[Report 1969] / School Medical Officer of Health, Isle of Man.

  • Isle of Man. Council.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / School Medical Officer of Health, Isle of Man. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/30 (page 15)
    Fewer children suffered from measles in 1969 but there was a con- siderable increase in the cases of German measles notified. There was also a marked increase in chickenpox notifications. Measles vaccine is already available to children under the National Health Service and it is expected that vaccine will also soon become available for Rubella (German measles) immunisation. Notifications from other sources included some cases of bowel infection and one case of infective jaundice. SPECIAL MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS Board of Education bye-laws permit the employment of school children between the ages of 13 and 15 provided that the medical officer is satisfied that the nature of the work is such that ic will not harm the child’s health, that it is limited to certain hours of the day, and that some kinds of employment and certain places of work are prohibited. For instance, children may not work in public lavatories, betting shops, fair- grounds, slaughter-houses, or kitchens (except their parents’ kitchen): they may not, amongst other things, sort rags or refuse, or clean theatres, or sell programmes or refreshments in a cinema, theatre, or other place of public entertainment (except for charity). The purpose of the bye-laws is solely to protect our children and it was because cheap child labour was being exploited (to the detriment of child health) that they were originally introduced. There is not the least harm in the kind of part-time employ- ment of adolescents which provides healthy, gainful occupation within the limits imposed by the bye-laws, but it should be the duty of all public- spirited members of the community to ensure that children are not per- mitted to spend their summer holidays working overlong hours at unsuit- able jobs, possibly injuring their health, and certainly giving them a poor beginning to a new school year and a bad start to the winter months. Tired children are in no fit state to gain the maximum benefit from their edu- cation or to combat the infections and rigours of the autumn term. Probably many more than the 166 children issued with employment certificates started working part-time during 1969. 55 candidates examined for admission to teachers training colleges were found to be physically fit. 122 examinations of 44 children boarded out by the Board were made, and 16 special examinations and 11 special re-inspections of pre-school children with various complaints were carried out. Other examinations included examinations for admission to special schools and for fitness for dental treatment under general anaesthesia. 23 children born early in March 1958 had a comprehensive medical examination in connexion with the National Child Development Study which is following the progress of this group of children through all stages of their development and growth and in all parts of the U.K.