CHILD LABOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 191, 15 August 1939, Page 11

CHILD LABOUR.

EXCLUSION URGED.

SECONDARY INDUSTRIES.

TEACHER'S EXPERIENCES.

The absolute exclusion of 13-year-old children from secondary industry is advocated by a school teacher, "M.C.," writing in the August issue of "National Education." the official journal of the Xew Zealand Educational Institute. The writer states that at the present time an endeavour is being made to encourage New Zealand's secondary industries which, she says, is all to the good unless it is going to mean the widespread evil of child labour. The article continues: — "Already there are hundreds of children under 1(5 working in our factories, and the number is steadily increasing. If teachers will not lead the campaign against this, assuredly no one. else will. "Since the need is very urgent, and since most reforms only come by piecemeal. I would urge teachers to agitate for the immediate introduction of some such scheme n* the following: Exclusion of 1.1-year-olds; children of 14 and 15 to work in the mornings only; where parents can prove definite hardship resulting from this, children's earnings to be subsidised from the social security fund*; in the afternoons child ren of 14 and 15 to spend two hours per day in compulsory attendance at suit able secondary classes and half an hour a day in organised physical activities. Youth of Workers. "Admittedly there w()uld be difficulties, lint they would be as nothing com--1 pared with the benefits accruing each year to hundreds of Xew Ze,,l nil's filtli i u citizens. The whole qlie.-tinii is imo deserving the iinnr.'diure and sympathetic attention of teachers." Relating her experiences in the furl night that she relieved a f-i -lid a; n boot factory, the writer taid cll,it -he found that half the women workci> wc re not more than 17 year* old. l.;\ter it w'm found that the majority ct Hu-ui had already been working in faclm us for several years. "Most of them were pnl.' fuce I gi"N with poor complexions ,iin! witii hair uniformly dull and lifeless, depute careJ fnl adherence to current H ■Ilywoiwl fa-hions in arrangement." Added the writer. "Only one of the 20 indulged in sport of any kind as a recreation. I do not menu to give the impression that the«e girl* were stupid or dull. On the contrary, I think that intelligence tests would .show that the group were quite up to an average standard. Dull and Unsatisfying. "l!ut where were those cultural interests, those fascinating hobbies, which we as teachers have been striving for years to encourage! If ever there was need for the interesting and intelligent line of leisure it is in occupations of this type that arc so deadly dull and unsatisfying in themselves. "To me. these factory girls proved conclusively that only in rare instances, or in a particularly good home environment) can lasting cultural interests grow out of pie-adolescent training alone. lam certain that every one of these girls, would have benefited enormously, socially as well as intellectually, from some form of secondary schooling."