TOO-CLEVER GIRLS

Evening Star, Issue 18239, 2 April 1923, Page 2

TOO-CLEVER GIRLS

HARMFUL/ EDUCATION SYSTEM. / A CODE WANTED, (By the (Medical Commissioner of tho ‘.Sunday Chronicle,’ London.) It is an open secret that tho strain of modern, education is affecting the health of a great many girls. There have been anxious consultations on (he subject recently between head mistresses of schools and authorities of women s col.doges.. Some of these latter have told sad storif 3 of nervous breakdown and mental exhaustion. Some time ago a comraitl.cc was appointed to investigate the whole subject of Hu, mind of woman in relation to mortem education, and make recommendations. _ The general finding of that committee is that woman has a mind of her own. It is not the same as man’s mind, but this in no sense means that it is inferior. Every doctor Ims made. the' same discovery for himself. The tragedy of the over-educated woman is a commonplace ot our consulting rooms. She is nearly always extremely nervous, as though every spark of vitality had been extinguished. But her nervousness is restless. 100. Instead of looking life calmly in the face, as happy, contented woinen do, she seems to see it m a lung senes of hurried glances. Life is 100 nuicli for her; its difficulties overwhelm her mind. , . Yet that mined is crammed full ot information about life, memorised details of history, of politics, of literature. Bhe has a working knowledge of every theory, every “ movement ’ during centuries. A MAN’S SYSTEM.

And vet her' knowledge is midigosled. It is not at command tor practical use as a man’s knowledge is. A great gun seems to lie stretched between theory and application. , . ~ There, I believe, lies the secret of all the trouble. , Eo- our present system ol education is a man’s svsUun. Men created it to suit their own requirements, just as a worker chooses or forges looks to 111 his special needs. \ot loin' ami a scientist discover*, that ,-veii the rex lures of the bodies ol men and women differ. The nervous system ot each sex is balanced and adjusted in a special brains ill adapted to the "cramming” system, brains wmch aclc the, power of remembering great numbers of incidents or events. It left to themselves they never use that method of gaming kuow*C Their method is personal. It is their instinct to “see” things rather than to imagine them. This is obvious to anyone who watches, one woman teaching another how to perform some piece of work. The difficulties ;ue smoothed over not Ity in onus of discussion, but by means ’of example, ot practical illustration. SPOILING THEIR MINDS. The effect of such instruction is that the learner becomes proficient. The knowledge •rained can be, and is, rnaclo use of in hie. ° That, after all, is the acid test of the value of knowledge. Educated men are, generally speaking, more useful men, more capiilric inou ihiiu llioso who huve failed to obtain education. The exact opposite, too often, is true of educated women. Instead of developing their minds they have succeeded only in spiling them. Their views are apt to bo abnormal; their outlook on life is unreal. If the truth be told, they are but feeble imitations of men. That, ho doubt, is why so many of them desire to live as men live and enjoy the manners and rights given—and, having obtained their desire, are still unsatisfied. A woman educated on womanly linos would certainly not fall into that rather absurd mistake. She would know that her nature demanded a_ special way suitable to itself. She would, in fact, possess a mind of her own. In other words, woman must remake her system of study. She must, first of all, separata herself from man, and as soon as possible escape from the danger of “ mixed classes.” Those are not really mixed classes at all, for every woman who attends them has to leave some ot her nature on tho threshold of tho class room. She has, too, to strain her mind severely in order to accustom it to unsuitable ways of work. Once the “great divide,” as a teacher friend of mine called it, has been accomplished, progress will bo swift. 'Hiore will bo no more fears of examination in men’s knowledge by men. Instead, tests of woman's knowledge applied by women will lie ahead of the student. These tests will be what every educational test ought to be. a means of finding out tho students’ capacity for a full, useful life. WOMEN'S NEW CODE. Appeal to reason and sympathy is (he foundation of success in any enterprise. It is the beginning of a sound education. Onco it has been secured the rest is easy. Women will build up a new kind of study, fitted io their own minds, with books and lectures of a new kind. Then, and not till then, they will be serious competitors of men. And if it should happen that they choose to marry, they will be. better wives and mothers because they are educated. Can we say this of the present-day educated woman? Wifehood and motherhood are woman's greatest work in tins world, no matter what, may be said in disparagement of them. Unless, therefore, education improves the capacity to "make good” in these it stands utterly condemned. It is useless as a help to life. Just now- practical women have very little patience with tho ‘ learned ” members of their sex. They seem to recognise instinctively that this learning is a hothouse plant which will not stand the wear and tear of everyday i life. ! Has not the time come, for woman to show originality and use her own mind in her own way?