CHILDSBOROUGH

Grey River Argus, 17 December 1946, Page 2

CHILDSBOROUGH

MODEL COMMUNITY Biaketown Teacher’s . Enterprise Everyone works in Childsborough. There -is a post office, a railway system, a bank, a newspaper, a theatre, and all the usual amenities of a modern suburban community. The streets are well laid out, there is a drainage scheme and a hyrdo-electric plant, but no one lives there. Childsborough is a model village controlled by the children of the Biaketown School, and is the progressive idea of the headmaster of the school, Mr Darracott. who has l spent two years in perfecting the model to give the children their first lessons in civic responsibility. The Childsborough citizen s first task is to find himself a job, and a persual of the Childsborough News shows plenty of positions offering in the ‘‘situations vacant” column. He has then to apply for the position by formal letter which is part of his school training, and when settled # in a job is paid a salary in proportion to his position. He is issued with a cheque book—printed by the Childsborough Printing works—and is credited with a sum in the bank equivalent to what he should have saved had he been in steady employment. He is then faced with the problem of buying a house, and for this, practical lessons on choosing a building site are given. All the sections in the community are sold by auction, with a reserve on each, and the transaction ot the land to its new owner takes place in a formal way. Once he iias acquired his building section, the citizen then chooses a plan from those in possession of the Childsborough architect. He has to be able to pay one third deposit on his house, and arrange finance through the local bank. Tn addition, the property has to be insured against fire. Furniture is procured through Childsborough shops, each room having a minimum of furnishings, the prices of which are calculated on 1939 rates'. These include such gardening and carpentry tools as would be required by the normal householder. The question of food is decided after menus compded by the Home Science section of the University of Otago have been considered. Citizens ballot for families and compute the cost of running a home on the basis of a family of four, the average in New Zealand. For clothing, the children choose from patterns supplied by the Childsborough clothing store, from where they also buy curtains and other home materials. The streets in the town are named after famous persons of history, and each child is expected to know the history of the man or woman whose name of Milton, Shaftesbury, Drake or Cavill has been given to a thoroughfare.

Municipal Elections

Each year, the children conduct their own municipal elections, and a miniature poll with secret voting is organised and conducted by the children themselves, A mayor and a borough Council is elected and regular council meetings are held. Rates are struck, and the children are taught something of unimproved and capital values. The council undertakes to keep the town in good working order, and sub-committees attend to such matters as drainage, streets, health, etc. Childsborough has its own Law Courts, ranging from the Children’s Court, through the Magistrate’s Court to the Supreme Court. Each year, court proceedings terminate vfath a mock trial, with the children taking the place of counsel for defence, Crown prosecutor, and judge and jury. Cars may be bought on the hire purchase system, and care is taken to ensure that a child will learn not to become too deeply involved in debt. . The Theatre Before entering the miniature theatre, complete with scenery, sound effects and coloured lighting and puppets, the children are taught something of the history of- the theatre, from the Greek drama, through the Shakespearian stage, to modern times. At present, pupils are presenting,the story of “Cinderella,” sound effects being provided by gramophone, violin, a children’s choir, and a dozen other improvisations' of the producer.