the incompetent adult in kids' stories

An author friend says that, on occasion, an adult will write to him, expressing annoyance about how incompetent many of the adult spies are in his books.    They feel this isn't very realistic.

This kind of reaction, which most children's authors will tell you they get in a steady stream, mainly comes from people who believe that children's literature exists to instruct children in some way.

Interestingly, it's that very concern that leads to the problem:  throughout history, human cultures have seen need for stories with children protagonists who must display resourcefulness and bravery (or whatever other virtues we're trying to instill).    They must, then, be in situations where an adult would ordinarily intervene —– but without the adult.    A great number of stories solve the problem by dispatching the parents on the first page.    But that still leaves stories where a kid must encounter an adult world that somehow leaves an authority-and-safety vacuum that a kid protagonist can fill.

So, today's parents often complain about the "stupid dad" meme or the "incompetent adult" meme, because of their concern for the teaching duty of stories —– a concern that created the very memes they complain about.