Children’s Curfew

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

Children’s Curfew

A “More Sleep For Children” Campaign

(‘‘Dominion’’ Special Service: By Airmail.) London, June 18. TTEACHERS at the annual meeting X of their association this year have been trying to inaugurate a “More Sleep for Children’’ campaign.

Concern was expressed by many delegates at the harm suffered by small children at lack of sleep, and it was. suggested that each night at 8.30 a bell should be rung in all towns after which children would not be allowed to play in the streets. “The trouble is that we are suffering to-day in our schools from lack of parental control,” declared Miss E. M. Biggs, of London. “When mothers had large families they were only too glad to get their children off to bed as early as possible. Those children had morq sleep than the children of our families of one or two get to-day.”

This lack of sleep, Miss Biggs explained, resulted in children who were not alert at their work, and it nullified the efforts of school medical services.

In her school of 300 children. Miss Biggs continued, more than 200 of them lived in flats and every family in the flats had a wireless set

“A mother told me,” she said, “that when her child goes to bed she can hear five radios going at the same time.”

Miss J. R. Crosbie. of Liverpool, suggested that a curfew should be rung at a certain hour each night after which children would not lie allowed in the streets. “We are told that it would be interfering with the liberty of the individual,” she said, “but you ring, curfews every morning to bring the children from the streets into school, so why should we... not ring curfew to take them from the bad environments of the streets at night to bed? “To-day we have children who are walking in their sleep until 11 o’clock in the morning.”