GOOD EARLY HOME TRAINING NEEDED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 56, 14 June 1950, Page 5

GOOD EARLY HOME TRAINING NEEDED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The need for careful early home training of young people to fit them to take their place in life as useful citizens was stressed by the Minister of Social Welfare, Mrs H. Ross, in an address to a large and representative gathering of women at Whakatane on Monday. The importance of such training, if driven home to parents, would assist in keeping young people from borstals and other institutions. Mrs Ross mentioned the training given to girls and young men who were admitted to borstal and similar institutions. Some came from very bad home conditions but after training many became useful citizens .in life and took their places beside other people in the community. Many married and settled down in contented homes.

Useful Trades At the boys’ borstal at Levin boys were taught useful trades and in cases where they had had little schooling were taught elementary subjects. Part of the trouble in the present shortage of nurses today lay in the number of people requiring hospital tr&atment, the Minister continued. Here again early home training was important. She considered that if parents insisted giving their children more sleep and less rubbish to eat between proper meals New Zealand would have a healthier nation—and fewer people requiring the need of hospital treatment.

At present conditions for nursing are good, Mrs Ross pointed out. But many girls when they left school intended to take up nursing as n career and took a job until they were 18. Then many were reluctant to leave and so nursing lost further recruits. The Minister thought that some system other than the present voluntary aid one was needed to keep girls interested between the time they left school and were old enough to start training.

A further burden was being placed on the hospitals because today many eiderly people lived in old people’s homes and hospitals, thus increasing the demand for nursing and domestic staff. It was worse now as 20 years ago most old people lived with grown-up families but because of housing difficulties that was now almost impossible. Necessities Provided The wisdom of housing delinquent and orphaned children in the same house was one question asked Mrs Ross. She pointed out that such children lived together only until they were sent to foster parents or to other homes Foster parents received 25s a week, a complete set of clothes when the child arrived and school uniforms. Other expensive items of clothing were provided where necessary. Christianity, Mrs Ross concluded her address, was more important to any other country than politics. In a true Christian community it would be impossible for communism to gain a hold.

Mrs Ross was thanked for her talk and in consenting to visit Whakatane by the mayoress, Mrs B. S. Barry. She was presented with a spray by Miss A. J. North.