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

VII.  Some Visual and Auditory Influences

=(1) Objectionable Publications=

There has been a great wave of public indignation against some paper-backed or “pulp” printed matter.  Crime stories, tales of “intimate exciting romance”, and so-called “comics” have all been blamed for exciting erotic feelings in children.  The suggestiveness in the cover pictures of glamour girls dressed in a thin veiling often attracts more attention than the pages inside.

Immorality would probably not result from the distribution of these publications, unless there were in the child, awaiting expression, an unhealthy degree of sexual emotionalism.  Some of these publications are, possibly, more harmful to girls than to boys in that girls more readily identify themselves with the chief characters.  One striking piece of information which was conveyed to the Committee was that the girls under detention in a certain institution (the greater number of them had had a good deal of sexual experience) decided that various publications were more harmful than films because the images conveyed by the printed matter 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 to children 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 because that law relates only to things which are indecent or obscene.

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

When considering comics it is essential to appreciate the difference between the traditional comic, intended exclusively for children, and the more modern style which is basically designed for low-mentality adults.  Both styles and variations of them circulate widely in New Zealand among children and adolescents.  In general, however, younger children buy, and even prefer, the genuine comic which is not harmful and may even be helpful.  Adolescents, and adults also, are attracted by comic books that have been denounced by various authorities as anti-educational, and even pernicious, in moral outlook.

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