U.F.B.A. CONFERENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 27 February 1929, Page 2

U.F.B.A. CONFERENCE

FIRE PREVENTION LESSONS IN SCHOOLS

A paper by Secretary O. W. Malcolm (Paeroa).

There is no fireman present at this Conference to-day who does not know that New Zealand’s fire loss per head of population is the heaviest in the wiorld; there is no fireman who does not know that, with the years, that enormous figure of wastage is growing. Every fireman knows that for years Inspector Hugo and our own Association have been hammering at an appallingly apathetic public, but in vain, to awaken them to the fact that through sihecr carelessness tliej are sending millions into the air in smoke

millions that arc needed in these days of financial stringency. We know that Great Britain, with less than one quarter of our fire loss per capita, has been crying out. “Can a nation afford ibis continual drag on its resources?” And we are well aware that other countries whose fire losses are well behind ours conduct what they call a fire week durwhich the whole nation is awakened to the fact that care and thoughtfulness in regard to fire prevention has a real value of the saving of milions of pounds. Many of the school children in Canada, in the United States, and in Britain receive instructions in some form or other in the metter of fire prevention. And what of New Zealand?

Something in the persistent urgency of tho appeals made by Inspector Hugo and other prominent men in the Fire Service seized upon me, and in my profession as a school-teacher, I saw. a wonderful opportunity with the impres sionable minds of the rising generation of this fair Dominion. I set to work to collect, as much information as possible in the causes of fires, and that done, it was an easy matter to infer how to prevent or avoid them. This matter I. set out in five lessons which were read to you at the last conference held in New Plymouth. No ono can place sufficient value upon the work of Captain (Secretary) T. J. Watts and his executive in regard to those lessons. You all know how little time was lost in the interviewing of the highest Education Authorities by the Executive, anil of the national importance of the promise they secured that the lessons would he printed in the new syllabus at the time under con sideration.

Gentlemen, here was an opportunity the like had never occurred in the. history of a nation! The whole of our education system in so far as the curriculum is concerned was under a complete change and. an entirely new syllabus of work was under way. Every teacher in the Dominion was to be supplied with that syllabus containing the whole of the curriclum to be taught in the state schools. And the Authori-

ties according to world-wide press rc-

ports, had promised the United Fro Brigades ol’ New Zealand that lessons on Fire Prevention would bo included m that new syllabus. It would have been a national triumph on a sound common-sense economic foundation.

Gentlemen, the lessons were published but not in the syllabus! 111 the Education Gazette of August 1 1928 they appeared in the hands of teachers but there is nothing to require any teacher to use them, in fact there was no suggestion that they should do so, and there is nothing to compel teachers to even read the Gazette. W ith the present public apathy there is every probability that hundreds would pass the lessons by on seeing the heading. The new syllabus lias been issued; the great opportunity has been lost; once more the voice of the Fire Service of the Dominion lias been wasted ju deaf ears. In conclusion, gentlemen, I should like to make every fireman present, acquainted with the attiude of file school-clnld itself to these lessons, and also the manner in which the lessons lit into the work of school. Tho lesson's are recommended to be taken in the period shown on the time table for Health and Moral’ Instruction. This subject occupies half an hour a week and usually, long before the end of the year, the list of topics is exhausted and the teacher is at more or less a loss how to fill in the space. What then could be more welcomed than a set of fire lessons which require next to no preparation, and which are not only of vital national importance but also are novel, arresting and interesting? The teacher simply stands before his class with the lessons in his hand or on his stool and 'takes each article as it comes; take lesson No. 3. (a‘) “It is cheaper to clean the flue than to build a new home.’ See that chimneys arc a ways well swept. Should your chimney catch fire do not let it hum itself out, because it may involve the whole structure. Throw salt or sulphur upon the fire.”

Now the teacher reads that, and if there are not two dozen hands up to have something to say on the matter it isn’t a normal class of school children. And the thing is well impressed before passing on to the next point. And every inch of the lessons is the same. In fact that was one of the least interesting paragraphs. There is the paragraph on playing with matches, on fireworks, on the subject of washing-day that interests the girls, 011 the electric system df the home, on the burning of celluloid, on spontaneous combustion, on wflmt to do in the event of lire, on how to act if you are in smoke, or if someone’s clothing is one fire, or if someone is burnt or unconscious.

And it is all such easy plain commonsense 1 I first taught the lessons in 1926 to my class of Standard 4. At the end of the year 1 set a test and awarded a typed certificate to the child with 1 the highest marks. It was rather a difficult job. to select the winner as the answers even to difficult questions, on spontaneous combustion, etc., were so well done. It w’as very evident that the ■ children had paid a great deal more attention to this subject than they had to some of the others.

I had the very same class the next year in Standard 5 and we went through the same lessons in the same way and I have never seen children keener at the approach of any other lesson than they were when they saw the Fire Prevention sheets coming out of the drawer. You will smile when I tell you that the third year I had the self same class again as Standard 6 and at their own insistent request we had the now familiar set of lessons, this time twice in the year, and the last time we went through them the children had more to say than during any of the previous courses. There is no doubt that the novelty and the direct commonsense of the subject appeal to the children.

And I maintain the obvious, that, if the lessons are only dealt with like this year by year, when the children leave school they will never be able nor will they desire to eradicate from their minds the fact that it is part of their citizenship to realise the great importance carefulness with fire plays in the economic outlook of their nation.