[Report 1910] / Medical Officer of Health, Diss U.D.C.

  • Diss (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1910] / Medical Officer of Health, Diss U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/16 (page 13)
    The usual methods of disinfecting the Schools were carried out before they were re-opened. The method of dealing with the above cases is such as was reported in 1909. I reported last year “ that the sooner the County Council see their way to do away with the Attendance prizes which are at present given, the better. “ Children are so eager to get these prizes, and they know that no medical certificate will be accepted as an excuse for not being there, that they will drag themselves to school in all stages of infectious diseases, and all I can say is that it will become an annual affair to close the schools for every small outbreak of any Zymotic disease till this point is rectified.” I note that the Medical Officer of Health of York writes as follows :— “The Abuse of Attendance Prizes. “ In his report on the inspection of York school children, Dr. Edmund M. Smith, M.O H., notes that the abandonment of prizes for continuous school attendance in the city elementary schools is a matter of gratification, because of the dangers which those prizes induce in secreting cases of in- fectious disease, and in sending children in a suspicious condition to school. He writes : ‘ In these cases the parents are more to blame than the children, for they are so anxious that the coveted first-prize (‘ never absent, never late ’) should be obtained, that they will send children to school who, even on casual inspection, are seen to be ill enough to be in bed. The work of the teachers is also made more difficult, and, if the child has a sore throat, they hesitate to send it home at once, if by so doing a ‘ special ’ prize would be lost. Dr. Smith adds that school prizes in elementary schools should never be given for attendance but for good conduct and efficiency. 16.—Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907. It has not been necessary to seize any unsound food under this Act during the past year. Under this heading I may state that the present campaign in favour of the 11 Standard Bread has my whole approval. I have also received during the year a copy of the Report of the u National Food Enquiry Bureau.” This Enquiry, as announced in connection with the work of investigation, was “ undertaken to establish, on widely based statistical foundations, the economy and the diatetic advantages of Oat-foods for all classes. The proper feeding of its citizens is the concern of the Nation,”