INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF SCHOOL LIFE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8861, 19 July 1890, Page 5 (Supplement)

INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF SCHOOL LIFE.

At Thursday's meeting of the Education Bonrd

Dr Stenhousk moved, in accordance with notice—" That a health committee be appointed to inquire into and report on the injurious effects of school life with a view to check phyaioal deterioration." In doing so, he said:— The motion that I have to bring forward is one of great importance, and I orave for it at your hands that thoughtful consideration whiob its importance demands. If you are a supporter of the present system of national education you ought especially to take heed to it, because if

that system is to be shattered you may depsnd upon it that it will be chiefly through its baneful influence upon the health of our children. Health, according to Simonides, is the best gift for mortal man; and according to Longfellow," Life without health is a burden, with health is a ioy and gladness." If this be bo, and most of us are agreed as to the blessing health is, it might be inferred that to secure health would be the first consideration of the State. But so far is this from being the case that it will not be difficult for me to prove that it not only negleots as a rule the cultivation of health in the people, but aotually imposes tasks and conditions upon the young that are totally incompatible frith a sound mind in a sound body, and there oan be no doubt that the seeds of an early death, or of an old age of suffering are often sown in childhood or in youth—at school or at college. I have been accused of being an enemy to our national system of school education, because I have referred to it in one of my pamphlets as a pernicious system. This remark of mine had reference to the old countries of Europe, and does not apply so much to New Zealand ; where, owiDg to the spare and scattered population, it was necessary there should be a Governmental system,'so!as to render education in remote districts at all possible ; and where, above all, our population is—with few exceptions—well fed and cared for. But I still adhere to the term pernicious as applied to Europe, and I would also add ridiculous, and to some extent these terms are applicable to ourselves, though not io the same degree. For it appeared to me 17 years ago, when I was nominated for the first school board of the great parish of Govan, that if the Government of the country were desirous'of bostowinauponthe people an instalment of Socialism, it ought to have begun with their physical rather than their intellectual education; by which I mean that the first step in the education of the young is to see that they are well fed, well clothed, and well housed. And I regard it to this hour aa a parody on education when wesee thousands of children driven to school by a compulsory system, without having broken their fast, and who live day by day and year by year in a state of chronic starvation. To attempt under such conditions to stimulate the intellectual faculties to work is as reasonable as to demand work of an engine when there- ia no fire to generate the steam. Such attempts at schooling are bound to end in intellectual and moral, deterioration, which can, of course, be estimated fully only after a lapse of a generation or two.' Now, although there may be noatarviugcb.il-. dren in New Zealand, the school system here is faulty as at Home, inasmuch as it only recognises the intellectual education of a child, leaving the moral and physical to look after themselves; whereas these three parts of our organisation should be cultivated simultaneously and equally, or in the natural order of their importance—physical, moral, and intellectual. For

it is of comparatively slight importance to a State whether ita yeisfch are growing up fall of book lore, for our i ncestors were full of genius, energy, and enterprise, and did excellent work for themselves and for the world at large when they had as yet lrafc little education. But the very existence 01 the State depends upon tha health and physical strength of its psople, and secondarily upon the existenca of good morals • to direct the people to use their physical powers in a manner conducive to the good of the com-' munifcy. But in the present day, and with us,, the training of tha intellect, and often By tad methods, is the first consideration, and 'alirwst tho sole one, very lifctlo attention.bsinjr paid to the growth and devolopnieut of the body, and none whatever, so far as tfca State is concerned, to the development of morale. While *his is so I shall always take leave to spank of' tho national systems that prevail everywhere aa pernicious ones. Am I thereforesn enemy to education because I see tie adfecfa of our system and wish to I apply remedies? or am I its truo and enlightened friend ? The answer I am sure will be correctly given by anyone who shall give a few minutes' careful thought to tha subject. Here on the threshold I may be met by some meiabor of the board with the query: What have we aa a board to do with the defects or merits of systems of education—we being here as administrators of an established system, not as critics, demolisherß, or improvers of it ? There are few intelligent men, in my opinion, who will take such a narrow view of the duties and functions of the board as that query would imoly. As a board we are set midway between the people on the one hand and the Legistatare on the other; and one of our most useful functions would appear to be to keep the Legislature in touch with the needs of tho people in matters pertaining to education; and to enlighten the people in regard to any defects in our existing system—defects, it may be, hidden from the majority of the community, but obvious to us from our superior knowledge 01 and interest in the work of education. For no man, I take it, ought to seek a Eeat on an education board, un!es3 ho is satisfied that he possesses superior claims to it from other men, either in superior odueation, special knowledge, or a long-continued and active interest in educational affairs. In other words every member of an education board should be a specialist, to borrow a word from my own profession; t.ad boards as a body of specialists should consider it a primary duty to approach the Legislature and enlightsn it on points that may h:ive escaped the penetration of our senators. But, even if it bo granted that we ehould strictly conSne ourselves to carrying out the Education Act in its integrity, no one will dispute that it falls to us to adopt ouch measures and regulations as may be proven to be necessary towards preserving tho health of our children, and perfecting our system of education. This being so, it remains to inquire in what ways the health c' children attending the national schools is prejudicially affected. In considering this complex question it tuay be bssfc approached by sayinjthat there are two kinds of defeats apparent— those of omission and commission. Of the former the principal defect is that physical education, or tho training of the body, is entirely neglected, instead of forming au important part of the syllabus. In this respect wa ara vastly behind the continental schools ol: Europe, in which scientific gymnastics form from an early period of school life a part of the Government ncheme of instruction. French, Gertaans, Belgians, and Swiss all recognise the faot that the best mental work can only be obtained from brains that are physically fit, and that tsaalthy brains are only found in conjunction with capacious ohests, large muscles, and iron nerves. Children left to themselves, especially when they can liva much in the opea air— for air and sunlight are as essential to tho healthy growth of man as to that of trees and plants— will develop these qualities. But as soon as we lay our hands, or rather our systems, upon them, and force them into schools and load them with tasks and restrictions, there is danger of physical deterioration taking place, and it does in fact take place to a greater or less extent in the case of every child going through a regular school course. To counteract this tendency, therefore, it is necessary to combine special physical training with theconfinement and mental tasks which we impose upon our children. And what I should propose would be a regular gymnastic class for all children in the Third and Fourth Standards, the gymnasticinstructortobe appointed like other teachers, but to comprise in hw duties all the schools of a town or district. To give country scholars tho advantages of gymnastic traiuiog, it would be necessary to see that every teacher before obtaining a qualification should have attained a certain proficiency in physical training, co that he should bo able to impart a course of instruction sufficient for tha purpose when appointed to a country school. Then, in additioii to gymnastics, I propose that every public school Rcholar should have at least two quarters' instruction in the delightful, healthful, and truly exhilarating exercise of dancing. A majority of our children never acquire this art during school life, and as they grow iuto youth or early manhood and womanhood, they have to go for their knowledge of it to evening classes—promiscuous classes—and I need not point out that this is highly objectionable, and often unsettles and depraves and leads astray. But no one, however straight-laced, can wisely object to the dancing of children during the day aud under the supervision of their teachers. Childhood has often been described as the happiest period of human life-as the golden stage of existence. But that depends very much on the organisation of the child: a timid, nervous child, I believe, suffers from trivial causes an amount of misery and wretchedness that most adults have little notion of. And what with the tasks that are now imposed, and the terror of examinations, and tho mortifying fear of failure, I plainly Gee that we have introduced far too much care and anxiety into child life' and to counteract this indication I would introduce the joyoua pastime of dancing. The dancing master or mistress would be appointed in tho same way as the other teachers, and two hours on a Saturday or other day would afford sufficient time. Country scholars would have to be taught by their teachers in the same way as was pointed out when he spoke of gymnastics. These two innovations could be carried out at a very stbll cost; and I do hope and trust that this board will be the first in New Zealand to introduce them, and so impart a joyousnesa to school life that at present it appears to lack. Again, inasmuch as our system is national and compu'sory, a parent has no alternative—except he is rich—but to send his children to the public Bchools, although he may know that in many instances his darlings have to associate with children from unhealthy and immoral homes. Knowing the large number of such homes thero are in Dunedin, nothing has surprised me more thnn to sen th« remarkable neatness and cleanness of the children attending our schools. It may be thought, therefore, that there h little or no danger on this score; but Ido not think we

should be bo easily satisfied, for I know that in very many cases there is only apparent or superficial cleanliuess — such aa enables , them to pass their teachers' inspection, ion y ow j t a ]j e iea ve to say that no children that come from dirty, unhealthy homes ought to ith associate with the children of clean and respootG| j able parents. Are such unfortunate children, then, to be debarred from the benefits of education? By no means; but it is surely our duty c& as a ootnmunity to see that euoh homes are as ~ far as possible suppressed, and kept at least ls olean and healthy, if we cannot interfere with at the morals and habits of their dwellers. Now °b there are a very large number of houses in Dunet edin, many of them belonging to pious and J. u philanthropic ladies and gentlemen, who draw if good rents regularly from them, that are not "i fit for habitation, and that would be passed on 's inspection by no medical officer of health in the ir world. Now it is disgraceful that a city of the ls size and importance of Dunedin should be with;o out a health officer, whose duty it shonld be to a> look into these things narrowly, and, armed 16 with sufficient powers, to be a terror to evil--5 doerp, whether they be rich or poor, influential c or friendless. One defect in all our" houses has 8 been pointed out by me for a long number of 8 years, and yet little improvement has taken a place. I refer to the plan of building houses a most of the rooms of which have no flreplaoes, s and consequently no healthy ventilation. This 6 is a matter of great importance, and leads to » an amount of ill health that can be satisfae--8 tory to nobody but doctors, who are popularly 1 supposed to rejoice in the calamities of their 1 neighbours. Here our worthy provost and J councillors can assist ua if they will by enacting ' that no house should be permitted to bo built i that does not provide for a fireplaoe in every ' room. Such a law is in force in Scotland, t where the plans of all houses are submitted for t inspection to the Dean of Guild court; and I [ suppose it also exists in England, and I see no I reason why it should not exist here also. As a > throat specialist I know that throat diseases are ■ very prevalent in Dunedin and New Zealand 1 generally, and I attribute these affections to the • fact that a large majority of the entire popula--1 tion sleep in chimneyless rooms. They neces--1 sarily breathe oud rebreathe the expired air, 1 which lowers their health, and particularly 1 affects the throat. Children bo suffering when 1 sent to school infect other children, and so the mischief is perpetuated. In regard to this defect our duty as a community 'is twofold: First, to see that such rooms should not be built in the future; second, all of us who have such rooms in our houses and can afford it should immediately set to work and get the defect remedied, as it can be in most cases at moderate cost. In these days of scarcity of work it would be no small mattsr to the unemployed if hundreds or thousands of chimneys were added to our Dunedin houses. It wonld add immensely tothehealth of the community, and children would no longer rise jaded and heavy in the morning, but fresh, ■ buoyant, and vigorous, to begin, with alacrity the work of the day. I cqnj'e now to our posi-, tiro sins, or faults of commission. And first, I would say that I hope I have misunderstood the recommendation of tho recent School Conference—viz., to give three winter holidays. Children who have done four or five months'; diligent and conscientious work require at least a fortnight's holidays, and would show up far better at the end of the year than after only three days' holidays. 'What J should like to see would be longer continuous holidays, and fewer single days. Many parents, and some teachers I fear, imagine that a child's time in wasted if not spent at school. The very reverse of this is nearer the truth. The child's brain is always growing, like its body, and during holiday time it is having mental pabulum from the greatest of all teachers—Nature herself, Summer holidays do not compensate for the loss of winter ones; for, as Emerson says," 'So the attentive Dye each moment of thojenr has its own beauty." The love of Nature is, in my opinion, next to health the best andgreateat gift that can be given to man, or acquired by man; for it is more an acquisition than an inheritance. But how is it to be acquired if our children are kept mewed up in school all the year round, except for a few weeks iE summer? The effect of this continuous toil will be to crush out the love of Nature from the souls of our children, and to rob their character for life of a beauty for which nothing else can ever adequately compensate. The love of Nature is a great help to most minds; —it is eompanions'aip in solitude; it is a safeguard against temptation, armiDg the soul with Gomethiug of its own purity and strength; it is the breeder of wise thoughts and skilful inventions; and it ought to bo more sedulously cultivated in our children than any branch of learning on the syllabus. Even in winter, provided the weather is not always raining, how delightful it is for our children to ramble through the bush, or to draw in health and joy at the Ocean Beach, listening to The little murmur at the sea, The little ripple at the feet. Let neither schoolmaster nor parent, therefore, gru jfje the children a good winter holiday from the fear that their education is beiDg neglected, During holiday time their frames are growing stronger and healthier, and their moral and spiritual growth is going on by leaps and bounds; for to your child Tho meanest floweret of the vale, Tha simplest note that swells the gale, The common sun, the air, (he Bkies, To him are opening paradise. While on this subject, I should like to speak a word to our boys and youths, a word which I spoke in Dunedin more thaa a dozen years ago, and it is this: That I regret exceedingly to see them spend to muoh of their spare hours at games like cricket and football.iusteadof roaming into the country, using their eyes on the various objects of Nature around them, and interrogating her of her secrets. How many men and women go through life liko ghosts, "having eyes they see not, and ears they haar not," while according to Euskin, " The greatest thing a hurusu soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way." I should like, therefore, to see bands of our boys and girls on holidays exploring the Peninsula, or ocaliag the waterfalls, or climbing up to the Upper Junction, or wandering along the banks of the Leitb, —endeavouring to come- into contact with Nature as closely and lovingly as possible ; and then to return home joyous and happy to ro'ate in their own artless language to their delighted parents the wonderful things they saw. Next I must touch upon the construction cf our schools, and see whethar they have been built on recognised lines. Erom recent visits to several of our schools it is apparent that their ventilation is much better than it used to ba; and the supplying of the various schoolrooms for a few minutes at short intervals has been attended with the happie3t effects. But I deeply deplore the fact that almost all the class rooms have been faultily constructed in respect to the admittance of light; for instead of coming in at the side— preferably at the left—in most cases it enters in front of or behind the children. In the one case their own bodies obscure their view of the page, and in the other the light is too glaring and obtrusive. Tho effects of this defect upon the sight and upon the spinal column are so serious, that no time should be lost in altering the clas3 rooms so as to conform to modern school construction, which eoDsiders the admisBion of light from the left an indispensable requisite. Then the desks and seats need looking after, although I am not prepared to go into this part of my subject at present, for I have not had time to take measurements which would show how far they deviate from the standard which has beeu laid down at Home for the various ages. But in my pamphlet on " Our Byes" useful information will bo fouud in reference to this matter. Then I have to object very strongly to our practice of putting slate and pencil into the hands of children of five and six years of age. At these ages the eyes are only coming into their normal condition, and children should then havo as little near work to do as possible. At any rate, if it is determined that these infants must be allowed to scribble on, by all means let us at once introduce the specially prepared slates to which I have alluded in the pamphlet quoted above. These slates have been introduced into many schools at Home, and possess such advantages, especially in greater legibility, that they ought to be forthwith in the hands of all our school boys and girls. I hope onr booksellers will order a supply, and as their advantages become known there is no doubt they will entirely supersede those at present in usa. The slates recommended by leading ophthalmologists are those of Dr Conn, of Breslau, which are made of non-shiniDg white composition, to writeon whichcommon black lead or specially prepared black pencils may be used. In visiting the_ various schools I noticed that many of the children adopt faulty positions, and it be that our teachers have not been sufficiently instructed in the importance of right attitudes from a health point of view. But as long as the light is admitted from a wrong direction, faulty positions and attitudes will be unavoidable. But even when there is no detect in the construction of a clnss room, children frequently get into awkward and objectionable positions, and I would, therefore, recommend the appointment of an inspector, who might be the gymnastic instructor, whose duty would consist in instructing teachers and scholars in tho most graceful and becoming attitudes whether for reading or writing. Further, so important is it that our children's sight i should be preserved during their school career, j that I propose to supply mounted scrolls conI taining several golden maxims to be hung up in j every board schoolroom. Mr Priestly Smith, I oculist, Birmingham, has drawn up seven car- | dinal precopts for the school board of that town, i which are these: —" Sit upright; sit square; [ keep your eyes at least 12in from your work; write oa a slope, and not on a flat table; read with your book well up; do not read very small ' print; do not work in a bad light; and if you I cannot see your work properly, tell your teacher." To which I would add, for tho benefit of teachers: Do not keep young children for more than half an hour at close work; do not give young girls fine seams. Then teachers should be instructed to watch for defects in the children under their care, and .should inform their parents of these when discovered. The principal defects that interfere materially with the progress of a child's education are deafness, Mindness, or weakness of sight, and obstruction of the noso behind. This last defect may be easily recognised, at least in bad oases, by the facial aspect, which is dull and heavy, tho child often standing with gaping mouth, and constantly sniftering or blowing his nose. It is necessary to treat thi3 condition promptly, as it frequently is the cause of permanent deafness; and in all cases, even when the children are

naturally smiml, it so interferes with the functions of thu torn aa to make the subjects of it almost incapable of all mental efforts. Gentlemen, all these matters that I have now brought; before you are urgent and practical, and await a prompt and easy solution. It is for you to show that you are animated by a true love of education by removing from the path of those educated under your jurisdiction such stumbling blocks as these. If we cannot on acoount of the sxpense apply a remedy in every case, let us boldly go to the Legislature and let our requirements be made known, and we shall earn for ourselves the gratitude of countlees generations of New Zealand children. I now leave in your hands the appointment of a health committee to deliberate on these things. Mr Fkaer seconded the motion.

Mr Jaoo observed that a number of important points had been raised by Dr Stenhouse about whioh a good deal might possibly be said, but he hardly thought there was tho time for talking even if it was tho time to talk. He apprehended, however, that a better time for discussing the various points raised would be when the committee brought up a report, Dr Hislop said he did not feel warranted in accepting a position as a member of the committee.

Mr Jaqo expressed a desire that Dr Hislop's name should be retained on the committee as the long experience that Dr Hislop bad had in education matters would enable him, even if he did not actively engage in the work of the committee, to afford them a large amount of valuable work.

Dr Hislop said that it had been his habit when appointed to any committee of any board to take an active share in its duties, and he would not like to become a, sleeping partner in any concern. He thought the board might allow him to withdraw his name.

By consent the name of Dr Hislop was withdrawn from the committee, and the motion as amended waa carried.