OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 7 March 1925, Page 9

OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS

EFFECT ON TkaCHELIS' HEALTH

Some (interesting ir tmninticn hearing on riie advantages of opon-aiv schools was brought, tinder the notice ol a Christchurch Press leporter by Dr B. BJ’hillippa. Quoting from the May. 1924. issue ol ' ibe Nation s Health, a Lnitcd States publication, be raid that, according to llm 1910 census, 392 out of every 1000 teachers in the U.ft.A. dying in the teaehiug profession died ol tuberculosis. "For any person with, tubercular tendency teaching is a dangerous trade, coinmen!ed Dr l’billipps. Contrast tins with the. open-air school. Open air is the \ erv thing that cures tuberculosis and we have actually in Chrislehureii a teacher who has been in the consumption sanoiorium and who, since her discharge from that institution, hast, carried on teaching in an open air school, and is feeling perfectly well anti strong. 11 the ordinary school is a danger to the health of the teacher what must it be to the children T'

The same publication is the authority for the statement that one-third of the teachers in the U.ft.A. who broke down in health, or had 10 have lengthy leave of absence from teaching, did .sir on account of nervous disorders. Dr Wood estimated that 45 per cent of the teachers in tlie Slate of -New Y ork were suitor mg, in great or or lesser degree, from nervous disorders. That percentage of one-third. Dr l’hilhpps remarked, corresponds exactly with our Canterbury figures. Titrough the courtesy of the officials of the Canterbury Education Board, Echoed Nurse M. 1. Lambie investigated tiic absence through sickness of every ieachcr from February, 1922, to December. 1523, tit the schools under the Board's jurisdiction and found that the total percentage of absences from functional nervous complaints ro be 35. i. The. prospectus for 1914 of the Ethical School—an open-air school —New York, states that several children who. previous to (.altering the school had shown a tendency to take cold very easily, had overcome that weakness, very much to the delight of then- parents. Even more remarkable had been the complete disappearance of a number of cases of nervous habits observable in every ordinary classroom. such as tics, or habit spasms. The ''American Teacher" says:—“Our teachers to-day are the victims of nervousness. irritability, and so-called overwork. those who have tried the out-of-door work have been capable of more prolonged labour with, .far less fatigue. A. teacher in the Botanical Gardens ) Open-air School. London, says: "1 would never teach in a closed room if 1 could help it. There is less nerve strain out of doors, both for the teachers and the children."