NEW ZEALAND CHILDREN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3886, 4 September 1928, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND CHILDREN.

LIP-LAZY AND OVER MODEST. VISITING SCHOOLMASTER’S OBSERVATIONS. AUCKLAND, August 30. “ The children of New Zealand are lip-lazy. I find I have great difficulty in making them open their lips and teeth when they speak.” “ New Zealanders are over-modest. They are afraid to praise the loveliness of their own country for fear they might be called braggarts.” The above observations come from a schoolmaster who is visiting New Zealand on exchange. He is attached to the Parkvale School, Hastings, and is at present in Auckland on holiday. “ The New Zealand school system is a very good one, but it seems to me that some of its activities are cramped for want of better facilities,” remarked the visitor, who went on to say he thought the children were not supplied with sufficient books for read’ng. Each child, he says, should have a copy of the same book, so that while one is reading the others in the class are able to follow. In England the schools have a circulatory system. Books are exchanged every three months, and the teachers choose which ones shall be used. He thinks it astonishing to have children riding to school on horseback or on bicycles. “ How three of them manage to stick on to one cycle is beyond me,” he remarked. “ There is great danger of the New Zealand children lapsing into slang in their speech,” said the visitor. “ I think this is probably due to the fact that the Bible is not used in the'schools. Even if it is not used for religious exercises I think it should be used during English lessons.”