ALLEGED IMMORALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 October 1918, Page 7

ALLEGED IMMORALITY.

IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS THE BISHOP RETURNS TO HIS CHARGE. Statements reported to lave been made by the Anglican Bishop of Auckland at the annual meeting of St. Mary's Home regarding immorality at the schools have caused considerable comment, and protesta have been made by headmasters of various schools in that city. Bishop Averill was reported to have described the schools as "one of the worst .sources of immorality," and to this exception has been taken. The president of the Auckland Head-, masters' Association (Mr. R. C. Harrison) says that the Bishop's statement amounts to a.charge against the teachers of our schools and against the school inspectors, who, in their regular visits to the schools under their supervision, fail to notice and report upon the conditions which Bishop Averill says obtain. Th» association challenges the bishop to prove to j the public that immorality has its source |in our public schools. Mr. Harrison j states, further, that if the bishop knows of these conditions it is his duty; to expose them, instead of making vague statements. Both the public and the teachera have the right to know just what is meant. From their own knowledge, Mr. Harrison continued, the moral I tone of the schools i 3 particularly heal-1 thy. The advent of school games has re- j volutionised school tone, and the chil- I dren's minds, in their spare time, are' too full of their games to admit of; thoughts of sexual matters. With regard to moral teaching, the prasent-day syllabus makes full provision for that. They strongly resented the imputations that had been made, and in their opinion Bishop Averill had said either too much or too little. They definitely asked for proof of his statements. Whereupon the bishop decided to repeat what he actually said at the annual meeting of the St. Mary's Home Management Committee. The bishop says: "Quoting from my notes upon the extreme youthfulness of many of the applicants for admission to St. Mary's Home and similar institutions, I say that, while we valued the good ambulance work done by these homes, we wanted, if possible, to find, and as far as possible remedy, the causes which produced such effects. It was_ a sad but an undoubted fact that the real cause of the trouble lay in some cases m the homes, and to the iack or parental influence and control. Such oeinpj the ca§e, it was evident that the maniiestation of the evil would arise at the schools, and even in schools where reliIgion ivas taught, thought teachers in these schools could appeal to the highest motives, and religion put into their hands, probably the best o'eapon for dealing with immorality. I stated, further, that during my 2o /ears in New Zealand I had travelled far and wide, and had had many opportunities of considering this question and mttßy opportunities of knowing cases where schools had become sources of moral danger and ";ven corruption. Ido not know them now, unfortunately, and I have been asked to read evidence given at inquiries on the subject. It is obviously impossible to quote eases, because often the information is given privately, ,uid would not be suitable for publication in the public press. And I asserted, and still assert, that if the public knew iu much as I know of what has taken place at certain schools they would sa.y ; These things must hot be-' ''Perhaps if the defenders of the hjgh lone of morality in the schools had heard what I said, or ascertained from me whether j, condensed report of my remarks was a full and clear report of my statements, they might have been wiser . I referred, a3 my notes bear witness, to certain schools, and not to the schools in general, and my remarks were intended to express sympathy with those responsible for the schools 'because of some of the material with which, in some places, they have to deal. I went 011 to refer to the prevalence of unhealthy excitement among the young people, which too often is a contributing factor to looseness of morals, and for which, to m;' mind, the Government are partly responsible by permitting and encouraging the gambling spirit at the~the present time, as though the end justified the means. If anv schoolmaster wishes to know the information on which my remarks were j based, I shall be only too glad to inform j him-" ~