LEFT-HANDED PUPILS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 478, 6 October 1928, Page 1

LEFT-HANDED PUPILS

NOT FORCED TO CHANGE AUCKLAND TEACHERS’ VIEWS Is it dangerous to force a naturally left-handed child to become right-handed? Mr. H. Rumsey, a Guy’s Hospital expert, thinks it is, and Auckland educationalists are inclined to agree with him. The average New Zealand schoolteacher, Auckland educational authorities stated this morning, would not force a left-handed child to use the right hand. Several years ago, the tendency would be checked severely, but present-day teachers realised the possibility of overstrain. While Auckland teachers recognise the likelihood of the upsetting of nervous balance In the child, an Education Board official said he had not come across cases of stammering through forced change. Such cases were referred to by Mr. Rumsey. Neither could Auckland school medical officers trace such instances of stammering. The school medical officers stated that they would not insist on restricting a naturally left-handed child. One officer quoted extracts from a publication by Dr. James Kerr, a London authority on school health, whose views advocate the use of the right hand, although no definite statement is made. One Auckland headmaster declared that it was absurd to force a child. He praised present-day school methods for their logic, especially where the health of the children was concerned.