HEALTH IN THE SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 676, 29 November 1909, Page 4

HEALTH IN THE SCHOOL.

. Br EiizaefTh 'Sloan CnEgsEK, M.B. .;-It m at.the echool.ago thnt tho foundations Vvfl.!:!'- oft tnental-and physical health must bo most sifirmly .laid. - ; . This ,is ■■ the • period of strain, * .K; 1 s . when special care' is, necessary; on tho , part l of te;.«..parents and educational' authorities .to ensure t., , 1 -.that . the balance - between work and health :■ .-is. well adjusted. Hard work is good for boys - .- . . nnd ,girls of. tho .school age, and in the case :. " - ii of. normal, -hoalthy childion, a somewhat stiff ciHriciilnm, and .what are. . generally called ; • - '.'heavy lessons" artless harmful than tho'edacabonttl aUrmist ( -would wish us to bollove. ti "'. .." :■ Brain-fag, lanaomia, school headache, and norr-!, -. . . votrt. symptoms - are; more.' often '.da»:''tO'"imhy< . ' gicnio • conditions than to excessive iwork. If schoolboy lived in -healthy snrroundings, and taw; 1 -';', is 'Wisely , fed and sensibly. looked after, his lespitsK. soils• ought not to;be '."too mnoh for him." •If -he is montally. or physically below the average ?j,.! > «■,lus lessons mast bo adjusted to his health and ;k capacity; bob at the samo time «vcry effort-should i , "bo made to bring: him np to the normal health jo-Hvi: tandard. <It is the parent's duty to know per'.ths;.]Kr|iiaii(i conditions of the school, «'■■■:< :->'.espeotally .in the, case of -a/bonrding-flohool, fi' , '.; j.-whero tho child is away from*.homo: influences for the greater part of the jear It is important first ot all to seo that the school-clnld is t>roporly fed. A great deal of ■ Energy;hfts.to be expended on assimilat- ' - .-. . :ing, knowledge,, and if a schoolboy or girl is - '..insTifficiently fed, ■ brain-fag-will- assuredly re"nit. • Tho school , ago also , is .tho. period of . Physical growth and developmont. and improper : - leoding will .retard growth and permanently ; (Ip-raana tbo hejUth. Agam, it is important to '■ ' attend to,tho clothing of children at the school : 1 ago Serviceable boots and shoes aro the chief desiderata—well-made, wator-tight boots ' will • go far to prevent chills and colds and tho , '■( iriore isonous ailments arising arom them Wann woollen underclothing with long sleeves, : made so that the upper part of the chest is' i- protected,, is equally.: important in ' winter It is well to impress upon children .. that- -getting -. wet", •is of ; far'-lesa conseqnence if they hre careful to move about li to'nrflvent rapid cooling of tho body, that they | - ought never to sit in damp clothes, and that ; , ? they should change as soon as they come lnr, idoors. - i ' It mnst not, hovrevor, bo forgotten that severe physical strain sueh as is entailed by ~ i long races, over-ex6rtion in ,biaycling or in 1 gymnastic exercises, will sometimts, injure tho ■ Heart or Mcentuate ieart' weaknoM. Heort-strain is responsible fori more , : j,,;- -.?, ,- among;,school children than is: generH Or boy' it Sot - liommonplaco, robMt ,tjpe, -:hearYi : Vih+si'y oh:the top ,of severe mental effort; has often disastrous consequences. Whenever \r° r oj signs of "strain" m the , • Bhijpe of breathlessness on exertion, undue fatigqe, sicknjss, and a disinclination for .or. TC6rk,: a physical,csannnation by, a ( , qualified medical man or womaii should be 11 bo.impresscd upon paronts -nac the opinion of the gymbastio teacher as : ohll<l s physical fitness is not sufficiont. ; - , lhen -paronts;must insist' upon -sufficiont ! sleep and well-ventilated bedrooms. The : , should, sloep at least ten'hours t 11 j J 1 01 Sir's aro doing hard ' , mental and .physical work all day, they must navo an extra allowance of sleep to allow for tissue .repair and nerve -recuperation. Tho ohild who sleeps in,a bat}ly ventilated room, riln 2. iours ' sfeep a S ght, .,7 i l 1 "ssutedly suffer in health at school He will become pale and sickly and anaemic. Ho will develop a disinclination for lessons, t , because the brain is being fed with poor blood. 1 .fi®®" 9 . .of dyspepsia.., and, neurasthenia' aro ..... ; . pffen.sown at the echool ago, as the- Vesult of ; y nnhygiemo conditions. One of tho first symp- - .toiflS of ill-hftnlth afc so.hcol -.is- headache--. This last,,type ; of ; headacho -.is ,of ton- miraculously - t i onred by suitable glasses - t Sometimes "local mischief,'' suoh as defeci l tive sight, adenoids,, or spinal weakness, will f account for bad health, and tho health 1 can i '5 S t restored by attending to tho cause t . Guardian " at ~"Tho h: ■ " 1. .