SCHOOLS MEDICAL INSPECTION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16591, 13 November 1919, Page 4

SCHOOLS MEDICAL INSPECTION.

1 VIEWS OF DR. GUNN. i I i 1 j i : CLEANLINESS OP CLASS-ROOMS. , TEETH CLEANING EMPHASISED. - : I A report from Dr. Elizabeth Gunn i concerning her recent visit to Taranaki schools was brought before the Educa- ; tiou Board on Wednesday by the senior i inspector. ‘ “1 must remark again on the want of cleanliness in the schools; dust everywhere, and often collections of old books, ; cardboard blocks, etc., piled up on and ; in cupboards and often stacked on tho 1 floor,” Dr. Gunn wrote. “There is no i extra room in class-rooms lor these , things, and teachers should be instructed that all such rubbish collecting dust 1 and dirt is a source, of danger not only ; to the health of the children but to their own health. It seems to me that the children are not asked to do enough ; in these schools. Tho cleanest schools j I go to arc schools which are cleaned , by the children in turn. No cleaner, i however careful she may bo, should bo - asked or expected to move tbe desks i each day, but if teachers would only j take the trouble to see that each child, j at a given command, moves his desk j three or four inches to tho right one j night and then throe or four inches to ■ the left the next night, etc., there i would bo no collection (as at present in most schools) of dust under the desks. In the most expensive boarding schools ; both in New Zealand and in Great Bri- \ tain, the pupils all have to do a cer- i tain amount of work, such as make their 1 beds, dust, wait on table, etc., but in j the State schools in New Zealand 1 the i children must not he asked- to do anything. _ I “I am much indebted to,the chairman i and members of the board for their in- i torcst and help in arranging a ‘tooth ; brush drill’ in a largo infant school, j Now each day the teachers and children | (200 in number) spend from seven to j ten minutes at this drill, and the ad- i vintages from this daily tooth-cleaning I are too numerous to mention. I only I wish it were possible, to have- this car-1 ried out throughout the whole district. There are hundreds of children in Tara- | nakl who never clean their teeth, and , the dirt and septic matter in some of j these mouths almost makes one sick to | look at them. The expense of such j compulsory drill is very little compared j with the benefits which would accrue, i The advantage to teachers would be j tremendous. How much more pleasant ! for them to teach children with clean I mouths and clean teeth, and not as at; present, with dirty mouths and foetid breath. One does not wonder that so many teachers break down in health, if one thinks of an overcrowded room with 60, 80 or 90 children all breathing into the atmosphere of tho room. their disease-laden, foetid breath. “1 am quite sure that much benefit has resulted frimi the providing of cocoa i at lunch time. Children require three j good meals a day, and too little atten- j tion. is paid to tho quality or caloric I value of tin's mid-day meal. I am„anxir j ous that all teachers should institute: in the schools the organised luncheon, i and by this I mean that whether cocoa ; is given or not, all the children, who j bring their lunches to- school should be j collected together and a definite place arranged- for tho eating •cf lunch ; in 1 fine weather out of doors, in wet wea- 1 thcr in a school-room. The teacher on j duty would- then have all the children - directly under her supervision, and ’ they could be made to sit and eat their i lunches slowly and not allowed- to leave ; the luncheon spot for at least 20 min- ■ utes. Teachers who have carried this out- for me since the beginning of tbe : year toll me they would never go back ; to the old- haphazard- way, as the chil- ; dren ere brighter and hotter during the ! afternoon period, there are no hits of i paper, food and crusts, etc., thrown ; about the playground, and tho children ■ bring more carefully prepared lunches, ; and- the system of a child dashing to a ; shop with 6d to buy pork pies and ; broken biscuits can be stopped altogether.” APPARENT VIEW OF TEACHERS. “It is a matter of regret that remarks have been made public that tend to depreciate the efforts that are being ' made to induce a better state of health : among tbe children,” stated- tho senior j inspector (Mr. A. J. Morton), in a note j which accompanied- Dr. Gunn’s report, i “It is still more a matter of regret that i these statements suggest that they are j the opinion of the teachers. The recent j reports of two head-teachers of large I schools, and my experience of the atti- j tude of the school staffs generally, encourage mo to offer the opinion that teachers value very highly the work of the medical inspectors.” SHOCKING DENTAL CASES. In the course of tho same note tho senior inspector wrote:—-“While it can hardly be said that there is a general lack of respect for cleanliness in tho schools, it is sufficiently evident that in many cases consideration to tho avoidance of the accumulation of dust on tho floors and furniture is necessary on the part of both school committees and teachers. I desire to take the opportunity to emphasise the benefits to bo derived: from the efforts of the medical inspectors. It is gratifying to find that r so many parents have attended the ! schools during medical inspection, and also to note that many parents recognise tho importance of acting on tlio advice given. This is especially emphasised in 1)r. Gunn’s reference to two schools in her detailed reports. She states in one case: ‘This school had never been visited before by a medical inspector; tbe condition of tbo children’s mouths is awful; children with a mouthful of decayed septic teeth, some of them quite loose, others burrowed into the checks causing inflammation and abscesses—many with the | first teeth still in and tho second teeth ! behind them in an irregular row; many cases of enlarged tonsils.’ Dr. Gunn stated: ‘Most of the children who were : examined last year and notified re de- , foots have been attended, to and have 1 clean months.’ It is evident that, where i the parents support tho teachers, re-j suits of groat importance follow.” < The board adopted a recommendation : of the senior inspector to forward, to the respective schools copies of tho individual reports supplied by the medi- ]