PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1954, 10 January 1914, Page 3

PHYSICAL CULTURE.

g; r —I wag interested in reading the report of the address of tho Principal of tho Auckland Trainincr College and thought, thank goodness, her© at last is an educationist with common senso who deserves hearty support. ■' In your article on tho subject you say: "But after all an education system cannot ignore tho fact that a child lias a mind as well as a body." Now the fact is that State systems of education, ,and particularly that of New Zealand, have in tho the past almost ignored tho fact that a child has at all, or that its care and development is of equal, if not greater importance, to the child than tho cultivation of its mind at any rate during the period spent under State control, i.e., from 7 to 14 years. The ideal of a well-balanced physical and mental personality will not _ be attained by a system of . education, which exploits the nervous system of a growing child at tho expense of_ his physical powers during that period, to the extent that our system does. Xho amount of time given_to mental training of children in. New Zealand is roughly five hours daily. The timo allotted to physical education is 20 minutes daily. That is l-15th part of tho time devoted to mental education.

Tho Stato thus robs the child of five hours daily during a period of its life which nature devotes, in the case of young animals, to physical growth and the natural development of senses and tho power of observation. A great deal is heard of Nature study and ifs importance, in our schools. Now to my mind tho most striking fact in Nature study is the amount of jtimo and care that Nature devotes to tho development of the young, and in animal and human life it is noticeable that the less this period is interfered with by modern environment tho greater and higher is tho efficiency of tho senses and powers of observation when the first stage of maturity is reached. To foster and develop these without straining the nervous system of the child is the real problem of education, for every normal child has brains and will use them fully and to the best advantage if physically efficient, but not otherwise. A system that imparts the elements of knoweldge and tho power of reasoning to the observant mind of a. normal child> is sound provided it pays equal attention t) the physical requirements of the growing body which furnishes nourishment to that mind. If pushed beyond that stage or. if it neglects this provision the result of the system is a badly balanced individual or personality, quite the opposite to the ideal citizen you mention in your article. Of course the argument "the pasßnts should bo respousiolo for Urn gh^s!fi4.

i welfare of the children. up ; a;toJ££sori ' school nge" will bo iaisc'd?;biit|i£7rnjust' bo remembcrod tii.at. si very : porjf tion of parents arc themselves ..Statoeducatcd and consequently" have''"'';'ney'er : had tho olomentarv principles .o!. jili.vsical education instilled in iht'in (jiriti-. i ciplcs which involve tiio formation ..-ef' ■ daily habits that aro essential}#) vtlie: wcll'-balnncod personalityi\you' r > nieiitioii); and aro either ignorant'or,.'careless'(bff ' their importnnn 'llio logical conclusion of a :Kf!idy;Ottho subject is that tho physical i'e--quiroments of tho child during thisjstago) of his life should reeeivo proportionate amount of (itlentibn. and care to that given to hist-mental trainking. It would cortain'y not. bo unreasonable to expectbo devoted to such an important"mafe; tor, that is one-fifth of- the timo' given' to mental training, I venture to say that under tho' ; pre-' sent conditions we shall hot mako rapid progress toward .the ideal' tion. ■ ' Such an ideal was in tho mind' of the lato Hon. Cecil Rhodes when .ho founded the scholarships bo highly appreciat-, ed by Now Zealand and other Dominions, His definition of tho ideal student was "one that is soTen-tenths an; athlete and _ threa-tenths ..a thinker.',' Compare this with tho '"ono-fifteenth* part of tho school timo that is fjh-cn to. physical education and you realise that the subject does not >;ot receive half.-, tho attention it needs in our syllabus/ , Wo are rcadv enough to profit * byt he ; Rhodes Scholarship, but we jgnoro his s advice although we know' that he, liko. . K. of K., was an excellent judge of an. ; I efficient man.—l am, etc.,- . CITIZEN, . THE CHURCH ARMY. Sir,—A gentleman living in Auckland wroto to the headquarters of tho Army !, to inquire if anyone had been authorised to sell tea on behalf of tho Church , Army. For years past an individual 1 dressod as a clergyman had regularly canvassed tho Auckland district selling tea, as he said, for the . Church Army. As no money has been received from New Zealand from this man, will you kindly place this and the reply from London in rour widely-circulated ' journal :— .

"Headquarters, 55 Bryanston Street,' Marblo Arch, London. ■' ■' "Warning.~lt has been reported "to tho Church Army, at its headquarters, London, that an individual is ;.'going about New Zealand selling tea, and representing himself to bo doing so on behalf of tho Church Army. So far reports have only been received from ~ the. Auckland district, but he iray bo.visit-, ing other parts of tho Dominion"alsoV. He is described as being dressed similarly to a Church of England clergyman.The Church Army. desires ..to make. : it publicly known that it is not a. trading society and does not Bell tea. v : .. "Any member of the public receniny a visit from this man, or anyone making simi-; lar representations, is earnestly asked to communicate with tho Church Army's honorary local secretary, the Rev,.- 'F. W. Whibley,. tho Vicarager:';-Weber, Hawko's Bay, who is the only agent the. Church Army has in tho Dominion.!'—■ I am, et?., ■ - F. W. WHIBLEY.