JUVENILE CRIME AND PARENTS
SIR,—Certain statements in the recent article by R. H. Cecil on the increase in crime among children call for some protest. Citizenship (based on the Christian ethic) is in Mr. Cecil's view not best taught by parents, but by a " universally-parental Government," using the Ministry of Education as its instrument. Teachers would perhaps prefer the more astringent view put forth by R. G. Collingwood in his New Leviathan— that a civilisation which turns over its children to professional educators is doomed to bankruptcy, in that "it has entrusted the conservation of its own traditions to a class of persons who, owing to their position, have not the power to conserve them."
Teachers are aware of these limitations. Children do not learn good behaviour by precept, but from practice, and by imitation of the people who matter most to them. Much of the so-called " crime " is the result of challenges to daring and to emulation among children themselves, when left unsupervised by their elders. What these children lack is the companionship of their parents, and particularly of their fathers. It is too commonly assumed that the home disintegrates solely because the mother is employed outside the home ; many fathers play scarcely any part in the upbringing of their own children. This was understandable in the past, with long hours of work in industry ; but now that working days are shorter and week-ends longer, might not some of the extra time be devoted by fathers to playing with their school-age children?
It is true they will find that there is no place in which to play ; for the many town-planning projects for neighbouring units, with playing space within walking distance of each home, have not yet come into existence. But parents could apply remedial methods, while children cannot ; and customs set up by the non-delinquent type of parent might be followed by the less responsible. Would not this be preferable to inviting the danger of a totalitarian society, of the type which we have been so assiduously opposing?—Yours faithfully, C. A. MURRAY.
Education Dept., The University, Readine, Berks.
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