SCHOOLS AND MORALITY

Thames Star, Volume LII, Issue 13808, 25 September 1918, Page 1

SCHOOLS AND MORALITY

LACK OF HOME INFLUENCE. PROTESTS OF MASTERS. ! BISHOP AVEIiILL'S REPLY. Thb statements reported to Jxiv/e beer/made by Dr. A., W. Averill, Anglioam Bishop of Auckland, at tha annual meeting oif St. Mary's Hoane, regarding immorality at the sch<.<)lsi, have caused consiiderablie comun>nt, and protests have been ma<ie by ! headmasters of Various schools in the j city. Bi&hop Averill was reported, to I haiva desca'ibed tne schools as, "ont of the woa'st sources of immorality,'' ! and to this exception ha* been taken.

The pi-esidanib of the Auckland Headmasters' Association (Mr R. ('. Harrison) says tha,t the .rsttatoiMJnt madiß amounts to a charge agfaiiis^ the teachers oif. our schools ,»,nd against the school inspectors, who, in therir regular visits to the schools under: thedr suipervision, faal to n»tice audjTOport upon the oonditiows which Bishop Aftfen*ill says obtain. The afis^iaition diallengies the bishop to ptWe to thd public that immorality has its scxurc© in our public :B«hootk. Sir Harorisonj sta,tes', furthenr, that if thfe bishop : kinjows of these . oonditions iit is his duty to 'expose theimi iftsteiad of making vagiu© stateineinte, botjh the public and, tie -teticbers ha,ving! the right to. lin<v.v just what is meant. From their <>\va kruwvledg©, Mr Harrisoaij - cooitiiiiics. the Drjsoral ton© of the schools is paiticularly healthy. lihe advent of school games has - revolutionised school tome, and the children's mind's, in their spaate time, are. too full of their games to admit of thoughts of sexual matters. With rtegiaiiid to moaral. teaching, the present day Syllabus makes full 'pravisiani for tha*. They strongly resented the imputations that had been made, and iw ; their Ofpinion Bishop Averiil had | said: either too inucii or too little, i I|iey defimitely asked for proof of hxi fiftatemtemitsi. i

The whole matter is to be disouissed at the next regular meeting; ■ of the Headtrnasitiei-s' Assoomition. ° j Questioned in regard to the matter ( Bishop Averill said: "Having 1 re- 1 tamed the notes of my address . wMeh I ga.via at the annual meebmg; J of St. ftlary's Homes', I oani repeat what I actually did »ay. Whan. r«*- • ports of speeches ha.ye to be coin ' densied by a very, liberal application! • of blue pencil, it is. necessarily diffi ' cult foi 1 the public to come to any ' clear understiamding of what a ' speaiker l^ally says. Quoting from ' my •■ notes uipoinl the extreme youthfulness of many "of tJie applicante foiv adtoisision into St. Mary's nun similar 'homes, I said that while we valued highly ihe good ambulance' i work done by these homefe, wowanted, if jiossiible, to find, as far as possible, ireonedy for the causes ■which produced such effects. It was a gad but ami undoubted! faob iliat the (real cause of the tremble lay-in j some cases in the homes, and to the j lack of parental influen<3e and c«>n j trol. Such, being the case- it was cvi- , dent that-the: manifestartioni of ill.^' evil would crop up at -the schools, and even .in .school©, where religion , was taught, though, teachersl in thes" schools could appeal: to» tihe hig'h.oijt; motives and religdon pat into their hands pfroibably the best weapomj for I dsaling with immorality. I statwl) furtiher that duiing my twenty-tive { years, in New Zealand I had travel- j led far and wide, and "had had intwy j opportunities of considering this-; question and many opportunities of ! knowing! cases wluere schiools had b^- ] come sowces of moral. danger, and even corruption. I do> know thiam now, uaifortunately, and I have'br?en asked to riead eivideinots g^ven at inquiries on the siuibject. It' is obviously iriipossiblei to quote specific cas^s because often the infojrm'ation . 1s 1 '■ given privately, and w<>uld not b^, suitable foi' publication' in the pub ' lie Press. But I asserted, and atilj assert, that if the public knew «as much as I know of what has. takein place at certain schools, they woxftdi stay 'tluese tihiimigs must not be.'; ' Perhaps if the defenders, of the high.-' tonic of moa~ality in the schools liad heaa-d what I said, on" ascertained from me whether a condensed report of my reiniiii-ks was a full and clear repoi-t of nay statements, ijhey might' . havri been wiser. I referred, as my motes betar witness, to/ certain schools, and nob to the schools »ing;eneral, and my remarks we«-e intemded toi express sympathy witli. those responsible for the sahools bfoaiuse of some of the material witli:" which, in some places, tlw,iy have tcr 1 deal. I went on to refer to the prej \'aleaiioe of unhealthy excitement* among the young people, which, coo- ! often is a coaitributing factor to* looseness of morals, and for which, jto my mind, the Government is i partly responsible by pea-mittm;? and. encouragingl the gambling spirit at' the present time as though the end-. jus.tifi.ed the means. If anjjr aohool--mastei- wishes to know the inform aj tion oni which my remarks ".vere" j based I shall be tAily too glad ixx in- ; form him."—Star. 1. • ■