ILL-TREATMENT OF A CHILD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18158, 1 February 1921, Page 5

ILL-TREATMENT OF A CHILD

THE BOARDING-OUT SYSTEM. HON. MR PARR’S VIEWS. (Peb United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, January 31. About New Year there was a case in the Magistrate’s Court in the Auckland district where a dairy was fined for beating a lad boarded out with him. During the -hearing it was alleged that the lad was got out of bed at 4 a.m. to help milk cows. The Minister of Education announced at the time that, he would investigate the case._ Asked to-dav if he had come to any decision, the Minister replied that he carefnllyt into the particular case, also into the general Question of boarding-out children on farms. He was satisfied that, given careful supervision. it was better to board out neglected o'- orphan children than keep them in hundreds in institutions, which were really a sort of prison, and carried a certain stigma which remained with a_ boy for life. He thought we had done right to abolish them in New Zealand. His departmental officers assured him that the greatest care was taken in selecting homes for these unfortunate children, and they were most carefully sunervised. Moreover, trained nurses attended the homes regularly to care for the children if sick. _ He had given directions which would still further tighten up the supervision of these homes. As to the Auckland case the evidence showed while it was true the hov had been severely thrashed, he was nevertheless well fed and by the farmer, and the neighbours considered that on the whole he way well treated. It was true the lad had given some trouble. I recognise, said the Minister, my resnonsibilitv as head of this department, and have taken steps which will prevent in the future, I hone, the possibility of a. child being boarded out on an isolated farm and ill-treated. That sort of thing under the new renditions is not likely to occur again. There were, he added. 2000 children under the care of the special schools branch of the department, and 9CO were boarded out.