TEACHING CHILDREN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 224, 21 September 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

TEACHING CHILDREN.

There are still some parents and nurses foolish enough to try to frighten children, when they are naughty, by telling them they will call a policeman. Certainly this stupid threat is not heard as often as it used to be, but "If you don't be quiet I'll fetch a bobby is sometimes usr.d, and the consequence is that the children grow up regarding a policeman as a kind of ogre and someone to be feared, rather than a friend. Children should be taught that a policeman is someone who will help them 111 a difficulty—someone to whom they can "o if they lose themselves, are afraid to cross a street, cannot find a certain load or house, or their puppy gets lost. If every child were taught to say his name and address clearly, and told that he must go at once to a policeman if he misses his father or his mother when he is out with them, or if he cannot find his way, there would be far fewer distracted parents because children are missing for a few hours. Schools have done a great' deal to counteract this fear of policemen by having a policeman stationed near the school buildings to guide the children across busy streets. ' In one part of England schools have gone further still, and members of the police force gave the children actual instruction on rules of the road with the intention of preventing accidents. Children, especially little boys, love to know how things are done, and anything that teaches them how traffic is controlled and the rules of the road is eagerly listened to if it is made interesting and presented in a novel manner.