QUESTIONS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Southland Times, Issue 22999, 19 September 1936, Page 9

QUESTIONS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN.

To the Editor. Sir,—l shall be very thankful to you if you will kindly inform me (for I

shall be asked by others) what the game is now? We dairy farmers have lost control over our produce, are we going to lose our children too. My boy came home from school and informed me that a big sheet of paper was brought into / „ class room and the teacher said all those that work after school stand up; well what do you do, etc., and what time do you go to bed etc ? What right have they to interfere with the children after they leave school and get safely home? Surely the parents know best how to handle their own children for their own welfare. Let the teachers mind their own business and show the children how to do their lessons and not leave it for the parents to do at night. Let them keep their tempers and not use so much strap, for from what I see of the children to-day their moral education is far from what it should be. Instead, of teaching the children their lessens in the same manner that I was taught in London their education consists of gardening and asking “What do you do at home?” Leave all this to the parents. Well I for one take a dislike to this sort of thing, so much so that I have informed my two boys not to give any information until I know where they get their authority from. The teachers would look at us older parents if we were to ask them what they did after school, how many beers they drank and what their favourite cigarette was. Surely our single members of Parliament are not contemplating marriage and wish to find out first of all through the Education Board how we in the country bring up our children. Well if not, are they going to take them away from us to feed and clothe them? If so I only hope that they will treat the little ones better than they are treating us poor dairy farmers or they will starve too. My wife is away ill and my hands are getting all out of shape and sometimes I am so bad that I can’t put on my coat, so that it v.rill be pretty hard on me if my boys are not going to be allowed to assist me a little bit. I wash and mend their clothes at night and do what I can through the day and my sisters send out a hand knitted garment or two and this the Government tries to stop by its tax on a gift. This cannot go on very long. Some of us will be found cold yet, just worn out and starved., I wish that we four could get home and realize what it is to be, DEVON BORN. Winton, September 15, 1936.

[When the above letter was referred to Mr H. T. Thompson, secretary to the Southland Education Board, he said that evidently the teacher had been endeavouring to obtain information to supply to the New Zealand Educational Institute. This would be in reference to a questionnaire which had been issued by that organization. The questionnaire was self-explanatory. It stated: “On the initiative of the Southern Hawke’s Bay branch, the executive of the New Zealand Educational Institute is making a comprehensive inquiry into the nature of the employment of young people in New Zealand. We are concerned only with those of school age and with work on school days. As such, a survey would be of great social, as well as educational, significance. Your co-operation is solicited in aiding in the compilation of the data. While pursuing the inquiries with discretion, you are requested to make them as full as possible. You are also assured that the results will be treated as strictly confidential between teacher and institute. No names should appear on the questionnaire. Please number cases consecutively.” The following information was required: (1) Age on January .!, 1936. (2) Nature of work: (a) dairying; (b) newsboys; (c) theatre work; (d) other. (3) Hours worked before and after school. (5) Distance of home from school. (6) Mental alertness: (a) normal; (b) showing fatigue; (c) showing obvious fatigue. “It will be seen from this,” Mr Thompson said, “that the request for information has been made, not with a view to interfering with the parents’ control of their children, but to obtain a survey of the effect on the children’s education of their having to walk long distances to school and of the effect of their having much work to do before and after school.” |