DRINK AND SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 55, 3 September 1945, Page 6

DRINK AND SCHOOLS

DR. BEEBY'S EVIDENCE

EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS

Having been asked to comment on the nature of temperance education which could be given in the primary and secondary schools, Dr. C. E. Beeby, Director of Education, presented a memorandum on the subject to the Royal Commission on Licensing today. In the primary schools the teaching of temperance and of the effects of alcohol on the human body had been compulsory for very many years, said Dr. Beeby. All teachers of standard classes were requested to include in their schemes of work full and specific entries under the heading "Temperance." Considerable latitude was allowed to teachers in the planning of the lessons and in the detailed treatment. There was a tendency to treat temperance less as an isolated topic and more as an aspect of a wide range of subjects, particularly hygiene, science, physical education, and social studies. In a new syllabus on health education recently issued, the following remarks had been made:— "Temperance in its widest sense, that is, the avoidance of any over-indul-gence, is an essential part of the scheme in health. The harmful effects of over-indulgence in any activities in life are dealt with in the programmes for the junior and middle schools. Specific teaching on the effect of alcohol is reserved for the upper school programme, where it will be treated in a scientific manner as part of the health course. In broad outline, the lessons provide for discussion of the food value of aclohol, the effect of alcohol on the human bady, and alcohol in the light of modern research. ' "The treatment of alcohol in this way largely removes much of the controversial element that hitherto, caused some difficulty in presentation. The lessons outline simple facts in a manner that does not lend itself to misinterpretation. A knowledge of these facts is essential for all children at the primary school stage." Students in teachers' training colleges were given instructions in their courses on hygiene or physical education to help them to deal with that syllabus, continued the witness. In most secondary schools girls would touch on the effects of alcohol in their home science courses, and rather fewer of the boys would meet the topic in science or physical education courses. The Education Department had never exercised in secondary schools the same control of the syllabus that it had in the primary schools. Opinions varied widely among teachers in secondary schools as to the value of specific teaching on^the effects of alcohol. In some schools there had been intensive insistence on the evil effects of alcohol. The teaching of temperance in the other schools had not been neglected. MODERATION IN BROAD SENSE. "Indeed, it is difficult to see how education worthy of the name can be carried on if one of its dominant aims is not the teaching of temperance and moderation in the broadest sense of those terms," said the witness. From the beginning of next year general science, including some human physiology, and health education would become a compulsory part of the curriculum for every secondary school. That would embrace some emphasis on the importance of moderation and self-control. Expressing his personal views, after discussion with many school inspectors and teachers, Dr. Beeby said that if "temperance" was taken, as sometimes it was in popular usage, to mean total abstinence from alcohol, the teaching of it raised peculiar difficulties for the teacher. "If he is expected to teach that even the moderate use of alcohol is a sin he must condemn in the eyes of many children the actions of their own parents who do not consider those actions sinful and whose actions are apparently not condemned by the majority of the community," said the witness. "The results on children's minds of such double systems of moral values can well be imagined. If the teacher himself should also not believe what he has to teach, the children will be quick to perceive it and the discovery will not improve their opinion, of adult morals. The schools should, and do, inculcate standards of morality that are above the average standards found in the adult community, but they cannot develop in children standards that are out of all relation to those accepted in the adult world. SPECIFIC TEACHING ON ALCOHOL. "For the average teacher I believe that the specific teaching of the effects of alcohol on the human mind and body can best be approached in a cool, scientific, and objective manner. A skilled teacher can, without much direct moralising, lead the children to work out the moral for themselves. Children are inclined to build up a strong resistance to direct moralising by adults, and a somewhat oblique and incidental approach is often more effective than a frontal attack by a formal lesson 'The Evils of Alcohol.'" However, the witness would not care to lay down for all teachers any fixed methods of approach to the topic. Some might secure good results by direct instruction. One senior inspector reporting to the Department on temperance teaching in his district had wisely said. "Though the approaches vary, a good deal, in all cases the best results are obtained by those who teach with some knowledge and absolute sincerity." Most educationists, he thought, would prefer instruction on the effects of alcohol to be given by the class teacher rather than by a visiting lecturer. The teaching of temperance in the wider sense of moderation in all things was an essential part of true education and should begin in the cradle. It was an attitude of mind that should pervade all the work of the schools, indoors and out. "Temptation to over-indulge in sweets or movies or comics or sports, which is for us, I imagine, negligible, has for the child a real meaning," con"tinued witness. There the child could lay down the basic pattern of self-con-trol that could readily be extended at a later age to deal with alcohol and other adult enticements. BOREDOM AND ESCAPE. "Two of the major reasons why Eeople over-indulge in alcohol are, I elieve, sheer boredom and a cowardly desire to escape from life's difficulties," said Dr. Beeby. "Whatever its failings, the modern type of school does try to remedy these two defects. With its insistence on music, drama, arts and crafts, physical education, and hobbies, it tries to give children skills and interests that will carry over into adult life. The schools can create a desire for such activities and some skill in them, but civic and other authorities must do their part, too." If the commission could suggest ways in which the schools could really improve their teaching of temperance, teachers and educational administrators would be very ready to learn, concluded the witness. He felt that there were no very effective shortcuts to temperance education, and the only final solution was to give more education and to give it more abundantly.