WHAT CIGARETTE SMOKING WILL DO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 90

WHAT CIGARETTE SMOKING WILL DO.

Br- P. JL Lord. .

In. a certain school of about' 500 ' pupils, up, to the'ninth' year, it 'was found that the boys were very inferior %to. the fcirlsin every. -way. . - ~j- v "- : \ x - On lookingio'r the cause of "this" difference, »t was 'fouhdrthatli,"'-large2 majority of . the boys were- habitual Jcigaf^tfe^ smokers,' and. that, there seemed' to /Ikb . little'- or no. other* . '' general difference to 'the, everyday, habits of - the sexes. ' ""-'"■.-• An was, ordered to' ascertain exactly how; far' the . smoking was to fclame for the boys' inefficiency and low moral condition. The- investigation extended over several months of close- observation of 20 boys whom it was known .did not wse tobacco in any form and 20 boys known to be " cigarette fiends." ' " ' . The non-smokers were drawn by lot. The report represents the observations 'of 10 teachers.' The pupils irivestigaipcTwere from' the same rooms in the same schools. . No guess-work was allowed. Time was taken *o get at the facts of the case on the 20 questions .of inquiry — hence the value of the report. The ages of the boysjwere from 10 to 17. The average age was a little over, 14. Of the 20 smokers, 12 had smoked more than a year and some, of them several years. All 20 boys used cigarettes, while some, of them also used pipes and cigars occasion-, ally. fc The following table sliows the line of investigation and also the results:—

The following personal peculiarities were noticed in the smokers: — Boy No. 1* is undersized, wizened, unkempt, and sallow. No. 2 is unable to think at all at times. No. 3 weak, dull, often sick. __

No. 4 has headache, sick spells, sore eyes «nd short sight. No. 5 is mentally and morally dwarfed. - 'No. 6 is bad froip. first to last. No. 7 is unreliable, a liar, and deceitful. No. 8 is abnormally weak, and about to Collapse physically.

No. 9 is lazy. - No. 10 has stopped smoking, and Is doing letter.

No. 11 has stopped smoking cigarettes, .tut .smokes a pipe. - No". 12 has stopped ernoking, and is improving. - No. 13 ia a type of hopeless rmregenerate; has since been sent t<j the school for jC«eble-mincted. t * "* ' No. 14 stops smoking by spells. •No. 15 his Neighbours, teachers, and others jregard him a nuisance. N,o. 16 is low down in the human scale. Mb. 18 is a liar and a coward. No. 19 is five years behind his grade. No. 20 is simply a young tough. Twefaa .cages tad p,oar memories, aivj 10

of tn© 12 were reported as very poor, onlyfour had fair memories, and not one of the 20 boys had a good memory.

Eighteen stand low in deportment, only one is good, and none are excellent. Seven of them very low, being constantly in durance vile because of their ant : ons.

Twelve of the boys are in poor physical condition, six being subject to " sick spells," and are practically physical wrecks already. Elight were reported as being in a fair or good condition, but none were excellent.

The table shows that the average efficiency of the average boy in this school who has never used cigarettes is represented by about 95 per cent., or, in other words, out of 100 such boys, 95 of them are reasonably sure of getting at least a good common school education.

The other side of the table shows that of the cigarette fiends only from 5 to 10 per cent, stand any show in school, and they are two and one-fifth years behind their own grade and more than three years behind the girls they started with in the first grade.

Only one in the lot could be called a clean boy, -and two were careful about their dress, while 12 were careless in dress, six -being very careless, -and evidently the same ■12 are reported ;os- uncleanly, four of whom are- "downright nasty." Ten, or just half the lot, are confirmed truants.

Eighteen have- a low rank in studies, only two _are_ even fair— none are good^or excellent. Eight were not only low but very low in their standings. ** ' ,Stil],. these smokers are from as good families, ,in the same schools, under the same teachers^ 'and other conditions are the same as the boys who did not smoke. ', All but one had been ' demoted' at some time, and the lot had averaged in failure to be promoted four times. One boy had failed 10 times (half-yearly), four failed in promotion eight times, and the rest from on© to eight times. Nineteen of them were older than the | average of their grade and one was younger. They averaged two and one-half years older than they should be for the grade they were in. Five of them were notorious liars, five of them were known to be untruthful, while' •the rest were of different degrees of the Ananias class.

Ail but one were slow thinkers, and none of them think quickly. Eight. ar« reported as very elqw mentally, and three absolutely dull. "

,The teachers who made this investigation expressed themselves to the parents of the boys as -follows: — "We desire to— call the /attention of .parents to the' fact that a large majority of boys iii fchis oity are smoking cigarettes ; that the boys who smoke are, on an average, years behind .tne boys who do not smoke, and still farther behind the girls in theisame grades; that the mental, .moral, and jjhysiqal ' .condition of many . ot, these .boys' .is, extremely % deplorable, and will certainly, continue .to „grpw( worse unless \ the J habhV is stepped; that while the schools are insisting that this and all other' unclean and. Tindesirable' habits 'shall not be practised in or " abou,t . pur, sohoolhouses or grounds, ■ still crowds of- boys are daily seen around the saloons and-loafing places of our streets, smoking, 'loafing, swearing, and other undesirable* habits." I This was olain talk and it had an imme-

diate effect.

- We ask that parents co-operate with us in eliminating these conditions"^ so far as I possible to the_ end that we may give our future generation of young .men v not only !*an education," but healthy bodies, minds^ and morals., . • ' ' ~~

We would ask parents' to observe in i the table given that the cigarette-smoker is already well on his way to the conditions which.-,ihdicate crime, trampdom, the gaol, I and. general worthlessness: Memory goes first, olosely followed by deportment, low rank in studies, bad physical condition, and general degeneracy. j We would -also point out to parents that, ! while pupils -are within our. domain as teachers (the school yard and schoolhouy there will be no smoking, and that, while we shall do all in our power to discourage it ,-anywhere, we are helpless to stop the difficulty "without the personal co-operation of the parents, and we may as well add that we .are^ unable to teach anything to the ieigarette fiend, as his memory is a blank, his 'power to reason damaged, ability to study ruined, and usually his ambition to excel entirely gone. ' We would further point out to the parent of the boy who smokes that the desirable places in the business world are beinf? rapidly closed to the cigarette-smoker, and that; already the banks, railroads, and many other businesses by which the ambitious young man -expects to climb to fortune and success have „ closed their doors as tightly to thg cigarette-smoker as to a drunken aob. Why? Because the business world has found by experience,- as we teachers observe continually, that the cigarette-smoker is untruthful, deceitful, untrustworthy, and inefficient.

W^hen the investigation was finished the boys were called together, and the facts placed before them in the plainest possible language. ""A ,longer-faced lot of boys it would have been hard to find than these that had heard the report. The results of the investigation were printed and sent to parents signed by v the teachers.

It is estimated by the marshal of tKe town that 75 per cent, of the cigar ette.smokine by *boys has stopped. The moral and industrial condition of the school is wonderfully improved. What was called the worst school in the county is now spoken of as doing good work. The school board raised the salary of the teachers and principal 25 per cent. The people are pleased. The improved condition of the boys ia noticeable in their language, dress, manner, efficiency, and especially in their moral tone. The former principal and > superintendentsmoked.

<3 § ■ V Q - 02 A 4 I S -1- Nervous .. .. ►• 14 70 -- 2. Impaired hearing ..13 66 B. Poor memory .. ►, 12 60 4. Bad manners . . .. 16 80 '5. Low development . . 18 90 " £. Poor physical condi-' tion '.;. 12 60 7. Sad moral condition 14 7O - Bad mental condition. IS SO 8. Street loafers ,„' „16 80 10. Out nights .X 79 \\. Oareless-'in dress v .. 12 60 12. Not neat and cl«an ..12 60 JL3. Truants - 10 50 14. Low rank in studies 18 90 (15. Failed in promotion 79 times 16. Older than average of grade « .... 19 95 17. Untruthful „ .. & 46 28. Slow thinkers „ ..18 90 ; 19. Poor 'workers- or not able to work continuously .. ..17 85 £0. Known to attend church or Sunday school •. ..<_ '.. 1 S 1 5 1 5 1 5 3 10 1 5 a 10 o . o 1 5 0 0 0 0 L 30 1 5 0 0 3 15 2 times 2 10 0 0 -3 15 1 6 9 45