OUR BABIES.
(By Hygeia.)
Published under the auspices of the Society for the Health of Women and Children.
“It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”
TRAINING OF GIRLS
(Mrs Parkes’s address continued.) ■ESSENTIALS FOR DOMESTICITY, LIFE, HEALTH, AND HAPPINESS FIRST; ORNAMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS SECOND.
To cultivate accomplishments is a very excellent thing, be it either in the direction of music or art; but how few succeed to the extent of applying their knowledge to the earning of a penny of even to the entertainment and pleasure of their own family? Better by far “teach the plain things first, and get our girls to understand that the simple duties are the great things of life.” The domestic task, the household courtesies, “the daily opportunity” for useful service that home life affords, are the great accomplishments, and the part of the education that should be made compulsory for every girl. Do not be afraid that in teaching your girl to do plain sewing, to • iron and get up fine linen, or bake a pie, you are limiting her mental horizon. You would be doing so if you kept her at the piano when she has no aptitude for music, while vou do the household duties.
Let us teach our girls that in domestic life the only way to do a thing is to do it, and that there is a dignity in all labour, more especially ip domestic work. We are all apt to think that when the occasion arises, a woman intuitively becomes competent in household management. But how many of us understand the care of an infant, the proper values of everyday articles of diet, and the amount required for the maintenance of health in the' child, the adult, and old age? How much mischief is caused by over-feeding, bad feeding, and wasteful feeding, even among the poor? How many understand the absolute necessity of pure air, and how health and vigour depend on the observance of physiological laws. It requires no more than ordinary j intelligence and a moderate education to readily acquire an amount of knowledge in these matters that will be of greatest service in everyday life, and surely it is more in accord with commonsense to train girls for domestic duties, for which. Nature has destined her ,than to waste time in acquiring a smattering of subjects that arc likely to prove of little or no use.
Homo Before Shop or Factory. ■A; most pernicious impression scorns to bo abroad that the girl who earns her living in a factory, office or shop is, the social superior'of the girl in domestic service,. My experience teaches me that'it is often thd reverse and that the finest womanly' qualities are often found .in the .’girl whose sphere of work is that o|j . domestic servant. In the" various institutions which provide homes for our girls this wrong impression., prevails, for, immediately it becomes known that a girl is seeking to secure a situation as a domestic, she is shunned or tabooed by many of the other girls who have positions in shops, schools, etc. Another point 1 shoidd'bids to emplmti.wmost strongly is ithertendency among many girls who earn their living to disregard home duties altogether. They seem to think that because they spend the day in factory or office, home ! has no claim whatever cm their service. Let me here illustrate what I mean by relating an incident that came under the notice of a medical friend in Auckland. He called one evening to see the mother of a family just as the evening meal was over. She was recovering from a long illness, and was making her first appearance in the dining room. The doctor noticed how weary she looked, and suggested she should return to bed. “Oh, doctor, I can’t do that until I have washed tip the tea things.” “But,” said the doctor, “you have three daughters; surely they will do this for you?” “No, doctor, I cannot expect that; they are away at work all day, and always spend their evenings out—in fact, they have already gone.” , Such heartless conduct on the part of strong, healthy daughters towards a delicate mother is almost inconceivable ; and I hope, for the credit of our womanhood, that such cases are few ami far between, it serves, however, to bring home the sad defect in early training, which allows young people to grow up with no better object in life than self-enjoyment. Please do not for one moment suppose that I wish to disparage girls who follow vocations other than domestic. I ,am quite aware of the large number who do not possess the physical strength necessary for housework, and others who have chosen duties more congenial to their tastes. Still, the fact remains that every girl would he better equipped for her life’s work by early' acquiring a knowledge of housekeeping,
Education of Girls At Fault. I would here like to quote from an address delivered at the annual meeting of the Society of Women and Children by Dr F. C. Batchelor, Professor of Diseases of Women at Otago University:— “Does our system of education encourage girls, to enter domestic service? 1 confidently assert that the girl employed in domestic duties in a good home, with a good mistress, is happier, better off, leads a more wholesome and healthier life, will make a better wife and mother, and is more likely to rear a healthy stock than her sister, whose aims, possibly, have been more ambitious. That my views arc shared by the majority of mankind is shown by the fact that the competent domestic usually promptly changes flic scene of her labour for an establishment of her own, while the scholarship girl with the D certificate will probably face many years of teaching in a back-block school. When it is seriously suggested that the solution of our difficulty is to he met by the introduction of a number of aliens to meet our requirements, it seems to me but a forlorn hope. Like most maladies, social or otherwise, to efect a cure it is well to arrive at the causes. Two, at any rate, suggest themselves to me. First, tin* tendency to educate our girls on the wrong lines; and, secondly, the absurd and stupid stigma almost invariably attached to \lomestie- service; with the advance in our educational methods it need be no matter for surprise that tin* great majority of young women refuse to enter domestic service; they are usu-
ally up prepared for it in any way, and have to leant afresh in an entirely new branch; and, further, what probably is the most powerful deterrent have to accept what is inaptly and unfortunately deemed a lower social status. Many girls go through an
exceedingly arduous training in the most menial and disagreeable duties to become nurses—not from any special aptitude or vocation for nursing the sick, but because they consider the social status of nurse is better than that of cook. It is altogether impracticable for our State Schools, assisted by our technical schools and our University, to devise a scheme whereby domestic management might be systematically taught, and' (diplomas granted guaranteeing a certain standard of efficiency and ensuring the possessor an improved status? One thing is certain, the majority of young girls who pass through our State schools will not accept the position accorded to the domestic in the past, and this seriously menaces the home life to which civilised communities have mostly adapted themselves. Concessions of a radical character must be made to meet our present changed conditions.” A word in season may here be spoken to mistresses, for much may be done on our part to promote a better understanding between ourselves and our maids. Ruskin says: “If your servants are to be held your inferiors. at least be sure they are so, and that you are indeed wiser and better-tempered and more useful than they. There is only one way to have good servants —that is, to be worthy of being well sjrved.”
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Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, 27 December 1912, Page 2
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1,357OUR BABIES. Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, 27 December 1912, Page 2
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