PHYSICAL EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2710, 14 December 1882, Page 4

PHYSICAL EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

Of the varied projects of social reform few have such a hopeful outlook as the physical education of girls, and the reason is not far to seek, for hero tho contest of the reformer is not with the almost invincible foe of fashion, but rather with the thoughtlessness or fear of innovation of those whose duty is the education —taking the word in its broadest application—of the female portion of the community. It seems to have been taken for granted that physical education an d healthy exercise were unnecessary for girls; sufficient was it if in the learning period of life they grasped the elements of a general education, with one or two of the so-called accomplishments, while often a love of outdoor pursuits and outdoor life was discouraged as unladylike, and calculated to lead to " tomboyishness." Parents seem to have failed to see that the education of the body was as important, and in some cases more important, than the education. of the mind, a fallacy which a French savant has neatly expressed in these words —" When you educate a boy, you perhaps educate a man ; but when jou educate a girl you are laying the foundation of the education of a family." When a boy first goes to school ho is often drilled every morning, and there is no reason why this alphabet of physical education should not be begun at homo, when the girls could join their brothers, or, if the family is small, there could bo little difficulty in towns of several families uniting for the purpose, and obtaining the services of a retired soldier, if the parents have not time to superintend themselves. There is a good deal. of fun in a well-conducted drill, and the " extension motions " hasten and improve the respiration, filling the .lungs wi+h tho fresh morning air, and the body with vigour, which will often avert the dullness and illtemper that not unfrequently accompany the morning lessons. Residents in the country have naturally not such good opportunities for drilling their children as those in a town, but if a run out of doors be encouraged at such a time, instead of an immediate application to lessons, the benefits would not be less; and here let us urge the good which a love of natural history is capable of doing. The keeping pet animals and the collecting of the various objects of the country, though not much adopted by girls, yet, if encouraged, add greatly to their inducements to go out of doors, which is only another way of stating, to the healthy exercise of ther muscles and bodily development. Walking, unless with an object, is undonbtedly slow, but when early taught the difference between " eyes " and " no eyes," girls have an interest and inducement to make walks which will i nfluence them, more strongly than the arguments of their parents that it is good for their health, and they are quite as capable of studying natural history and making collections as boys. Whether the study is dropped or continued in riper years is not of much importance, for if it lead them, as is often the result, to a more serious study of nature, there are now plenty of opportunities for ladies to acquire a knowledge of science, and the habits of observation formed in early life will be of the greatest value in enabling them to grasp the facts placed before them. As the girl gets older she either remains at home or goes to school, and in either case the physical part of the education should not be dropped. If she remain at home, the healthy exercise of riding and walking, lawn tennis, skating, &c, will be sufficient to carry on the bodily development which has been begun, and if she goes to school the opportunities of healthy exercise would, one would naturally suppose, be much increased j but in truth we cannot say. that it is so. Nowhere hasagirlless chanc«of properphysical development than in the establishments devoted to the education of the female portion of the community. But while this is the existing state of things, it must be allowed that there is a change of opinion in the right direction when we find that the young ladies of Girton are quite alive to tho value of their tennis court, and their sister students at Oxford are anxious to have a racquet court. Why games are so iittle indulged in at girls' schools it is hard to say, but the fact few people will deny. It is not that the ordinary games which tho schoolboy so much enjoys are ill-adapted for girls. Racquets, tennis, and fives, when once understood, would be sure to engage their interest, and if lawn tennis is recognised as ladylike, why should not these come into the same category. Roller skating is a graceful and healthy exercise, and the asphalte which at one time serves as a rinking ground could at another do duty as a winter lawn tennis court; but till schoolmasters and mistresses devote their thoughts to the subject, the play hours of girls will not be more profitably spent than they are at present in reading or devising pseudo love letters, or poring over novels which once possessed yellow backs —" Land and Water."