NATIONAL NEED

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 96, 20 October 1937, Page 11

NATIONAL NEED

PHYSICAL TRAINING

ADDRESS BY DR. GILLIES

"In New 'Zealand we seem to be drifting in thought and practice to the policy biased in favour of games and sport as the approach to the problem of keeping fit," said Dr. A. Gillies, patron, addressing the Physical Education Society of New Zealand in Wellington last night. "In making examinations of young athletes one recognises that there are often physical defects which no game or sport can remedy and I which will not be remedied except by [proper attention to physical training. It is an education problem—the people must be educated. Athletic fields and swimming baths are essential as part of a scheme, but they do not keep fit all classes of the community, do not , remedy existing defects or prevent de--1 velopment of others, and concentration on some particular set of muscles can mean their decolpment at the expense of the others. "We live in an age highly civilised and highly industrialised. Such an age carries with it a great nervous strain and leisure hours bring with them a restlessness which must be pacified very often by physical outlet Given this, many of the neurotic elements so manifest now must disappear, and thi should help alleviate the congestion of the prisons and mental hospitals. "Physical alertness increases mental alertness. The evils of cr.ilisation cause sluggishness mentally physically b yover-indulgence, bwt a population educated in physical training with co-ordination in mind and body would improve efficiency ii? such arts as motor-driving and rrtchanical work, where precision and flne judgment are essential, tnd thus avoid many of the accidents of today. "An industrial Commission has declared that most Accidents in factories occur on Monday mornings and at the end of the day The latter ones are attributed to stowing up of the processes of reaction due to fatigue, the former to excesses of the weekend. If we could offer some remedial measures here, in the way of physical education, ther*- would again be less congestion in fftspitals through industrial accidents. People would take a pride in keeping fit rather than being ill, and would no* be so prone to take patent medicine* and give themselves, up t<» treatments which pamper their neurotic tendencies. ... . "Befove the days of social services, public 'Health, and hygiene, it is literally tf'ae to say that the fittest only surviv&d. Now, not only are we preventing deaths of the unfit, but there i» actually no restriction on their propagating their kind, even when they definitely deteriorate the nation and vitiate <ihe race. No amount of physical training can diminish this danger to any Rreat extent, but it is all the more important that the fit should be fostered."

PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS.

The problem of physical education in school was discussed by of the society, Mr. J. A. Duffy The school is partly responsible for the health of the child, and should mamtain the best possible healthful en vi'ronment, including P™ p er maintenance, sanitation, grounds, and facin ties" he said. "Physical instructors do not approve of the present methods of sport in schools, whereby but a few of the good performers or natural athleteare catered for. The physical instructor, is and should be, more concerned about those wjio do ri°t and those who have .not the desire, Dlay games and compete ,m sport, it is better to have a whole school jumping four feet high than a few jumping sft 6in and the others not jumping at all: it is better to have the whole school running 100 yards in 14 seconds than a few only doing itm 11 seconds. Physical education should be for all, not physical drill for all and games and athletics for a few. "Physical education as we know it means physical training, corrective exercise, health talks, personal hygiene, swimming, football, boxing, cricket, recreational games, and physical assessments, and for girls dancing, all of which it should be possible, to include in the school syllabus. ! "Some ideas that we should drop overboard are that the physical instructor is the drill-mentor or mistress; that games are sufficient for the physical education of youth; tliat fects should be allowed to take the physical training lesson; that physical education' is complete if a certain amount of time is given up to it, irrespective of what is being taught; that physical education is a less important subject than is French or English; that any old place or room is good enough for the gymnasium. In New Zealand any dusty cellar or shed will serve as a gymnasium; in America it is probably the cleanest and best room in the whole school. "Now suppose we reach the Utopia in physical education in schools and send a youth into the world wiUi the desire for a healthy ai)d fit life, what guarantee have we that he wllj, on leaving school, be able to follow his inclinations? Sports bodies do not as a rule welcome any but good performers. . Like many of our schools, they train the natural athlete, but beyond that they do not seem to go. Furthermore, is it not a fact that games are not played with the same ideals on leaving school? I commend this aspect to the proposed. Council of Sport

SPORT COMPLEMENTARY.

"Tfce physical instructor's view that sport should be complementary to formal physical training; it should be recreational and should admit of all taking part; it should be one of the means whereby youth is taught to play the game of life. Too much attention is given to the competitive side of sport, and not enough to the health side. . "Data collected by school, medical, and other authorities show the youth of New Zealand in a very. favourable light. Today the New Zealand boy or girl is taller and heavier than in past years, and I believe they are physically fitter all round during the school age. It is after leaving school they slip. "What is needed is a more enlightened public, and to this end we physical teachers are working, but we need the sympathetic and whole-hearted co. operation of the teaching profession and the public in general."