Special Evacuation Difficulties of the Residential School Child
The Editorial Board does not hold itself responsible for the opinions of contributors Vol. III. No. 1 WINTER 1942 Price lOd. (1/- Post Free) :Author: G. KEIR
Reigate Child Guidance Clinic
The purpose of this paper is (I) to examine the special billeting difficulties of the residential school child as compared with those of the ordinary school child; (II) to attempt an evaluation of the effects of evacuation upon the behaviour of residential school children.
Procedure
(1) Method. Two sources of information were available: (ia) Work with a residential school evacuated to this reception area in September 1939, whose children are compared with those evacuees from ordinary homes seen at the Child Guidance Clinic during the same period. (b) Results of a questionnaire on evacuation sent out to the teachers of this school, and of three other residential schools evacuated to other reception areas.
(2) Material. The schools will be referred to as A, B, C, and D. They are all L.C.C. Residential Schools for the care of children whose parents, for one reason or another, can no longer provide for them. The children can be sent for varying periods; their ages range from 3 to 16 years. Many of the children are orphans, many have parents in hospitals and institutions. Each school can take about 350 children, the ratio of boys to girls being about 3 : 2.
School A was of the cottage type, where the children (separated as to sex and age) lived in groups of about 20 under the care of a cottage-mother. Children up to 11 years were taught in the school by non-residential teachers, those over 11 went out to the neighbouring schools. It was evacuated in September 1939 from a semi-urban district to billets in two housing estates on the outskirts of a town, population about 36,000. This housing area was once a village and still forms a community in itself, with its own shops, church, school and clinic. The children are thus still very much under the eyes of the teachers who were evacuated with them.
School B was in a suburb of London, run on the block system, about 40 children to a block. All the children went out to various schools. This school was evacuated twice?first to a coast town, and ten months later to a cluster of country villages about 30 miles north of London. In the first reception area the children were scattered in billets throughout the town and attended various schools with other evacuees. In the second evacuation each small group, about 20 or 30, is in the care of a teacher in a small village, attending the village school. There are about ten such groups.
School C was in a small town just outside the fringe of Greater London, run on the barracks system, and all the children were taught in the school with the exception of about 40 older ones, who went out for more specialized education. It was evacu- ated to a Thames-side town where the children are in billets scattered throughout the town. They attend a local school for half the day as a self-contained group under the care of their own teachers.
School D evacuated from the same type of place as School C, is also living in the same Thames-side town, under the same evacuation conditions as School C. In pre-war days this formed a fourth kind of residential school. It was of the cottage type, but all the children were-taught in school within the grounds. They lived a very self-contained life.
The schools all had a system of pocket-money and opportunities for spending this, although School D did not allow the children out of the grounds as much as the others. They all had opportunity for organized games and handicrafts, and during the summer were taken to camp.
These schools were chosen because they differed in system, and it was thought that different degrees of pre-war freedom and responsibility might have different effects in evacuation.
Special Billeting Difficulties of the Residential School Child
Are there any difficulties in billeting schoolchildren from a residential school which do not occur with the ordinary schoolchild ? It would seem that there are. (i) The term residential school is apt to convey to the billetor that the child has misbehaved in some way. The name of School A is unfortunately identical with that of an approved school. Although this mistake was corrected, it is asked even now, ” What has the child done to be sent there ? ” There is suspicion that a child who comes from a ” Home ” must be abnormal, and for this reason quite small behaviour difficulties are exaggerated.
(ii) Suspicion is also due to the fact that the billetors know so little of the parent. As a billetor said recently when her evacuee had been pilfering, ” The trouble with him is, you’ve got nothing to work on: you don’t know what his parents were like.” Even where the parents are known, the billetors may be slightly contemptuous of them as unable to fulfil their social obligations to their children, and to the community.
These parents in any case have few rights over their children, and for this reason the Headmaster should always accompany such a school. He’ is not only the visible sign that the school is a unity, but he can maintain the rights of the children and exercise a final authority over them. Unfortunately, only in the case of School B on its second evacuation did the Headmaster accompany his school.
This difficulty of meeting the parents has another unfavourable effect. The majority of billetors rightly expect gratitude for all their trouble, and it is normally expected from the parents. The children themselves have to supply it, and as they rarely do, it forms a common ground for complaint. Again, where difficulties occur in the management of the child which do not immediately yield to the billet-mother’s methods, lacking an object on which to vent her feelings of failure and frustration, she blames the child instead of the parents, thus only increasing the trouble. (iii) These children cannot return home and so seem more of a burden than the ordinary school child.
If evacuated to small country communities as in the case of School B, less difficulty is experienced in billeting the children, as the attitude of the billetors is more favourable. ?
Against these must be weighed certain advantages enjoyed by them: (i) On the material side the children are well cared for; there are no difficulties ?f clothing, shoe-repairing, mending, etc. (ii) The lack of contact with parents helps to prevent friction with them, and to prevent divided loyalties in the child’s mind. (iii) On the whole, residential school children are more helpful in the house. They love running errands, gardening, and looking after the younger members of the family.
Nevertheless, the disadvantages enumerated on the whole outweigh the advan- tages.
II- Special Behaviour Difficulties of the Residential School Child The children seen at the Child Guidance Clinic set up in October 1939 to deal with evacuation problems have been divided into two groups?the residential school and the non-residential school children evacuated into this area. A comparative study can be made with regard to:
the numbers attending the Clinic;
the number of attendances per group;
(c) the reasons of referral. (a) Numbers. In 1939-40 we saw 80 residential school children, 52 boys and 28 girls, as against 100 children (71 boys and 29 girls) of Group II. During the eleven months following?October 1940-September 1941?20 residential school children (13 boys and 7 girls) were seen, as against 51 (23 boys and 28 girls) of Group II. The following table gives the percentages of these numbers estimated from the total population in each group at the half year.
Residential School Non-Residential School Period Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 0/ 0/ 0/ 0/ 0/ 0/ /o /o /o /o /o /o 1939-40 18-6 10-0 28-6 4-7 1-9 6-6 1940-41 5-8 3-1 8-9 2-1 2-5 4-6
The difference in proportions of those attending in each group and the drop in Group I in the second year are of interest.
(b) Number of Attendances. The number of attendances indicates that the residential school children had more difficulty in settling down and require more prolonged treatment. The attendances over the two periods were: Residential School Non-Residential School Period Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1939-40 272 168 440 283 162 445 1940-41 150 71 221 173 109 282 422 239 661 456 271 727
(c) Type of Problems. The principal reasons for referral are given below. These were not the only grounds for complaint, but were the chief causes of trouble in the billet.
In Table III, the percentages are taken from the total numbers in each group attending the Clinic over the 23 months (100 and 151). In Table IV the percentages are taken from the population of each group estimated at the half-year in each case. Table III Table IV
Group I Group II Group I Group II Enuresis .. Pilfering .. Backwardness Nervous Habits Sex Disobedient Aggressive Cheeky T. Tantrums Soiling Depressed Sullen Fears Lying Truanting Egotism .. Timidity 38 23 14 10 10 5 7 1 4 13 5 8 1 5 2 3 5 2 1 8 1 4 6 1 4 5 ? 1 2 2 ? 1 8 7-5 1 6 2-7 9 1-9 3 1-4 2 -8 6 1-0 3 ?2 3 -4 7 1-0 0 -2 0 -2 3 M 3 -8 9 ? 7 -4 3 ? 7 -2 5 6 4 08 8 5 3 2 1 4 2 08 3 1 1 08 04 100% 99-9% 19-8% 5-78%
In connection with this table the following points are of interest: (1) Enuresis. It should be noted: (a) That cases of slight bed-wetting occurring during the first few weeks of evacuation, due simply to the change, are not included. All are real enuretics with a history prior to evacuation, although they may have had a period of dryness. (b) That many of the real enuretics amongst the ordinary population were not evacuated, or were taken home by their parents in the early days, so that our figures for Group II are low. The incidence of enuresis in the ordinary population is estimated at 3-4 per cent.* The evidence of this table is substantiated by that of a master of School D, who states that 6 per cent, of his children were known to be enuretic before evacuation (probably much too low). In no area was adequate provision made for the known enuretics from these schools. The hostesses seem to have been literally swamped by their arrival School’D reports: ” This 6 per cent, were billeted with no special provision made for their weakness other than the addition to their luggage of a large rubber sheet. The conditions arising from the billeting of these children on the householders can best be left to the imagination.”
In this area there were, almost from the start, facilities for Child Guidance treatment of the enuretics. But in the other schools not a great deal appears to have been done for them. In School B some are in a small hostel. In School D ” during ? the last twelve months, efforts have been made to segregate enuretics into one unit under the care of a master and his wife, and this has, to some extent, relieved a very unsatisfactory state of affairs “.
The conditions of evacuation produced no new enuretics, though some cases, thought cured, relapsed in the first few weeks. Naturally, where treatment has been available, there has been a sharp drop. The conditions of evacuation themselves, however, have been responsible to some extent, since over a long period, even without real treatment, an improvement in the occurrence of enuresis occurs.
(2) Pilfering. It is almost impossible to assess the true incidence of petty Pilfering in the two groups. The numbers in this Clinic are too small to make any valid comparison. It would seem as if pilfering has been significantly greater among the population of School A than amongst the ordinary evacuated school population. Opportunities have been much greater than in pre-war days, and the children have taken advantage, though perhaps not to the extent one might expect.
Sex. Two residential school boys came for sex instruction only.
(4) Lying has not been given as a main reason of referral, but was very prevalent, more so than in Group II. (5) General Nervous Habits and Fears especially among the younger children evacuated at 5 years, were proportionately much higher in Group I. Fear of dogs, with screaming attacks at their approach, was very marked. (6) In both groups during the first year, girls experienced less difficulty in settling down than boys. In Group II, however, difficulties amongst the girls remained constant, whereas those among the boys dropped in numbers. * Burt, ” Journ. Educ. Psych”, Vol. X, Part 1. Incidence of Neurotic Symptoms among Evacuated Schoolchildren.
(7) Age. In both groups over the whole period the most difficult age group for boys was 9-12 and for girls 11-14. Results of Questionnaire In an effort to assess the effects of evacuation upon the behaviour of the children as a whole the following questionnaire was sent out to the teachers of the four schools. It was based upon many discussions with the teachers of School A. 1. Have you noticed any differences in the reactions of the children to the staff during the time they have been evacuated ? 2. Is there any sort of change in their relations to each other ? Do they get on better or worse ?
3. School Work. Has the level of work risen in any case ? In what subjects ? ? To what do you ascribe this ? Has their attitude to work altered ? 4. Games. Is there any difference noticeable ? 5. Leisure Activities. Is there any change ? 6. Have you any difficult children in your form ? Enuretics, pilferers, liars, over-aggressive, disobedient, nervous habits, etc. ? If so, do you consider that they have improved during evacuation ? What do you take to be the reason ? Have any new difficulties cropped up ? 7. Have you noticed any changes in behaviour which you take to be the direct’ result of evacuation ?
8. Would you consider evacuation has done them good or not ? The answers to this questionnaire throw light on the various subsidiary com- plaints made about residential school children especially throughout the first year of evacuation. These are that the residential school child differs from the non-residential school child: (a) in intelligence; (b) in certain social attitudes. (a) In Intelligence. Of about 75 per cent, of the residential school children whom I visited I heard the remark that ” the children seemed to know nothing “,
and that ” they behaved like children several years younger than they really were There seems no reason to doubt that knowledge of everyday things is deficient in the first group. It would be surprising if this were not so. The young children of 5, 6 and 7 are much more helpless than children of the same age from ordinary homes. They find great difficulty in dressing themselves, they wait to be told what to do, and cannot be trusted with the simplest message involving responsibility. The older children, too, have little knowledge of the simplest matters of household routine, they find difficulty in amusing themselves, they hang about the streets and in countless small ways give the impression of backwardness. All this is now much less obvious. Not only do the householders complain less, but the teachers report that the general level of work in school has risen, despite the lack of former facilities. As with all other evacuees, there is a widening of interest due to evacuation to a different environment. But in residential school children the circumstances of billeting are even more important. Their interest in the country and country pursuits has greatly strengthened and widened, but they also take a possessive interest in the gardens and animals of their billetors and their attitude to nature study in school bears the imprint of this individual experience.
Further, many of them are now responding to the stimulus wanting before evacuation?to the very real interest taken in their work by the billetors. In the school they are now more receptive. As one master puts it, ” Conditions have produced an entirely different atmosphere in the school. There is a friendliness such as one experiences in a family circle, antipathy and defiance have been replaced by interest and readiness to please.”
Where games have been mainly of the organized type, children find a certain difficulty in the freer, creative side of play. This was quite marked in the earlier days of evacuation. It is no longer so.
(b) Social Relations. The changes involve the following points: (i) Attitude to each other. (ii) Attitude to authority. (iii) Attitude towards property. (iv) Attitude towards social responsibility. (i) In the billets, at first, their attitude to the other children was one of jealousy, outwardly shown by greed. In many cases the householders have been very good, buying them toys and books and letting them share in all the treats of the other children, so that they should feel as little difference as possible. But in most cases they were not satisfied and would not play with their own toys. They had to take away the other children’s possessions and play with them too.
This has almost completely disappeared during the second year of evacuation. They have learned to accept a fair division of things.
Amongst the infants of Schools B and C there is considerable aggression due to the same causes as is the behaviour of the infants of School A, whereconsiderable fear and anxiety have been noticed. The older children all seem to have improved in this respect. (ii) To their teachers they are more friendly and less evasive than either in Pre-war days or in the early days of evacuation. They show, at the same time, greater independence and greater desire to be liked.
This new readiness to recognize authority, without resenting it, is also apparent in the billets. In showing of gratitude for favours received there is no change, but it is probable that the billetors expect too much.
(iii) In caring for the property received, however, they have altered for the better. A teacher in School B ascribes this change partly to the respect they have learned for the flowers and animals of the countryside. It is probably due more to the acquisition of property in a small community, such as the family. The only strong opinion to the contrary comes from an Infant teacher.
i ‘ ? * ‘ (iv) At first these children were unwilling to bear anything in the nature of responsibility. This has now altered greatly.
Answers to the last question bear out the general success of evacuation in at least two schools. ” Evacuation and more intimate home life has certainly been good for the children. They seem glad to help wash up, mind children, run errands and help in the garden. I feel that the opportunity to do these things has been all to the good.” “On the balance good effects. Physically?a lot of good; mentally, through widening of interests?some; morally?I think a little good.”
To sum up?two out of the four schools admit a general all-round improvement, in difficult and non-difficult children alike, as the result of evacuation. Schools C and D admit improvement in certain aspects. While School C is divided on the subject of general benefit, School D does not agree, as the breakdowns in behaviour were too numerous. The differences between these sets of answers to the questionnaire is suggestive of certain conditions for the successful evacuation of residential schools. (1) The Headmaster should accompany his school.
(2) Billeting must be sympathetically and carefully carried out, and frequent visits paid to billets where any difficulty arises. (3) These children, more than children from ordinary homes, need the benefit of treatment and advice in settling down. The more scattered and disintegrated is the school, the greater is the assistance required.
(4) Evacuation into small communities is best. The difficulties in areas where children are scattered over a fairly large town appear greater than where they are evacuated into small country villages in groups of 20 or so, in charge of a teacher This seems the best arrangement, with evacuation into a self-contained community in a town, such as a housing estate, a good second.
(5) The two schools in which billeting has been most successful have been those in which either all, or a certain proportion, of the children went out to school under pre-evacuation conditions. It would seem that a residential school of the severely self-contained kind does not stand up to the sudden freedom and responsibility of evacuation conditions.
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