View report page

59
assistance in obtaining clerical vacancies which scarcely existed,
made the year under review a most difficult year for the staff and
there is no prospect of any improvement during 1933.
"Open Evening.—The Executive Officer continued during the
year his practice of attending at the Bureau on one evening a week
for the special purpose of seeing parents and others who desired
advice and were unable to call during ordinary office hours. A
large number of parents have taken the opportunity to talk over
the future of their boys and girls with Mr. Dempsey, and the
Committee feel that it is in this section that the real choice of
employment work of the Bureau can be carried out, and parents
are strongly recommended to take advantage of the opportunities
offered to them."
(iii) Employment of Children (Street Trading Byelaws).—189 children
were examined by the Medical Staff under the Employment
of Children Byelaws, and all were passed as fit for employment
except one.
22. SPECIAL ENQUIRIES.
Dr. Clarke has investigated the amount of sleep obtained by
4.000 children of various ages and contributes the following
interesting Report:—
"Many cases of debility in school children are largely due to
insufficient sleep. The children go to bed at their own time and
no proper rest is insisted upon. Parental discipline is slack in
these cases and the child is treated as an adult from whom one would
expect common sense. Parents need trained guidance in this
matter as the child's health, happiness and progress at School are
largely dependent upon a due allowance of sleep and the tiresome
child is very often only a tired child. Such children cannot receive
full advantage from schooling and are generally easily recognised
by their lack of mental and physical alertness. The first and best
person to take care of the child is the parent and the responsibility
for the child's health and happiness is primarily his, but by persistent
supervision and advice at school clinics, medical inspections,
etc., we are helping to lay the foundations of a healthy and happy
life for the child, as so much ill-health in the adult is due to neglect
of simple rules of health during school life and is preventable and
largely within our control.
"An investigation into the hours at which 4,000 school children
habitually went to bed during the winter months revealed the
following interesting information which I have set out in tabular
form:—