DANGER TO HEALTH.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 166, 10 June 1919, Page 5

DANGER TO HEALTH.

SCHOOL GIRLS AND. BARE LEGS

The practice of sendmg. girls 'to school with legs bare to the thighs, was strongly commented upon.'by Mr A. ; W. Tyndall and other teachers present at ttte Teachers' Conference in \Dunedin last Friday. Mr Tyndall moVed that in cbld weather young children should not be «ent to. school with the greater part of their legs bare. He said that the tendency of the^ i dress of sbmej unfortunate youngsters, specially young girls, who came to school, was to preserve -them in constint' ill-health, i Little gii'k came to -his school with nothing on their legs at all. At the same time their fathers—great powerful men— did not go out without at least two wrappings round their legs. Miss Andrews said that, the express s-ion some of them had for clothinc; of the children described was "lamp shades." In a warm climate a certain exposure of the legs and body to the sun was beneficial, bxit in a climate like this the mode of dress referred to. was altogether wrong. One of the medical officers had taken the matter up in the north, and how inucb more necessary was it that tho practice should be discouraged in Dimedin.

iMr Mao Donald said he had had to deal with this question of how the girls, and especially the younger girls, were dressed No teacher could help noticing- how much children thus dressed suffered.

Mr Bennett said there was-also a moral aspect. Ho had seen girls of 33 or 14. years of age exposed to indecent remark through this folly of their mothers.

The motion ivas carried with a stentorian "aye" from the wholi> room.