Woman's World

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 207, 2 March 1914, Page 6

Woman's World

FUTURE OF THE RACE TRAINING OF GIRLS. "As (lodors we are constantly coiifronl'd with the results of education, in -,> fur as they may be unfortunate, a,;,, >vy may he able to Jo something to indicate wlint may he wrong courses in the .H'ocess of education." Such fas the introduction applied by Dr. Truby King- u) an interesting lecture delivered in the Welington Town Hall on Wednesu.i r evening on the subject, "School Girls: Their making or marring for the battle of life." Sure lecturing in Auckland, said the clod.ir, he had been asked several questions. "Uo you think girls should be educated with a view to making them fit to earn their own living?" was one of the-" queries. Ilia answer was, "Mo-t undoubtedly," and in the preparation for this it was very necessary that good health should be looked to. ITe had also been asked if girls should go in for the higher education, and lie replied in the affirmative, .but at the same time he held that there should be provision for instruction in domestic economics for those who did not wish to go in for higher education. In the course of a domestic education there wis scope for intellectual work—indeed li'-e t: ndeiicy was to make it intellcctiil. The doctor referred to the meth-

ods :i- force in America, where girls are j : rain; 1 to become skilled dietitions and j m'cii.m remunerative posts in hospitals j ...ml kindred institutions. It would be j !',,!■ ; iie girls themselves and their par- i •ats io chose wdiat occupation was best j -.i!it<v. to them Physicians had to j ,:iiii: out where any harm was done in j the .nurse of education. The whole "Uiuv of the. race depended on what ■vas made of the girls in the schools to-day. The demands must he moderate, rather than such as would overstrain the girl at an important period of her life. MEN OR WOM,EN TEACHERS? The women's branch of the Auckland Educational Institute had asked him for his opinion as to whether the senior girls in the primary schools should he la light by men or women; at present, in iinost schools, they were under the charge of male teachers. The question was one which could best be answered ■by teachers; but, speaking generally from his experience as a physician, his own opinion was in favor of women as teachers in this connection. This implied no reflection on men teachers, but rather the reverse. The chivalry of the male teacher told afriinst him in thi» respect; he was not as good a disciplinarian as he ought to be. It was generally found that up to the age of eleven or twelve the girl was smarter I than the boy, but after that the hoy | tended to outstrip her. This pointed to the need for different treatment. PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTS. Dr. King said he had further been asked, "Do you believe in full, or advanced, training in physiology for girls?" He believed that comparatively little instruction in physiology was needed, cither for girls or boys, especially in the direction of sex physiology. The thing to be attended to was comparatively elementary hygiene and the essentials, to preserve ordinary normal health. Every rational being should know something of the cells which constitute the human body, and which also live in an individual life, and of the poisonous waste-products of the cells. The doctor went on to describe the results of poisoning of the system through failure to get rid of the waste-products. Even insanity could be caused by poisoning of the brain cells, and although our statistics showed that 50 per cent of mental patients were cured, the proportion was really not more than one-third, owing to the number of patients who returned. He mentioned the work of the

Eugenics Society, referred to the importance of heredity,' and pointed to the influence of environment. Tch times more could be done in improving the-environment of human beings than in endeavoring to get them to do what was most desirable. It was found that girls who had been devoted to athletics did not tend to make the best mothers. He was referring to extreme muscular development, and not to rational recreation, which was very necessary. Dickens and Kingsley had noticed the harm resulting to children from excessive education. It was formerly thought that more physical recreation would compensate for the mental strain, but it was afterwards found that the effect of fatigue was cumulative, and bodily exhaustion was added to that of the mind. To give women a belter chance in the world their education must be modified to the needs of (lie sex. A council of education in this matter should include women who had had experience in domestic all'aiis and the rearing of families. The lecturer spoke emphatically again-* cramming, and said that so long as the. sole idea of education was to have children pass examinations, outstrip one another and attain some particular position, they could not hope for much reform