Emily Murphy was a powerful speaker, particularly on
issues surrounding child welfare. Convinced that better
parents resulted in better children, Murphy sought to
improve the level of parenting in Canada by promoting
education and prenatal classes. She also introduced classes
designed specifically for children who were coping with
disabilities, offering support so that that they too could
be useful members of society.
As a police magistrate, Murphy often dealt with children
who were brought before her as "juvenile delinquents." It
was her great hope that women entering politics would help
correct some causes of delinquency, because she believed
that many problems were rooted in the child's home life, and
women often pursued legislation that strengthened the home.
Murphy lay most of the blame for juvenile delinquency upon
the parents, and identified some major causes:
- Unhappy marriages in which the children catch the brunt of their parents' anger
- Broken homes: desertion of the home by a parent; separation and divorce
- Over-indulgence of children by parents, resulting in children who do not understand that
there are consequences for poor behaviour
- Street life, including vending by children
- Commercialized amusements, like dance halls, that separate young people from the home
environment
- Commercialization of sex in songs, literature, drinks, pictures, vaudeville theatre and jazz
- Education of children regarding birth control at a "shockingly young" age
- Poverty
To help remedy the poverty that often resulted
when the head of a family was imprisoned, Murphy suggested
that the state should either give prisoner's earnings to
their family, or provide state support to the needy
children.
Murphy was also concerned about the proper
education of children, and listed the following as
necessary:
- Children must be taught principles, especially truthfulness
- Children must not be punished after making a full confession
- She felt it was everyone's duty to earn a living, and believed that
girls should be taught to pay their own bills, as well as boys
- Cleanliness is vital for health
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