton, Christchurch. Clift, F. H. (Hon. Secretary, Wellington Headmasters' Association), Wellington. Cosgriff, P. B. , 69 Hinau Street, Riccarton, Christchurch. Cousins, P. W. , 4 Matai Road, Wellington. 

de Lacy, T. J. , Taihape. Dewar, G. E. , 65 Rhodes Street, Waimate. Dobbie, Mary, 24 Patterson Street, Sandringham, Auckland. Donovan-Lock, Mrs A. , 103 Wrigley Street West, Tauranga. Duffy, G. , Hon. Secretary, Christchurch District Peace Council, 81 Gasson Street, Christchurch. Duffy. J. A. , 67 Wellesley Road, Napier. 

Edgar, M. R. , Kaukapakapa (North Waitemata Circuit of the Methodist Church), Waitemata. Eisey, C. A. , 400 South Road, Dunedin. Emmett, John D. , Waikuku Beach, North Canterbury. 

Faith, Mrs L. C. , President, Catholic Women's League, "Fairview", Te Horo. Faram, Mrs T. C. , 14 Portage Road East, Papatoetoe. Fere, Dr M. , 113 Seaview Road, New Brighton. Feron, L. J. (and 32 other petitioners), No. 2 R. D. , Governors Bay, Christchurch. Flint, E. W. , West Coast Road, Oratia. Fottrell, C. P. , 18 Devon Street, Wellington. Frost, Mrs A. , "Truth" (N. Z. ) Ltd. , Wakefield Street, Wellington. 

Graaf, Th. L. D. , Beach Road, Otumoetai. Greenwood, Rev. F. , 37 Charlotte Avenue, Wellington. Gilberd, D. , No. 4 R. D. , Whangarei. Gilbert, Miss G. M. , 23 Reading Street, Wellington. 

Hall, Miss B. , 1A Apuka Street, Wellington. Hansen, Harold, Orini. Harris, E. L. , 4 Riddiford Street, Wellington. Van Harskamp, J. , 22 Lombard Street, Greymouth. Hastings Housewives Union (Alva Hogg, Hon. Secretary), Hastings. 

Jamieson, Miss C. , National Council of Women, Manawatu Branch, 70 Albert Street, Palmerston North. Jebson, Mrs E. D. , President, Methodist Ladies Guild, St. Paul's, London Street, Hamilton. Jessett, F. W. , 5 London Terrace, Putaruru. Joblin, A. E. R. , Headmaster, Hokowhitu School, Palmerston North. Jones, Ernest L. , 1010 Taita Drive North, Lower Hutt. Jones, P. H. , 31 Jollie Street, Christchurch. 

Kennedy, Mrs M. , No. 4 R. D. , Morrinsville. Kidd, Mrs A. W. , J. P. , "Glenavon", Middlemarch. Knight, Brian, Brian Knight Clinic Psch. , 124 Symonds Street, Auckland. 

Lovell, W. P. , Taupiri. Luekens, K. M. , "Tuirangi", Auckland. 

Mackie, Mrs H. , 165 Grafton Road, Wellington. Macky, Mrs V. , 144 Mountain Road, Auckland. Marsden, E. E. , Box 150, Napier. Martin, C. G. , 39 Union Street, Foxton. Martin, W. E. , 7 Whitby Terrace (St. John Ambulance), Auckland. Methodist Central Mission (Rev. W. E. Falkingham, Superintendent), Christchurch. Michie, L. A. , 28 Tautari Street, Auckland. McAven, J. S. , 164 Long Drive, Auckland. McBride, Frances, 18 Gladstone Road, Auckland. McCaw, Mrs M. , 11 Seddon Street, Timaru. McCool, Mrs M. M. T. , Raukawa Road, Ashhurst. McDonald, A. P. , Headmaster, Shannon School, Shannon. Mclver, Mrs I. , Westney Road (2), Mangere. McLachlan, A. A. , former Magistrate, 57 Brunswick Street, Lower Hutt. McLean, O. G. , 5 Thames Street, Hamilton. McLevie, Rev. E. M. , St. Barnabas' Vicarage, Wellington. 

Neame, Mrs M. K. , "Darwin", Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui. Norris, Mrs E. , 60 Melbourne Road, Wellington. North Canterbury Methodist Women's Guild Fellowship, Christchurch. North Shore Ladies' Representative Committee (Miss R. L. Muskett), Auckland. New Zealand Canoeing Association (D. J. Mason, President), Auckland. New Zealand Libraries Association (H. W. B. Bacon, President), Wellington. New Zealand National Party (Women's Division), Auckland. New Zealand Bible Testimony, Box 555, Palmerston North. 

Palmerston North Headmasters' Association (L. M. Morine), Palmerston North. Poole, L. ; 5 Curran Street, Auckland. Potts, Nora Cramond, 23 Towai Street, Auckland. Public Opinion and Gallup Polls (N. Z. ) Ltd. , Auckland. 

Raeston, K. , 68 Fitzherbert Street, Petone. Rallison, W. , Post Office, Frankton. Reid, Mrs, "Reidhaven", Arrowtown. Ridder, E. H. C. , Christchurch. 

Salmond, W. R. , Acting Session Clerk, Tasman Presbyterian Church, Upper Moutere. Scherer, Sister L. A. , 216 Great North Road, Auckland. Seymour, Douglas, Box 79, Hamilton. Senior, Gerard, Chaplain, R. N. Z. N. , H. M. N. Z. S. _Black Prince_, Auckland. Solway, R. , 28 Opapa Street, Titahi Bay. 

Taylor, Mrs G. E. , 111 Upland Road, Wellington. Taylor, Miss J. , "Melody Cottage", 156 Barnard Street, Wellington. Teasdel, W. J. , 31 Waipapa Road, Wellington. Thompson, R. J. , 89 Owens Road, Epsom, Auckland. Tole, J. G. , 12 Seaview Road, Remuera, Auckland. Trio Publications (C. R. Dunford), Christchurch. 

Venoe, Miss J. C. , Francis Street, Blenheim. 

Wanganui Girls' College Board of Governors, Wanganui. Waikato Justices of the Peace Association, Hamilton. Ward, Rev. N. , Miller Memorial Congregational Church. 9 May Avenue, Napier. Warren, Rev. P. H. , The Church of the Ascension, Auckland. Wells, Miss E. , 175 Long Drive, Auckland. Wellington Diocesan Youth Council (Miss H. Sewell), Wellington. Werren, Rev. J. S. , South Auckland Methodist Church, Hamilton. Western, Miss M. , P. O. Box 382, Auckland. White, A. W. , Principal, Technical High School, Stratford. Wilkes, T. G. (General Secretary, New Zealand National Party), Wellington. Williment, F. , Wellington. Williams, G. T. P. , 139 Eruera Street, Rotorua. Women's Christian Temperance Union (Mrs H. N. Toomer, Dominion President), Wellington. 

Y. M. C. A. New Building Campaign Committee (Mr J. C. Bonham), Auckland. Youne, Mrs R. A. , 4 Hackthorne Road, Christchurch. 

(_c_) ORDER OF APPEARANCE OF WITNESSES

*Mr E. H. Compton, Commissioner of Police. 

*Mr G. E. Peek, Superintendent of Child Welfare Division. 

 Mr F. T. Castle, President, Wellington Chemists' Guild. 

*Senior Sergeant F. W. LeFort, Officer in Charge, Petone Police Station. 

*Mr G. W. Parkyn, Director, New Zealand Council for Educational Research. 

*Mr D. K. D. McGhie, Social Science Bursar, Chairman, Hutt Valley Youth Survey. 

 Mr E. W. Mills, Principal, Hutt Valley Memorial Technical College. 

 Dr C. E. Beeby, Director of Education. 

*Mr E. S. Gale, Assistant Comptroller of Customs. 

*Mr B. C. Penney, President, New Zealand Educational Institute. 

 Mr G. R. Ashbridge, Secretary, New Zealand Educational Institute. 

*Mr J. Ferguson, District Child Welfare Officer, Wellington. 

*Mr G. Mirams, Film Censor, Wellington. 

 Mr G. Briggs, National Secretary New Zealand Y. M. C. A. 

 Mr A. L. Lummis, Elbes Milk Bar, Lower Hutt. 

 Mr L. F. Elbe, Elbes Milk Bar, Lower Hutt. 

 Mr W. L. Ellingham, Elbes Milk Bar, Lower Hutt. 

*Rev. R. S. Anderson, Presbyterian Church, Naenae. 

 Mr J. D. Murray, Presbyterian, Church, Naenae. 

 Mr M. Buist, Presbyterian Church, Naenae. 

 Mrs J. B. Christensen, Former member of the Senate Sub-committee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in United States of America. 

*Mrs R. Wolfe, Private Citizen, Lower Hutt. 

 Mrs S. Smith, Private Citizen, Lower Hutt. 

 Mr W. B. Davy, Private Citizen, Lower Hutt. 

*Father D. P. O'Neill, Director of Catholic Social Services. 

*Miss E. Newton (Former Teacher), Wanganui. 

*Miss H. Kirkwood, Post-primary Inspector of Schools. 

 Mr W. Yates, Director of Broadcasting. 

*Mr K. G. Gibson, Commissioner of Boy Scouts' Association. 

 Mr R. E. Glensor, Dominion Secretary of Boy Scouts' Association. 

*Mr H. T. Robinson, Private Citizen (Technician, Dominion Physical Laboratories). 

*Mr R. A. Loe, General Manager, Gordon and Gotch Ltd. 

*Mr J. K. Torbit, Private Citizen, Khandallah. 

*Mrs Birchfield, Communist Party of New Zealand. 

*Rev. M. A. McDowell, Hutt Valley Ministers Fraternal. 

 Rev. G. E. Dallard, Hutt Valley Ministers Fraternal. 

 Rev. C. W. R. Madill, Hutt Valley Ministers Fraternal. 

 Rev. Mr Hartford, Hutt Valley Ministers Fraternal. 

*Mr F. S. Ramson, Principal, Hutt Valley High School. 

 Mr R. A. Usmar, New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association. 

 Mr H. Taylor, New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association. 

 Mr N. Hayward, New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association. 

 Mr N. E. Wrighton, New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association. 

 Miss C. Conway, Catholic Youth Movement. 

*Father Fouhy, Catholic Youth Movement. 

 Mr T. Fox. Catholic Youth Movement. 

 Professor W. G. Minn, Chair of Social Science, Victoria University College. 

 Mrs A. M. Richardson } President and Programme Secretary, National Miss A. M. Blakey } Y. W. C. A. Of New Zealand. 

*Mr T. H. Whitwell, Senior Inspector of Schools, Wellington. 

*Miss R. Reilly, Visiting Teacher, Wellington Education Board. 

*Rev. J. Grocott, New Zealand Inter-Church Council on Public Affairs and New Zealand Council of Christian Education. 

 Rev. D. M. Williams, New Zealand Inter-Church Council Public Questions Committee. 

 Rev. M. J. Savage, New Zealand Inter-Church Council Public Questions Committee. 

*Mr. W. Olphert, Sea Cadets. 

 Mr. R. Sanders, Sea Cadets. 

 Miss J. W. Whitton, Former Police Woman. 

*Rev. A. J. Johnson, Senior Youth Director, Methodist Church of New Zealand. 

*Mr G. A. Pitkethley, General Secretary, Hutt Valley Y. M. C. A. 

 Mr H. J. M. Christie, Chairman, Youth Department, Hutt Valley Y. M. C. A. 

 Mr P. Dowse, Mayor of Lower Hutt. 

*Superintendent D. R. Sugrue, In charge of Christchurch Police District. 

 Mr H. A. Adams, President, Christchurch Psychological Society. 

 Mr B. F. O'Connor, Secretary, Christchurch Psychological Society. 

 Mrs Young, Member, Christchurch Psychological Society. 

 Miss Saunders, Member, Christchurch Psychological Society. 

*Mr T. C. Cutler, Vice-President, Youth Hostels Association. 

 Mr J. L. McKie, Secretary, Youth Hostels Association. 

*Mr P. A. Smithells, Director, School of Physical Education, Otago University. 

 Mr J. C. H. Chapman, Farmer, Kurow. 

*Rev. C. R. Harris, Methodist Minister, Riccarton. 

*Mrs W. Averill, President, Young Members Department, Anglican Mothers' Union. 

 Miss M. J. Havelaar, Branch President, National Council of Women. 

*Mrs W. Grant, President, Y. W. C. A. , Christchurch. 

*Mrs R. W. Lattimore, President, Catholic Women's League. 

*Major H. Goffin, Divisional Commander, Salvation Army, Canterbury-Westland. 

 Captain E. Orsborne, Youth Director, Salvation Army, Canterbury-Westland. 

*Mr J. R. O'Sullivan, District Child Welfare Officer, Christchurch. 

 Mrs M. E. Barrance, Child Welfare Officer, Christchurch. 

*Mr J. F. Johnson, Senior Inspector of Schools, Canterbury. 

*Rev. W. M. Hendrie, Youth Director, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. 

*Rev. T. C. Campbell, Superintendent, Presbyterian Social Services Association. 

 Mr J. Bruorton, Crichton Cobbers Club. 

 Mr J. McCracken, Crichton Cobbers Club. 

 Miss K. J. Scotter, Principal, Girls' Training School, Burwood. 

*Mr W. H. E. Easterbrook-Smith, Senior Tutor Adult Education (HuttValley, Wairarapa). 

 Miss N. J. Clark, Principal, Wellington Girls' College. 

*Mr K. A. Falconer, Secretary, Wellington Hockey Association. 

*Commissioner Hoggard, Territorial Commander, Salvation Army. 

 Colonel B. Cook, Secretary, Salvation Army. 

 Major R. Usher, Salvation Army. 

 Brigadier B. Nicholson, Salvation Army. 

 Dr N. H. Gascoigne, Director, Catholic Education. 

*Mrs H. Bullock, Anglican Mothers Union and National Council of Women. 

 Miss Forde, National Council of Women. 

*Senior Superintendent P. Munro, In charge of Auckland Police District. 

 Mr S. L. Vaile, President, New Zealand Booksellers' Association. 

*Miss G. M. Gebbie, Organizing Secretary, Girls' Life Brigade. 

 Detective D. J. Brewer. Police Department, Auckland. 

*Mr G. C. Smith, District Child Welfare Officer, Auckland. 

*Mr J. Nesbitt, Teacher, Te Papapa School. 

 Mr S. H. Craig, President, New Zealand Motion Picture Distributors' Association. 

 Mr Phil Maddock, General Manager, J. Arthur Rank Organization. 

 Mr A. McClure, Managing Director, Warner Bros. Ltd. 

*Rev. F. R. Bolmor, Minister, Presbyterian Church, Mount Roskill. 

*Mrs A. J. McClure, Mount Albert Baptist Church. 

*Dr B. Friedlander, Dental Surgeon, Auckland. 

 Mr A. E. Campbell, Chief Inspector of Primary Schools, Department of Education, Wellington. 

*Miss G. M. Rohan, Retired School Teacher, Auckland. 

*Mr C. R. Bach, Teacher, Otahuhu College, Auckland. 

*Mr E. V. Dumbleton. Managing Editor, Auckland _Star_. 

*Mr A. G. Long, Nursery Play Centres Association. 

*Mr J. C. Reid, Lecturer in English, Auckland University. 

*Dr E. M. Blaiklock, Professor of Classics, Auckland University. 

*Professor A. G. Davis, Dean of Faculty of Law, Auckland University. 

*Mr M. F. Smith, National Secretary, Christian Endeavour Union. 

*Mrs O. Bickerton, Liaison Officer, Auckland Nursery Play Centre Association. 

 Mr A. Gray, President, Auckland Nursery Play Centre Association. 

 Dr Elizabeth Hughes, Vice-President, New Zealand Paediatric Society, Auckland. 

 Miss C. R. Ashton, General Secretary, Y. W. C. A. , Auckland. 

 Mr L. Adams, Onehunga. 

 Mr M. D. Nairn, Headmaster, Mount Albert Grammar School, Auckland. 

*Mr P. T. Keane, Headmaster, Kowhai Intermediate School. 

*Mr A. S. R. O'Halloran, President, New Zealand Rationalists Association. 

*Mr W. A. T. Underwood, Principal, Hamilton East School. 

*Dr R. J. Delargey, Catholic Youth Director. 

*Father L. V. Downey, Director, Catholic Social Services. 

*Mr C. Bennett, President, Auckland United Orphanages Council. 

 Mr R. S. Harrop, Hon. Secretary, Auckland United Orphanages Council. 

 Mr R. B. Giesen, Member, Auckland United Orphanages Council. 

 Mr A. Gifford, Retired Chemist, Auckland. 

*Mr B. M. Kibblewhite, Former Vice-President, Teachers' Training College. 

 Mr A. S. Partridge, Vice-President, Auckland National Council Parents and Teachers' Association. 

*Major H. G. Rogers, Matron, Salem House, Salvation Army. 

 Captain T. Smith, Matron, Bethany Hospital, Salvation Army, Auckland. 

*Mr C. R. Shann, Engineer, Private Citizen, Auckland. 

 Mr J. A. Lee, Writer and Bookseller, Auckland. 

*Rev. T. C. Somerville, Convener, Auckland Presbyterian Youth Committee. 

 Mr J. R. McClure, Lecturer, Teachers' Training College, Auckland. 

*Mr H. Binstead, Retired Principal of the Manukau Intermediate School. 

*Archdeacon A. E. Prebble, Vicar of St. Marks, Remuera. 

*Mr T. C. Ward, Headmaster, Epuni Primary School, and President, Hutt Valley Headmasters' Association. 

 Mr N. J. Caldwell, Headmaster, Rata Street School, and ex-President of Hutt Valley Headmasters' Association. 

*Mr I. B. Johnson, Headmaster, Naenae College, Lower Hutt. 

 Mr W. B. Dyer, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Naenae College, Lower Hutt. 

BY AUTHORITY: R. E. OWEN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON. --1954 _Price3s. _

[Transcriber's notes:]

There were no footnotes in this text. Most [#] markers indicate spellingmistakes, the original spelling is listed below. 

[1] was: intercouse[2] was: recomendation[3] handwritten addition to the text, which has been left, as it is fully in context. [4] was: unobstrusively[5] was: symtomatic[6] was: psychologicaly[7] was: anomolous