TOOTHBRUSH DRILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18225, 19 October 1922, Page 8

TOOTHBRUSH DRILL.

-♦« —'—■ TEACHERS'. OPPOSITION. WEAKENING -HOME INFLUENCE, Auckland teachers have not taken at all kindly, to til* suggestion pub forward by the Education Board some month* ago with regard to the establishment of toothbrush drill in the primary, schools. Thpir protest was formally brought before the board yesterday, when a deputation representing the Headmasters' .Association put before members various points of objection which bad been raised. Mr. W. Hill said the schools were not properly equipped for the drill, and men* tioned numerous deficiencies wbioh would have to be made good, ranging from extra taps to concrete troughs. The time occupied by th© drill was another serious objection, while, on the ethical side, the' Question was surrounded with even greatei ifficulties. "This matter of enforcing tooth-brush drill cuts at the,very vitals o* home-life?' said the speaker. "It is One of the things whose influence makes for the destruction of the very fabric of our social ordor, weakening home influence and lessening the responsibility of parents toward their children. The suggestion -of enforcing it in--«ur Stat© schools is a*, slur and a gratuitous insult to parental" Belter results could be obtained by other methods, including the daily inspection of the teeth of each child by the teachers, and a system of encouragement that would make the children ashamed of laxity in tooth-brushing in their own home. Mr, A. J. C. Hall said better results could be attained . through utilising th© services of the school nurses, who would insist on cleanly habits in the home. Th© chairman, Mr. E. O. Banks, said ho did not see why parents should'feel >, insulted because the board required their children to„clean their teeth. The method Bugfte-sted might possibly show up th© negligence of some parents rather more plainly than they liked, but the plain truth was that a stage had been reached when the health of the people of NewZealand was actually suffering as a result of dental neglect. Either through th© schools, or in the homes, some immediate step would have to be taken to remedy this. If the children could be shamed into better habits, well and good, but the board could no longer allow the present condition of affairs to go unchecked. . 'The board decided that before taking further action, information should be obtained from headmasters in Wanganui and Whakatane, where tooth»brush drill had been in operation for some.time, the question to be referred meantime to the board's medical officer, Dr. C. H. Davies.