The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1860-05-24
.Oyertasking Pupils in School

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,!Overtasking. Pupils in School
= The following. extract from the report
Of the Dorchester Massachusetts, School
Conlnittee, deserves the special .a,ten.
lion Of parents, and shows there Is peril
outside as, we'll as inside lie schools |. !.
Much is.said at The present time, of
the. orertasking of pupils in the public
schools. :, The subject is an 'i inportant
one. and deserves The careful attention,
not only Of teachers and school commit.
tees, bu. Of: the community in: general.
That many, Of our boys, and girls are
pupy, in stature, pale aud sickly, nervous
and eScitab!e'; thttthey do not promise
either - themselves OF in their posterii
.ty, a strong and endhfihg manhood and
womanbood, is not TO be denied; but
that the oUertdskfng ttea,,, IN tie schools
is the cause Of SO much of the eSSil, as s'i ID
is sometimes represented to be, is, to say
the least, very doubtful. .@ Tho schools
are only part Of the organizations Of
society, and they can be responsible on !
~ for a part Of whatever good or evil
exists. No doubt teachers like to see
intellectual development oftlie children
entrusted to their care. To foster This
Development is one of their most i'm.
portant duties. If they did not do il;
they could not hold their Office for n
day. Takingth scholars rs whole,
very few of them indeed are injured
solely or even raainly, by ithe hard
studysreauired of them by their teach.
ers. Their teachers are generally more
willing to wait, for that normal devej
opment of the mind which comes f,om
years, than the parents are. 1t is the
parents, rather than The teachers, who
are In haste. Teachers may not be en-.
tirely guiltless; but if they drive, they
are also driven. ,-y 81 .,,g .7-E,,.sr 49,. ;.
Children, especially girls, have not
enough OF !out.ofsdoors exercise. The
habits OF society are in fault. The modes
OF dress are in fault Children should
have free play of body and limbs, so as
TO be able TO run, jump, dive hoop,
see'saw, DC, DC, without restraint I; but
tins fashionable mode of dress will no.
easily allow. The fabrics are too nice
to allow OF violent or prolonged exer-
else. a few OF the rich may dress their
daughters in silk and muslins, and,
when they are torn or soiIed by out,
door play, they may replace them bv
new ones; but by the greater part Of
the people this cannot be done and in.
stead of dressing their children in prints
and woollens that will bear hard usages,
they dress them in rich fabrics, and
thensteach them to bes careful of their
dress, TO the injury Of their health.
The silk dress must not be soiled or
torn, will not allow the little girl to take
free out of door exercise at the school
recess, or in her mothers garden at
home. She must be restrained, not on
'ly.n school hours, but out of school
hours. Not unfrequenuy is heteacher
requested byrth mother TO let her little
daughter stay in the school room dur.
ing The recess, because she is frail and
delicate. why is she .frail. and deli.
cate !.iWhateyer may be the cause,
the request is ordinarily an unwise one.
Ordinarily, the out'of,door play of the
recess is Just wha: the little girl needs.
Again, school duties and fashionable
dissipation cannot go hand in hand to,
gether with impunity. The one or The
olher ought 70 be relinqpished. 1t is
unla'r 70 attribute the hard study re
Qu,ra by the school, the lassilude
Which arises from late hours, not of the
required hard study, but Of exciting
anu ann 9Sements. me The school girl, doing
tmih n! duties OF The school, must be
g'itea indeed 10 be abie to enact. at tLe
same 'Ime, the Part OF The fashionable
iady3oi fashionable society When she
assumes the latter character, let her re.
lleve The school OF It's responsibility.
me me preceeitng remarks however, are are
not ,n.eided 10 MAKE ,eachers less care
ful OF Their pupils health than they