SCHOOL MEDICAL WORK

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22514, 23 September 1938, Page 2

SCHOOL MEDICAL WORK

HISTORY TRACED BY DR. ELIZABETH GUNN

ADDRESS TO ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE The history of school medical work in New Zealand was traced in amusing and enlightening manner by Dr. •Elizabeth Gunn, Director of the Division of School Hygiene, in an address to the Christchurch branch of the Royal Sanitary Institute last evening. School teachers had been invited by the institute, and some were among the audience who listened to Dr. Gunn.

School medical work was begun in New Zealand in 1912 with two fulltime officers in the South Island, and with Dr. Gunn in Wellington. Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Marlborough, and Nelson. The advantages of this district were many, for visits could be arranged at most suitable times. The Education Department had been in charge of the work then, and Mr George Hogben had been the prime mover in the establishment of the service.

Dr. Gunn spoke of the trials and tribulations of the,service at its commencement, when strenuous opposition was met from teachers, parents, and children themselves. ' “We were too keen on cleanliness in and out of school, and the teachers, school committees, and education

boards were all shy of us. They felt our work interfered with the liberty of the subject. But the Education Act of 1914 and the Health Act of 1920 gave the service the necessary authority to examine any child at any school at any time., Now parents are anxious to take advantage of the service, and they bring their children to us.” Early Difficulties

Amusing tales of exciting adventures in the early stages of the campaign were told by Dr. Gunn. Travels were made on foot, bicycle, and horse; long waits on railway stations for slow trains, rides on engine platforms and jiggers were frequent. “There was no 40-hour week then,” she said. School, nurses were appointed in 1918 and the areas to be covered by the officers of the service were thus reduced. Then in 1921 the Department of Health took over the service, and Dr. Gunn said, one could only feel that the school medical branch had been the Cinderella of the department. It was not spectacular. Its recommendations meant time, trouble, and often expense to parents. Yet much good had been done. “Children are much better cared for and more sensibly dressed now,” Dr. Gunn said. “The days are gone of the old red flannel shirt, which loses its magic as soon as it is washed. Schools are cleaner and better built now, too. “The more scientific you become the less you will find that science makes no direct statements as to the special value of such much-discussed fads as brown and white bread. They will always be discussed, but New Zealanders are not forced to take either, and they can exercise their preference.” The importance of physical training in schools was stressed by Dr. Gunn. The exercise must be made so attractive to the adolescent that he will continue'it after leaving school, but provision must be made for his ordinary sporting activities to continue also. She urged that there be more gymnasiums, swimming baths, and playing fields, and said that whatever form physical exercise took, it must be proportionate to the age, sex, habits, circumstances, and state of health of the child or adolescent.

. Dr. T. Fletcher Telford was in the chair, and on his motion a vote of thanks to Dr. Gunn was passed.