The Washington critic., 1888-04-07
HEALTH OF OUR GIRLS.
The Need of Reform in Their SchooI

The Need of Reform in Their School
Life.
"Never was there time in the his
tory Of woman's life when she so re-
quifed her greatest health and
strength as her stock in trade"
Miss Thomas OF New York, who
was one of the guests of the Six
O'Clock Club at its recent dinner, and
who came on TO attend the Woman's
Council, made the above remark. She
is one of the most enthusiastic work.
ers for woman's advancement. She
is not woman's suffrage advocate,
however, having field quite wide
enough in looking after their health
and physical development. Her
science she calls psycho-physical dc.
velopment or training, and its object
is to bring about harmonious action of
mind and body.
''See the boys and girls at our
schools, she continued; ''puny, pale
faced creatures, with no energy be-
yond that which enables them TO
compete with their equally puny class
mates for the honors on commence
ment day.
81 visited u large grammar school
| saw none had the rosy cheeks,
bright eyes and plump bodies one OK
poets TO find in youth. DefUrmity
was the rule, not the exception.
Round shoulders, stoop shoulders,
sunken chests, one shoulder higher
than the other, curved spines and q
general absence of muscle was almost
everywhere. asked 20 see them
put through their eymnastic exercise
Cthis exercise comes directly after the
assembling of the pupils, SO You can
imagine how much ii tends TO revive
them during their hours of study,
and this iswhat they did:
"Wayed their little hands TO and
fro like fans-yery prettily, / must
say. Placed their hands alternately
on their chests number of times,
then ON their heads and marched
out. All was gone through with in
lileless manner and was about rs
well calculated to produce health and
strength as sleep-walk, srs
81 went tota high school and saw a
class Of girls sofatigued with study
that they were ready TO drop. asked
them If they ever took any exercise,
and by close questioning reduced their
answers to this No. They had no
time heard one girl wish the day
was longer. oh, don't said another,
for if il was the teachers would
crowd in more lessons
" a class never graduates without
having somebody in il broken in
health, and consequently weakened
in mind. ....
"Whut does ii all come from
"a mistaken idea about education.
What is the purpose of education?
ITO bring about an equal develop
ment of mind, soul and body, so that
they can work together in harmony
TO have no abnormal growth of either
Ito be perfectly balanced. And as
long as the present school system
prevails without modification we will
not have it, And the mistake is be-
coming greater, for we have an ever
widening curriculum.
81 use no apparatus, and have long
discarded the old system of gymnas-
ties.
''The first thinga pupil learns is the
natural pose or pose of strength.
There are few indeed who know how
10 stand in an easy position or with
out fatigue. In this pose the object
isto get proper distribution of the
avoirdupois ON the bony structure,
and to have,each joint set perfectly in
its socket. This prevents fatigue and
is the key TO future graceful move-
ment, Then comes the strong exer-
else where the pupil makes every
muscle tense, the mind working stimuli
taneously through every part of the
body, and not allowing few muscles
TO do all the work.
Then, have arranged exercises,
all of which bring in as many move
ments Of the entire body rs possible.
The thing most striven after is light
ness, buoyancy and perfect mental
control. There can be no lightness
where there is no strength, To DO