Chapter 2

"Recruits chosen with due regard to the foregoing are required to undergo a course extending over five weeks in the Police School at Lyttelton. They are coached in subjects relating to statutes, general police duties, powers and responsibilities of the police, methods of dealing with various contingencies with which they may be faced when on duty, relations with and bearing towards the general public, first-aid, and self-defence. In short, this course is similar in character to that undergone by male recruits to the Force.

"Women recruits are instructed by a pathologist in matters pertaining to pregnancy, abortion, and the identification of abortion instruments and drugs. They receive instruction in maternity hospitals, with special reference to the unmarried mother. Children's homes, orphanages, and also homes for the aged are visited and studied with a view to creating a solid background for the policewomen's work.

"With the co-operation of the Justice Department women trainees visit prisons and borstal institutions. They also attend and study procedure at Magistrates' and Supreme Courts. The workings of the probation service and Child Welfare Department are also the subject of visits and study.

"The training course of five weeks is shorter than that for men, but women recruits appear to absorb instruction more quickly and less time is devoted to physical training.

"B. _Suggestions Relative to Training_

"It is felt the present training syllabus coupled with the practical experience which rapidly follows is adequate and that each policewoman is capable of dealing with the problem of the girl who has been involved in sexual offences.

"C. _Further Comments_

"The Police Department appreciates that if increased numerically and used more generally policewomen may be a great factor in the prevention of juvenile delinquency, provided that through their frequent association with children, both in the company of their parents and at all grades of school, they become accepted by these young persons from infancy. The help and guidance of women police could be sought on grounds similar to those of the school dental nurse who in her particular sphere is banishing the fear of dental treatment. It is felt a similar approach to the child's moral welfare is worthy of consideration."

It is a fact that within recent weeks steps have been taken by the Government to establish and operate an improved system of training for recruits for the Police Force. We had no information before us as to the nature of the course or the length of the training period: nor do we know whether a specific course of training will be prescribed for women recruits. We feel, however, that it is a fair assumption that a sounder, more thorough, and more systematic system is about to be put into operation. We feel, too, that with the increased emphasis about to be laid upon training, it can safely be taken for granted that every effort has been, and will continue to be, made to give effect to the suggestions of the Mazengarb Committee.

(_b_) Department of Internal Affairs

It was a recommendation of the Mazengarb Committee that steps should be taken to gazette the outstanding regulations authorized under the relevant film censorship Acts of 1934 and 1953.

A report received from the Department of Internal Affairs contains the information set out below:

"It could be assumed from the terms of the recommendation that no regulations are at present in force governing the censorship of films and film posters. This, however, is not the case, as appropriate regulations have been in operation for many years. What is now contemplated is a revision of the existing regulations to take account of later legislation and to modernise them in the light of new developments and policies relating to this aspect of the film industry.

"In particular, the Cinematograph Films Amendment Act 1953 made fairly extensive amendments to existing law relating to censorship, and this in turn has led to the necessity for a completely new approach to certain policy and machinery aspects of the existing regulations. For these reasons, and as the film industry is a licensed and controlled industry, the Committee will understand that it has not been possible, or even perhaps desirable, to progress as speedily as would be the case with other regulations of a more normal character.

"For the information of your Committee the general position now is that the regulations are in a final stage of preparation and will be submitted for Government approval as soon as practicable."

We have been advised that quite recently a final draft of the regulations was forwarded to the Film Industry Board for consideration. We were told, too, that conferences are being held between officers of the Department of Internal Affairs on the one hand and members of the Film Industry Board on the other. It is expected that at the conclusion of such conferences an agreed draft will be sent forward to the Government.

(_c_) Broadcasting Service

Two recommendations were before us for our consideration:

(1) "That the Service ensure that the concept 'Crime must never pay' is more prominently featured in crime serials; and

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

In its report to us the Broadcasting Service says:

"As regards (1), the Service has always attached great importance to this principle. We can let feature producers know that we attach greater importance to it than ever; but we cannot make it more explicit or more prominent in a feature than the producers have. (After all, no convention in the field of dramatic fiction, in any medium, is stronger or better understood than the convention which distinguishes hero and villain and makes the first triumph over the second.)

"As regards (2), this extends a practice in accordance with which, since 1952, one or another of the senior women officers of the Service has been used as a referee, when auditioning officers have been in doubt about the proper classification and placement of features.

"It may be said in summary, then, that the principles, methods, and practice of the Service are in general commended; that they are in no respect criticized severely and in no respect without express qualification; and that the Committee suggests or recommends no new purpose, no new method, but only the closer application of methods already well tried to a purpose which events have made weightier and more urgent.

"Nevertheless, it has appeared to be desirable to consider what action could and should be taken in accordance with what appears to be the spirit of the Committee's comments and recommendations on Broadcasting rather than with their letter. This has been done, and in what follows I wish to offer some comments and explanations, to review action taken as soon as the report was available and later decisions now being carried out, and to ask for further direction."

"_Action: Immediate and Continuing:_

"(i) After the report had been studied Station Managers and other responsible officers were asked to take interim action to ensure that the spirit of the Committee's conclusions in regard to a certain type of song was reflected in their programmes. They were also asked to let us know, with reasons, of any serial features running at their stations which they think should be considered for withdrawal or later time placement.

"(ii) Two married women of senior status on our staff have been selected to sit in alternation on the Standard Recordings Purchasing Committee and the Features Purchasing Committee. They will not be able to hear with every auditioning officer all episodes of features or all single recordings of songs. To duplicate auditioning staff for this purpose would require the full-time service of five or six married women. Either one, however, will with the Committee study reports, agreeing to acceptance or rejection, and help to guide auditioning and purchasing policy. Doubtful cases brought up by auditioning officers will be heard by them as well as by other senior officers.

"(iii) The time allotted to features classified as suitable for playing when large audiences of children may be expected to be listening has been from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; it is now to be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. There may be differences of opinion from time to time on suitability of features for this classification as we have a considerable number of public judges of our decisions, but we shall do our best. All auditioning officers will be fully alert to their responsibility.

"(iv) Opportunity was taken at a conference in Wellington at the end of last month of the senior programme organizers of all stations throughout the country to discuss fully their responsibilities towards the matters raised in the Committee's report. They also discussed the draft of a revised code of instructions to auditioning officers and others, and this code is now being circulated.

"(v) An extension of present procedure on popular song records was decided upon for Head Office auditioning officers. Records will be wholly rejected, or passed for general use, or passed with the reservation that they are to be programmed with special care (i.e., as to time placement, frequency, etc.)."

"The following further action is to be taken:

"(i) The issue of the code referred to above will give effect to the Service's desire for the consistent wholesomeness of programmes, the need to aim constantly to maintain standards in programmes of all kinds at the highest appropriate level, and the need to exercise discretion in programming material which might be rendered objectionable by repetition, inappropriate time placement, or standard and style of performance.

"(ii) Some of the dramatic features at present running will be reauditioned if it is thought that they may be out of tune with the present atmosphere or the revised time classification. Even with additional assistance this task may take about six months. There may be some financial loss if many episodes are to be discarded or if the withdrawal of episodes or alteration of time classification creates difficulties in providing replacement programmes at short notice for sponsors. It is relevant here to note the difference between ourselves and film or book censors. After censoring we must ourselves face the financial result of our actions and the administrative difficulty of finding substitute and less objectionable material.

"(iii) Suppliers of transcribed programmes in Australia are to be advised of the implications of the report so far as it is likely to affect our future purchasing policy.

"There has been a tendency amongst our critics (I do not refer here to the Committee) to make insufficient allowance for the considerable part played by broadcasting in serving the public good in the spheres of information, education, the arts, and community services. As Sir William Haley, formerly Director-General of the B.B.C. and now Editor of the _Times_ said in a recent lecture on _The Public Influence of Broadcasting and the Press_: 'It is, of course, possible to counter all this by raising one's eyebrows at some of the variety programmes. They are the other side of the medal. But one must look at the whole'."

Our conclusions as a Committee are as follows:

(1) The officers of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service have studied in a properly co-operative spirit the suggestions and recommendations of the Mazengarb Committee, and that

(2) They are alive to the responsibilities that rest upon them as a Department of State charged with the task of operating a most important medium of public entertainment, information and instruction, and that

(3) They have, over the years, worked out for themselves a code of procedure under which a high and commendable standard of broadcasting has been, and is being, maintained, and that

(4) They are taking all reasonable and practicable steps to give effect to the suggestions put forward by the Mazengarb Committee, and that

(5) We express the hope that the utmost vigilance should be exercised over the choice, content, and timing of programmes--especially over those designed for the extended hours set apart for juvenile listeners--and that every effort be made to maintain the high standard that the Service has set for itself. We recommend, too, that during the hours set apart for children there should be a complete absence of features that can fairly be regarded as being unsuitable for or injurious to young people.

(_d_) Censoring Authorities

On this point we cite a paragraph from a memorandum placed before us by the Secretary for the Department of Internal Affairs. It reads as follows:

"A further recommendation contained in the report is to the following effect:

"'Any Departments concerned with censorship should maintain a liaison to produce as far as possible a uniform interpretation of public opinion and taste.'

"In the view of this Department the objective of the recommendation is good and should be followed up by appropriate action. There are several Departments concerned from different angles, and it would seem that the recommendation could best be implemented by whichever Department is charged with the general oversight of matters relating to moral delinquency. It would then be merely a matter of administrative action for that Department to call periodical meetings of the appropriate officers concerned with censorship."

We, as a Committee, agree with the view expressed above, and recommend it to the Government for consideration.

(_e_) Department of Education

(i) _Relative Functions of Public Health Nurses and Visiting Teachers._--The duties of visiting teachers were laid down quite specifically in an official circular in 1953. Senior officers of the two Departments discussed the relative functions of public health nurses and visiting teachers very fully soon after the publication of the report. The two Departments and Education Boards have drawn the attention of all visiting teachers and public health nurses to methods of avoiding overlapping and of working in co-operation. In a number of districts Child Care Committees, sponsored by Senior Inspectors of Schools, have instituted central case registers. These have been a great help in ensuring that visiting teachers and public health nurses do not deal independently with the same child and family.

A residential course at Frederic Wallis House, Lower Hutt, has been planned for visiting teachers and public health nurses in 1956.

(ii) and (iii) _Additional Visiting Teachers and Type of Officer to Help in Post-Primary Schools_.--Approval has been given for four additional visiting teachers--two in Auckland, one in Wellington, and one in Christchurch. Discussions have been held with representative post-primary-school principals on the kind of help they need with problem children. Rather than have visiting teachers specially attached to the post-primary service, the great majority of principals were strongly in favour of extending the functions of the Education Boards' visiting teachers to cover post-primary pupils, so that one individual could follow the members of a family through their full school career. Approval has therefore been given for this. As a further assistance to both primary and post-primary schools, three additional school psychologists have been appointed.

(iv) _Housing for Teachers._--The Department has been trying to deal with this problem in two ways:

(_a_) By an extension of existing policy for the erection of teachers' houses. All Education Boards were consulted as to where the greatest need for additional houses lay, and, without exception, they gave highest priority to rural areas and small towns. The Government is giving consideration to an extension of policy based on this advice. In 1954, 61 houses were built for teachers; this year the number is expected to be 84.

(_b_) By the use of the "pool" housing scheme administered by an Inter-departmental Pool Housing Committee. Under this scheme, a proportion of all new State houses erected is set aside for letting to State employees and teachers on transfer. The Department of Education is represented on the Committee that makes the allocations and represents the needs and interests of the teachers and the schools. Most of the areas concerned are in housing settlements.

(v) _Facilities for Recreation._--The use of school grounds and buildings after school hours is entirely in the hands of boards and local committees. The Department has no direct authority in the matter, but does facilitate and encourage such use. Practice varies, but in many schools very great use is made of school facilities for community purposes. The work in this respect will be made more effective by the decision taken at the beginning of 1955 to build halls in all new post-primary and intermediate schools built to the new designs, to re-introduce the L2 for L1 subsidy up to L4,000 for halls in primary schools and to give a pound-for-pound subsidy up to L4,000 on gymnasia in post-primary schools. Approval has just been given, on an experimental basis, for a subsidy on a gymnasium and cafeteria in one intermediate school in Auckland, with the express condition that it be used "to provide recreational and cultural facilities for young people who have left school".

The Committee recommends these opinions for the consideration of the Government.

(_f_) Research Into Juvenile Delinquency

The Mazengarb Committee was of opinion that there should be a long-term study of the problem of delinquency. As a matter of fact the present Committee heard evidence on this suggestion from several witnesses, and we were greatly impressed by what we heard. It goes without saying that if one would seek a remedy for a given problem a thorough diagnosis of the problem itself is a fundamental prerequisite. First let us find the facts; let us know what is the nature and extent of the evil; let us get as much data as to its causes and incidence. With that material in hand we should be in a better position to search for useful methods of treatment. This task of fact finding would be a long and arduous one; it would need to be entrusted to experts of wide knowledge and experience. A start has already been made by the setting up of the Inter-Departmental Committee referred to earlier in this report. We strongly recommend the Government to give very favourable consideration to this particular proposal, and we hope that ways and means will be found of giving effect to it. We think that this suggestion is of fundamental importance in any approach to the problem, and we consider it should be given consideration by the Government.

_Instruction for Parents_: In the long run the responsibility for a child's general well-being rests upon the parents. Some can, and do, take every care to discharge that responsibility. Others either fail or neglect to do so. In some cases this failure comes from a lack of the necessary knowledge or from inability to impart it. In one memorandum addressed to the Committee there appear the following paragraphs:

"I think it highly probable that much delinquency is due to the fact that parents simply do not know how to teach their children on a subject that many parents regard as secret between parents. I think it highly unlikely that a parent will consult an adviser (say, a doctor) as to how the child should be trained, and I am not so sure that a doctor would know what advice to tender even if he was consulted.

"Instruction of parents seems to be the job of a specialist. The doctors have prepared several booklets on sex instruction.

"I am wondering if good attendance could be secured for a series of lectures by specialists to parents, either to both sexes or to mothers alone. A mother would probably be more likely to attend a meeting as one of an audience rather than to suffer the embarrassment of a personal consultation with, say, a doctor to whom she has to admit that she does not know how to discharge her duty to her children.

"It is generally agreed that much of the cause of child delinquency is due to unsatisfactory home influence and parental control and example, but the fact that many of the offenders come from good homes and fine parents is strong evidence, I feel, that there is some important deficiency even in those good homes, and it may well be that that deficiency lies in the fact that the parents do not really know how to give their children the knowledge that they should have in the way they should receive it. I am confident that we have people who could help in this important work. Perhaps women lecturers would be best."

We are of opinion that the views expressed above do merit very serious consideration. We realize the tremendous difficulty we face in trying to reach those who stand most in need of the help that is here referred to. We recognize, however, that all our children must spend a big portion of their young lives in our primary and post-primary schools. It is here that positive and well-planned character training and instruction in moral values can be undertaken with a certainty that the instruction and the training will reach those whom we would wish to help. Do we take full advantage of this opportunity? Do we give enough attention to those inner disciplines that are so essential if a good life is to be enjoyed by our young people? We are satisfied that our teachers as a whole nobly discharge their obligations to our community in this regard. We think, however, that the matters touched upon in this paragraph are within the special province of the Department of Education and its Minister, and it is our recommendation that they should be referred to that Minister for examination and for such positive action as he may consider proper and desirable.

We think also that much more could be done in the homes if the ranks of our visiting teachers, public health nurses, and school psychologists were strengthened considerably, and we strongly recommend that action along these lines should be taken by the Departments of Education and Health.

We are also of opinion that in any effort to reach parents over the widest possible field a very useful agency lies ready to our hands in our Parent-Teacher and Home and School Associations, and it is our hope that this agency might be much more positively used to awaken and maintain a due sense of parental responsibility and a proper understanding of the moral and spiritual needs of children.

With such thoughts in mind, we would recommend that the Director of Education be asked to confer with the appropriate experts to see how far, and under what conditions, suitable courses of lectures could be provided for parents and prospective parents.

The Special Legislation of the 1954 Session