SCHOOL HYGIENE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13992, 30 August 1909, Page 2

SCHOOL HYGIENE.

AN INTERESTING ADDRESS. At the meeting of the South Canterbury Branch ui' the Teachers' Institute on Saturday, jjr laibot gave :i very interesting address on "School £l\gieiic, ' which was listended to with cil-c attention and appreciation by the teaentrs present. Dr Talbot commenced by saying that it was iios&ible that the teaeners present were even better acquainted with the subject on which, he. was going to speak than he was. An mduress delivered by a schoolmaster in one of the large school.;, on the physical strain and loss of' health resulting from the teaching of children in overcrowded, badly lighted, badly, cleansed and un-equally-heated schoolrooms', would probably do more good than an address such as he proiwsed giving, and the s'ddrcss would be delivered with a force and earnestness, such as he as an outsider could not command. Still if he was not a teacher be had been taught in the same sort of schools and bo Melt tbat the members of the medical profession who saw the ill-results of the school system physically, should take tome action in the matter. The education-law's practically insisted that the children, should herd together jn rooms nearly always too small lor their numbers, where tliey have to st-t for "four.or live hours daily, and this at an age when the greatest care was needed in laying the foundations of future physical welt-being. Their little brains were taxed at the -tame time in the ellorts to pass examinations and gain acnoiarships which were regarded as worth any loss of health, ll they built a icai i—LiUU 111 j.\eW Zealand it would noi be Lcauu: 01 the lluouis, buo in ui uuiiii. •It would be readily a fa ieed that an absolute necessity lor giurtiug cmldieii, »j iur yuun gpiunts, uas a smiiciency ol pure, lreaii air, et.petiaii.y as children live at about tuice ihe rate ot adults and manufacture auout decimal -1 cubic feet of carooinc ac«i gas . p-..r hour. r/rcfc-li air contained uecimal 4 parts of the oanie gas per lOdd cubic I'ect and it had been' proved that more than decimal (j pa us 01 caiiionic acid ga> |K-r I<M cubic leet was injurious to health, causing lassitude, lack of attention, headache, etc. it followed then that it was not advisable to allow a. child to breathe air containing more than decimal 0 parts of carbonic acid gas per 1000 cubic feet, consequently it must be supplied with 2000 cubic "feet of fresh air per hour. To completely change the air of a room more than three times an hour caused an unpleasant dauglit .therefore eaeli child should have allowed to it over 600 cubic feet of air space and the air should be completely changed every 20 minutes. This was the ideal amply recognised in our gaols, hospitals and lunatic asylums. Now lie. would compare it with the real state ui auairs ur the schools. A echool teacher of his acquaintance had a class ol -j0 children in a room about 13 feet high by it ieet square, and many ot tuose present wouid be able ui testily tjiat sucu conditions were by uu. ii.ii.iu liiiKonui. ior piuctical piui>.<fci3 unit: n<ii> .ill air ai/.icu oi u-jvo c.i., excluding ti.e loatner- 1 -« no oi u.a i».,l mllhi. i lure were

l.iivc Hii.uUils Oil lilO WCSI SKIO and lUltL' tiIJOIS, OIIC a.iU thO two Others Into Lla:o-i.,ou.^. lllC 1.1.UL0 .UUUUUU lii_.ll" U-O tCiiiligS were absurd, uu days wkh' westerly winds we winuuM's nad to be snot, which ...■-■iiii. mat tiie caibohlc acid gas mauulacturcd by tlie children at "•.in. t'uu oi t_c Jll.-i. hour s scnootnig was 2d culue leet, nearly ail (it which was stilt in the room and tlie eliiklreii were breatniiig tour parts oi carbonic acid gas tier iudd 'c.i'.j or nearly seven times tiie sate amount. \\as it a mat-. ler lor Mir.>iJ!:.o mat on jr.eii days cue Uacner louiid it impossible to fix tlie children's attention;-' iiie mental condiliuii ot the teaener, ivno nii.io hail i/i/lau.iiii, muat coilccntrate iiis attention on ms work, was ot cuuise it mutter ot no impoi tance. Sow let litem see iwiat natural ventilation could do to mat room. (Jii ; calm days the teacher could oj>cii tne three windows and the door opening on tlvi porch. ino oilier two uuu.were no Help to him auu tlie chimney would be ot very little use. Jo get the rigut atmosphere for litity cnildrcn, JUO,OO'J cubic feel ol air .per hour must- be .supplied winch meant that the air of tne room must be changed every three or lour minute,. II the door v, as six leet lug.i and tiueo leet «uie. the air woiud have to pass through it ai tlie rate ol nearly HJll feet a liunule. Natural ventilation Would not do this ami even nt would the draugut Hould oe too gre.it. j-.ttner tne ciiie.iieli must be allowed six times the present or 1.1 j must be supplied with w.uni'.u air .n the > ate by artincial means. Kither plan would cosi money, tne alternative was loss ot and more work later on tor liospuais una U. 11.1tic a»\iuins, winch aisO ms. moiie\. Another unfavourable feature which must sift-el tne chnureii adversely 1.5 the dust in tiie atmospnere 01 tne class romib. J lie report ol the ol lifers li.r the London Education Committee :-.tnt•M that nail tne children had adenoma and enlarged tonsils. 1:1 .\-»' .-,...- land tnc> nad not yet lae auvamag. 01 111eu1c.1l inspection and lucy did 11..1 Know Miiero tney aloud, bin mey kik-.i that adenosis, and lonsus were very common, and lie could not help tliiiiK.ug tuat lue dust ot school air is responsible tor tlie catarrh that results 111 these conditions, winch exerts sucii a bad iulineiice 011 the general lieallil and hearing ol tne suileiel.s. .\ great deal 01 ■ this nuisance was caused by dry cleaning the schools," which merely distributed ami did not remove the dust. The system in the .Main school of .sweeping the. Hours with sawdust moistened with disinfectant uas undoubtedly a great improvement. Experiments m:ide at home showed conclusively the advantages of this method of cleaning and disinfection. Considering tin? question of lighting, it might at once be said that it is usually as defective as tin; ventilation. The ideal conditions were a room lighted from the left side and with skylights if" possible. The usual conditions are that the teacher has to face a row of windows at tlie level of Ins eyes, and th-- children are sitting in their own light and have to twist themselves sidewav- into bad positions in their efforts" to see their work. A rough test- bv teachers in London showed that >;i),0<)0 children h.-.d defective vision, and it Was only fair to assume that bad light was an important factor in these 'cases. The faulty positions caused l>v had lighting ami ill designed desks were responsible for diseases such as spinal curvature. The authorities in New Zealand wort- slowly providiii" properlv graded desk*. Another bad feature of school life was the use of things in common, such as books, drinking utensils, slide pencils, pens. etc. The danger of tins was obvious. .More reforms could he intelligently and economically earned nut. accurate information regarding the health of the children was needed. This could only be carried out by a systematic inspection by medical othc<»rs. Other countries wvri- fur ahcrel of .New Zealand in this and the results stirtling. fn Hungary in Kill,. 1000 children • wen- examined, and it was found that <-ver WO had not normal hearintr: over 400 had adenoids and over 200 had a discharge from one or both cars. Last year the London

inspectors reported that 90 per cent, iif the pupils were in need of dental treatment and of 250 children in one school onlv three possessed or used a tooth brush. In Leith iu 1907 only 200 but of 800 children were found to be sound, and .11 cases of consumption were detected. It. was not probable that things were as bad as this in New Zealand.' but there was no doubt many children were defective and careiul inspection would give surprising results. . Discussion was invited, and Dr laibot offered "to answer any question. In replv to a query, the lecturer said that almost any kind of disinfectant would uo lor use m sciiools. no uiu not attach so much importance uo me uisihiecLaiit as to tucieuiuvai of tne uuoi/ aa H-- u..a in tne utter ui.it mo oacLCiia. tudgeil, auu lie uid li«t '-»«-- Ueve in dry cleaning because n uieieij me »"■" .'""" L,UI - i'y'"" - me k< uu.iiiuw.. ii l """io bcnuLio »eio uelter cuii~cruci.e..i wud ,u. u w iu. loom lei clc Udcclia. .ur J u u » v.uici luv'-t'.u; sUid the trouble "as 111 iua.l,)' ei mo oj/dibt.uiij eue to clean oul tnc miiools. J-te naa liuuu il an uiaauL'O v,i Li~- Luail'lliaii oi a ii-iiui.i tuiiiuiiti.ee Ciciiii.ig t>«i. me i.nui/1 |nivir w mo imc 6in..ij»-i.'y vuiu u IL . oj j a lj n.uive i- jjn-.».,"iaute. 'JUII.V Cuuld lead b„ut.o01l ivi_.iv.il.; U..U asv..'l'tam piccioeiy kwiac te t.o, Out tile oiinei.ity uy lit getting su.ucoiie tJ do the work. If schooLs were to «.„t'd iu.' ua.if-s the iluoio iiolUu ue in better euiiuitioti Liian lie i.iteii luuiui tneiii. -lut-Lii-r tiiiiieui-y «■!-• i>i gating frCbll WiiolcsuiuC >. .n.ci' lui - lucini_iitu tj uriiiK. uv 'xuiuot tiiuiight there was more danger to cluldrtu in town scnooia ttoiu bacteria-iauen mist, man tuure "as iu the country sciiuols. Air Uuw said it mat wmi; so it could only be because the cleaners' had not done their woik'properly. It was nochowever, his experience. Mr J. A. aientiue said that what the chief inspector had said was another argument for tne centralisation ot country schools- He (.the speaker) once had charge of a country school which he had to clean iuinstlf- Ha agreed with Or Talbot that 'the Govinimeiit began at, the wrong end when it spent thousands of pounds iu erecting hospitals and asylums, instead of Spending it in a way that would protect the health of the children, namely by providing better schools and furniture. lie hoped that something practical would come out of the lecture they had listened to and he would,' propose that a remit 1 be .sent forward iur discussion at tne aunual meeting of the i\ew Zealand Educational lustitnle.

.hiss McCarthy thought that teachers should ne periiiittt.u to report all cases in winch tney Knew ciinureu to ue suflering nom any cuiux>laiu..requiring medical attention. J iicre. snould be a medical olhcer to whom all sucu cases could be reierred. The chairman (Air Dalglish). said ,tlns was a good suggestion ma uniortunately some parou-a uiu nut hue u. be told of an\ uung anecting their children. Mr Hell, secretary to the Roar'd of Education, said that while there was still room for improvement he thought the Board should be given credit for erecting schools of an improved kind. '1 lie buildings they had erected, of late years were a great improvement oil t.iose formerly erected, which had been designed in about as bad a way as tiiey could be. The shape and size of the rooms, as well as the lighting and ventilation wercf hot taken into consideration as tbey .should have been. Now however, this was boiiis altered, but: the improved conditions could not be given everywhere at once-. He believed that in South Canterbury there was some of the worst school furniture ui this dominion. Recently in one school he had seen children sitting on seats six Luetics wide; they jnight as , well sit upo'n rails. To refurnish all the schools would probably cost £SOOO but it would be well spent. Some teachers, did not do all they might do to alleviate inconvenience to the children. He had yeeu in one school recently, children seated on the lowest forms in the school at the highest desks in the school, and that could have been easily remedied by a rearrangement of the furniture. Mr McLeod expressed his approval of the reforms advocated by l)r Talbot and said ho thought every school should have individual deoks, as they had all over America. He hoped that Dr Talbot's lecture wculd do something to educate the public. They should have medical inspection of uhools and he thought the Goveru■veut should be a*>'>roaclied on the matter. Mr Valentine nroposed: "'I hat the N.Z.E.I, approach "the Gnvrnmonf with a request for the regular and systematic inspection of school children bv tbe Health Department." ' Mr McLcod se-onded Mr Valintmc s proposal which was carried unanimous- ' Dr Talbot was heartilv thanked for bis r-eful lecture, ,ahd the meeting closed. ' _