Morning journal and courier., 1885-06-10
Sanitary Training in the Public
 Schools.

By A. w. Leighton, NJ. D., in the New Englander
 for March, 1ss5.l
 After indicating the advance in education al methods which have characterized recent years, and citing the introduction of kinder garten methods, industrial training and i'm proved instruction in reading, arithmetic, geography, etc., the writer calls attention to the fact that serious imperfections and in constituencies still remain to be remedied. The most pernicious of all these is the failure to consider the physical well being of the individual and the community, and the lack of even the most rudimentary instruction in the very essentials of life; and this, further more, in a system which finds time not only for teaching the three Rs, but also for the details of music, history, freehand and mechanical draw ing. carpentry, natural history, sewing and such fancy work as glaeing photographs on glass, etc., not to mention ttR classics and other ornamental and comparatively useless studies that so inappropriate to even the highest grade of schools supported at the public expense. The fact is recalled that sanitary training is practically ignored also in the various private institutions for the ed ucation of the children of the well-to-do and even in the various departments of ale, not excepting the medical
 The writer then presents local tables showing what becomes of the children of the people af- ter they leave the public schools. It is found that the great majority are forced out into industrial occupations and the active strug gle of life before finishing the common gram mar school course. These boys and girls now enter the various depart ments of 8 busy life ignorant alike of the requirements of individual health and of public sanitation. As re ind bf1u fo | injurious influences is shown by the ori- | gin of widely prevalent weaknesses and dis l eases and by the vast accommodations for mental as well as physical wreckage: At the | same time indifference, which is but the natural outcome of ignorance, proves con | tinual embarrassment to all pubic sanitary | work.
 | To improve such a state of affairs there is | urgent need of public instruction, and mo- | where can we find such 8 cereain, natural and economical channel through which tc | effect general sanitary information than that | offered by the public schools. Herein lies | an opportunity to remove much of the re- | proach that has justly been cast upon what has heretofore stood for education. It only l remains to be admitted by common consent that youth is the appropriate time for prepa | ration in the simple essentials of the life | which lies before every child.
 As step in the right direction 1t is pro
 posed to divide the older pupils of our gram
 mar schools into two classes, according tt sex With each class occasional exercises should be conducted by 8 physician or some one who has received 8 special training fol the work. In these exercises there should bt no confused effort to grasp 8 multitude oi | minutie. Here, in other elementary studies, there is such 8 thing as superficial l ness and on the other hand there is the evi of cramming the half developed brain witt knowledge useful in itself, but overwhelming in detail and inappropriate to the stage O | development The essential principles O
 sanitary science using this term in it's wides
 sense should chiefly be elucidated. TL | youth should first have their attention for
 cibly attracted to the conditions of healtl
 and to the immense interests at stake. Af
 terwards they should be interested in knowl
 edge suitable to their age. The consequence
 should be made plain both of physical finer
 tia and over-exertion, especially of heavy lift
 ing and straining. They should know tn
 evil results of improper diet, dress and repose l those that arise from compression of the ches
 and abdomen;the exposure of the extremitie l and other parts to climatic influence: the delet | erious effects of certain trades and industries
 They should be made aware of the danger
 of resorting indiscriminately to nostrums o unknown composition for maladies of who's
 nature they are equally ignorant. The
 should understand the meaning of the deat
 rate and some of the causes of it's variation | the value Of quarantine ana oI nealbn oIn
 cers; the importance of sewerage, hous drainage, scientific plumbing, heating ant ventilation; the avoidance of soil and wate pollution-in word, the value of clesnli
 ness They should be warned of the perm cious effects of worry, and be shown the ne
 cessity for relaxation and recreation of nl1n
 and body. The hygienic, as well a the moral bearing of vice and intemperance should be pointed out. as well as the fact tha vice and several physical and mental dis eases are especially liable to bs cor I tinued in the world through heredity, who's
 laws are perpetually ignored. Throug
 such elementary training, occupying perhap one hour out of every fortnight, would
 hope for valuable results. Notes judiciousl
 prepared by the instructor might at first
 distributed among the pupils and later thi
 exercise might with advantage be made th
 occasion for teaching the art of taking note , for reference at home by pupils and parents The exercises would teach children to | thoughtful and observing. They would
 better able to maintain their own health an
 to act harmoniously as citizens with the pull lie health committee than is now the cas-
 They would be dismissed well furnished wit tbn material to continue these studies an
 1repar d to exert wholesome influence Q
 public sentiment. i.