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