The record-union., 1891-03-24
STUDENTS SHOULD EAT.
Doctors Oppose Continuous Sessions
at the High School.
DIR. w. A. Briggs Presents the Board
of Education With Some Facts
and Figures.

OF Education will have to decide at its |
next regular meeting. 1t has been the |
practice at the High School to have one |
continuous session from $50 in the morn
ing until l:30 in the afternoon during the |
summer months, instead Of having two |
sessions with an intervening recess for a
square meal.
The doctors say this is not right, and at
n special meeting of the Board of Educa- |
ton last night a committee of local medi-
cal men unbosomed themselves on the |
subject. There were present Drs. w. A. |
Briggs, Fowler, Huntington, Parkinson |
and Merrill, and the members of the
board present were Messrs. Erlewine,
Sherburn, Payne, Tufts and Gardner.
DIR. BRIGGS VIEWS.
DR.. Briggs was the first to address the
board. About q year ago the matter of
school hours was taken up by the local
medical society, he said, and a resolution
was adopted opposing the early-closing
idea Being rather late the matter was
dropped for the time being, but the sub
ject was revived recently, and commit
tee was appointed to attend to it and lay
it before the Board of Education.
AT the outset,' continued the doctor,
I'VE have found that the teachers in the
schools are overworked. There are not
dren attending the schools. But to come
right down to the subject at hand, L will
say that we have decided to enter Il remon
STRANGE with the board against the single
session plan. A continuous session from
$50 in the morning until l:30 in the after
noon, with possibly a fifteen or even a
thirty-minute recess for lunch, is wrong.
1t is a we'll known fact to medical
men that food cannot be properly
digested if partaken of hurriedly and
injury to health is the result. The next
objection to the continuous session idea is
that the strain upon the child's mind is
toe great, and must result eventually in
its injury. Professor Chadwick, proba-
bly, one of the most reliable authorities
known on this subject, says in his cele
brated work that child from five to
seven years of age Is unable to devote
more than fifteen minutes of active con-
centration or study to one subject at one
time; child from seven to ten cannot de-
vote more than twenty or twenty-five
minutes and so on until the age of fifteen
or sixteen is reached when the maximum
is forty-five minutes. He advises
AN INTERMIssIoN
after every fifteen minutes of continuous
concentration, or after each period given
in his scale of ages. There is no reason
why the children cannot have an hour for
lunch during the summer months as at
any other time. The summer i'll Sacra-
or reported to be. We believe
that mental work can be carried
on comfortably and with advantage when
the thermometer is al 900. At this rate
figuring from the Signal Service reports
only twenty days would be lost i'll the
year. In Brussels the schools dismiss
the pupils when the thermometer rises
to 970, and the authorities there have
agreed that until that temperature is
reached there is no interference with
mental activity. If we want to have good
healthy men and women, we must take
care of our boys and girls, and we can't
keep the boys healthy by adhering to this
single-session plan.''
INDoRSED THE IDEA.
DR.. Huntington said that inasmuch as
DIR. Briggs hadlgOne over the ground so
thoroughly, and rs he the speaker) had
another subject to bring before the board
later on, he would be brief. He heartily
indorsed the remarks and ideas of his
friend and colleague who had just spoken.
He referred to the importance of a hearty
noon meal for children whose brains are
being taxed severely by study. He sug-
sested that even more intermiSSionS and
longer ones would be even better. He
referred for example to particular cur
riculum in vogue in some OF the colleges
in which the entire day was consumed,
but with longer intervening recesses.
NOT ENOUGH TINE.
Chairman Erlewine asked DIR. Briggs if
he thought one hour sufficient for child
to walk from school several blocks to it's
home, eat a hearty meal and return to the
school, and be ready for active mental
work.
The doctor replied that in his judg-
ment it was not, an hour and half was
about right. Still an hour was far better
than a less time.
DIR. Fowler addressed the board, using
f6n mo of nnf hi a
cessors. 1t was highly necessary, he
said, that the child's physical structure
should be taken care of as well as the
mental structure. When fine powerful
engine is placed on an old hulk of a
vessel, the result attained is not very
gratifying. 1t is failure, to say the least
of it. The same thought could be applied
to education. The results are not what
are wanted, whena child's physical abili-
ties are wrecked for the sake of develop
ing the brain.
DR.. Merrill voiced the remarks of those
who had preceded him. There was nc
doubt as to the soundness of the theories
advanced by DIR. Briggs, he said, and he
hoped for the sake of the health of the
rising generation that the board would
act upon the suggestions of the commit
tee.
Mr.. Weinstock also spoke on the sub
ject. 1t seemed very clear to him, how
ever. that health should not be sacrificed
for education. 1t was very plain prop
osition. The continuous-se plan was
to his mind injurious and pernicious
Mr.. Weinstock said he was heartily in
accord with DR.. Briggs, and hoped the
board would remedy the evil.
PROFESSOR POND OPPOSES IT.
Professor Pond, Principal of the Higf
School, informed the board that he ha6
given the subject under discussion con
siderable thought, but lie did not concur
with the doctors suggestions in many re
spects. lie said he did not believe tht
doctors were right in changing the pres
ent SYSTEM He admitted their theories
but he did not think they were practical
DR.. Briggs replied to Professor Pon(
rather warmly He said he had mad,
wide researches, and had failed to find ;
single instance of communication OF tht
continuous session. On the other hand
all of the authorities condemned the sys
TEN. He said that in his practice he haC
seen numerous eases in which he wa
satisfied permanent injury had resulted
from the curriculum at present In vogue
at the Sacramento High School. Physica
ruin means mental ruin. There was n'
doubt III his mind that the mental ca
paclty OF the pupils-male and female
was very greatly reduced by the curric
ulum now i'll use. Professor Pond, h,
said. had taken a stand against the uni
versal observation of the medical fra
ternity-and, in fact, against the opinion
of those who had given the subject an,
study.
Professor Pond explained that he di,
not mean TO dispute the soundness of tn
doctors theories. He only doubted tina
the Improvement expected would resul
from change from the present system
This ended the discussion on this sub
iect. and after DR.. Huntington made
fa,,, ,.n,,arI-S rpparlinp the oyercrov,I