CHILDREN'S DEFECTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16213, 26 April 1916, Page 4

CHILDREN'S DEFECTS.

METHODS OF CORRECTION.

TREATMENT AT SCHOOLS.

POSITION IN WELLINGTON.

[BV TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Wellington, Tuesday. In an adtlrci; on physical defeats of school children, delivered at the New Zealand Educational Institute, Dr. Elizabeth Macdonald stated, incidentally, that special corrective classes had been formed in Wellington. It was learned to-day that a great deal of splendid work had already been done quietly and unostentatiously, and that the scheme had reached such a stage that it was desirable that parent* and the public generally should be made fully aware of its nature. During the last two or three months, DrMacdonald, who is keenly interested in the health of school children, has been examining pupils attending State schools in Wellington and suburbs. She has found many defects, such as flatfool, faulty posture, curvature, and flat-chest, but mostly in sub-normal children, poorly nourishedThese, have been sorted out, and special classes', none of which contains more than 12 children, hive been formed. These squads are stripped to the waist and thoroughly examined as to general physical condition, and a complete record is kept. In order to make the record even more valuable, they are photographed. Then it is decided what physical work would best suit each child, and finally one of the teachers specially adapted to the work is given charge of the squad. It is arranged with the headmaster that the children in these squads shall be given an extra quarter of in hour each day, ten minutes of which is voted to special drill- The course aims at improvement of the general health of the child, and not only correction of defects. It is desired to make the children brighter, and to give them good appetites. The co-operation of the teachers, which is so necessary if the scheme, is to ibo a success, is being given willingly. Of coarse, the teachers themselves need special instruction, and classes for them are held regularly. These are attended by as many as 70 "teachers. The Swedish system is followed all the time, only it is specially directed to suit the circumstances of each case. Besides having the cooperation ot teachers, Dr. Macdonald states, she must have the co-operation of parents. The children in the special classes must wear light shoes, and be loosely clad. Parents must give the children every freedom. In many cases it had been found impossible to select children ' for special drill, because their defects, such as enlarged tonsils and adenoids, had not been removed. It was no good giving a child breathing exercises when it could not breathe. . „,,,,, In replv to a question, Dr. Macdonald said it was too early to judge whether the scheme was working successfully in Wellington, but great success was attending similar efforts in Auckland. She had examined children there after six months' special treatment, and found wonderful improvement. It should be the same in Wellington.