GIRLS’ HANDICAP

Southland Times, Issue 19653, 2 October 1922, Page 3

GIRLS’ HANDICAP

NEED MORE PLAY, BOYS MORE WORK. “Girls require more opportunities for play than they get, and boys should share necessary domestic tasks with the girl,” say Dr W. H. Hamer in an English paper. London’s School Medical Officer has come to the conclusion that the girls do not have a fair chance, that they suffer more than boys from defective vision, heart disease, anaemia, and spinal curvature. “These are all to be traced,” he says, “to the same set of causes, viz., less opportunity for play than boy, less time spent in the open air, the performance of household duty, and in regard to school, a different curriculum.”

The latter suggestion refers particularly to sewing. “The habitual employment and methods of instruction to which girls are subjected, particularly as regards the teaching of sewing, are harmful,” says Dr Hamer. Figures for the seconding schools are striking. Ailments of the nose and throat were found in 25 per cent, of the boys and in 5.8 per cent of girls. Normal sight was found in 75 per cent, of boys, as against 69.1 per cent, of girls. Three per cent, of the girls suffered from defective hearing, against 9.5 per cent of boys. Heart defects were found in 2.9 per cent, of the boys, while 3.2 per cent, suffered from anaemia. The figures for the girls were 5 per cent, and 7.8 per cent. These, and many other vital statistics of the juvenile life of London, are given in the Annual Health Report for 1921, published by the L.C.C.