Youth of today, honestly! Were things better in the past?
To parents who have children at Manndalen School.
Letter to everyone in Manndalen. In the lead-up to Christmas, several enquiries were made to the child welfare board regarding the conditions among children in Manndalen.
Among the complaints received, it emerged, inter alia, that a large proportion of the children appear to be completely without control by home and parents. Many children roam around virtually everywhere without their parents knowing where they are. And they are often out until the middle of the night.
There are also complaints that groups of schoolchildren have been shouting and hollering and shining torches at windows in certain places in the village.
Other things have also been mentioned.
Now that the child welfare tribunal is contacting you parents, it is to draw attention to the responsibility that the home has. It is you who must ensure that the children come in at the right time. You are also expected to have a certain amount of control over where the children are during their free time. The child welfare tribunal hopes that homes will see their responsibility so that one can avoid receiving further complaints about such matters.
The police regulations for Kåfjord state that no action may be undertaken or take place on public roads that disturbs public order or molests travellers. Consequently, the throwing of stones or snowballs, shouting, screaming or other noisy or indecent behaviour must not take place.
It is forbidden to let children under the age of 14 roam outside on public roads after 9 pm
from 1 September to 1 April and after 22:00 from 1 April to 31 August. Exempt from this rule are children accompanied by their parents or other adults.
The school also has its rules which are observed. But everyone will surely understand that father and mother or other guardians have the greatest responsibility and the best opportunity to help the children. That is what we are now asking you to do. In particular, we ask that you get the children in good time in the evening.
Children in the early years should be inside by 19:00 at the latest. The older children by 20:30 at the latest.
Olderdalen, January 1959
For Kåfjord Child Welfare Tribunal
A. Ekberg (signed) Chairman.
Transcript of Nils Petter Nilsen