Adolescents’ Problems Discussed By Doctor

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29265, 25 July 1960, Page 14

Adolescents’ Problems Discussed By Doctor

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, July 24. Adolescents in New Zealand lack a knowledge of sex and physical maturity. They receive little or no help from their parents in understanding sex and are treated at secondary school as if maturity is still some way off. Dr. Elsie Davidge, a senior medical officer in the Child Hygiene Division of the Health Department, made these points in a lecture on Saturday to child welfare officers and post-primary school teachers.

She was one of a number of expert speakers at a week-end course on adolescent problems which was organised by psychological service of the Education Department in Auckland.

There was a rather ignorant generation of adolescents who did not understand ' the cycle of reproduction and had only a limited knowledge of how conception took place, said*Dr. Davidge. Adolescents knew nothing about their physical changes during puberty. They were beset by old wives’ tales and the peculiar knowledge picked up here and there only confused them. Parents were able to deal satisfactorily with the sex questions of small children, but did nothing about sex education of the older child, said Dr. Davidge. Adolescent girls received some

instruction on physical changes, but very few boys were given similar teaching. Dealing with adolescent growth and development. Dr. Davidge said adolescents as a whole were a healthy lot. Doctors did not see much of them.

However, at this critical age nutrition was most important. It was only in young adulthood that diet deficiencies became apparent, as in the case of signs of lack of stamina in young women during their first pregnancy. Parents were not able to supervise adolescents’ diet so readily as they did during childhood. Coffee bars, said Dr. Davidge. were full of' adolescents.

Another reason for the lack of stamina amongst adolescents was insufficient sleep. These days, most parents were to bed before their ’teenage children, and they had little idea how much sleep the youngsters were getting. Exercise was important for the adolescent and Dr. Davidge had a word of criticism for the physical exercises conducted by most secondary schools. It was significant, she said, that the only time adolescents enjoyed using their bodies was when they were flinging themselves round doing rock n' roll. “This should teach us something about what we should do in our schools,” she said. Most adolescents wanted to dp something more enjoy abe than jumping over boxes or hanging from bars. In some schools weight-lifting and running were being introduced and this was a good thing.