A FAIR REQUEST.

Southland Times, Issue 21199, 27 September 1930, Page 6

A FAIR REQUEST.

Undoubtedly the Southland Education Board has good reason for feeling disappointed at the result of its effort to obtain from the parents of children some financial support for the dental clinic for school children in the city. Invercargill, compared with the outer centres of the province, has been very fortunate, as the chairman of the board, Mr Thomson, explained in the statement he made yesterday, and it is unfortunate that this advantage has not been recognized by a more generous attitude ~to the board’s appeal. Governments have established the dental clinic system with the idea of helping to protect the teeth, and therefore the health, of school children who are not receiving the attention of the dentists in private practice. This service was not designed to compete with or oust the dentists in private practice, but to augment and expand the attention they are giving to the health of the nation. It is unfortunately true that many parents cannot afford to secure for their children the dental attention they need, and that many are not sufficiently aware of the importance of expert care for their children, and so the State has been compelled to exercise a supervision over the school children, and through the dental service to ensure dental attention where otherwise there would be none. Many parents prefer to send their children to the private surgeries, and in this attitude they are fully justified, not as a criticism of the service offered by the State but as a recognition of the fact that the country’s activities should not be competitive and should not be loaded unnecessarily with, demands that can be met elsewhere. But the dental clinic exists because it is needed, and it is a fact that the State has adopted the policy that those jwho make use of this service should contribute something to its support. The calm acceptance of any service provided by public funds is bad. It is a bland lassitude, a denial of self-reliance, and it is part and parcel with that enervating attitude which saps the virility of the people. There .is in this attitude, too, a broad streak of selfishness where people who can afford to pay something align themselves with those who cannot and sponge on the State. Where the charge demand is so small and the benefits so great in proportion, the board is entitled to expect that the response to its request will be greater. Probably the explanation of much of the failure to respond is to be found in an ignorance of the true position. Parents accept this service as part of the education system and give no thought to the surrounding circumstances. When the position is put squarely before them they will understand their responsibilities and appreciate the board’s position. That is what is behind the suggestion that the School Committees Association should consider the.matter, the belief that most people will do the right thing once the right thing has been identified.