Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-04-04
THINGS HEALrHFuL AND THINGS RIGHT
DR.. Porter Writes Of Matters Educational In the
Old Days. and What Should be Now.

! the Wire qua schools tells of the 'indif-
ference and stupidity" of tine pupils, and
! attributes these conditions to the bad
ventilation | wonder if that visitor
wouldn't be stupid and Indifferent if
confined in the 'purgatory of childhood
| nine months in the year as our children
are, even if ventilation were good. In
the Popular Science Monthly, June 1872
is an article on The Artificial Produc-
tion of Stupidity in Schools. quote a
few sentences from it, I'VE are con-
WINGED that very large proportion of
the stupidity now existing in the world
IL the direct result of variety of in
tiuences. educational and social, which
operate to the prejudice of the growing
brain, either by checking it's develop
ment altogether or by unduly stimulat-
ing the senserium at the g, pense of the
intelligence In the former case gener-
nj obtuseness is the result; and in the
latter, subjugation of the reasoning
power to the sensations or emotions.
We think these conditions strictly arti-
fetal, and look upon them as distortions
analogous TO the distortions of Hindoo
fakirism, Again, upon testing the
educational customs of the present day
by the most elementary principles of
psychology IL becomes apparent that
very large number of children receive
precisely the kind of training which has
been bestowed on a learned pig Wheth-
er the fire OF intellect shall blaze or
shoulder will depend, in many cases,
upon the manner in which it is kindled;
and this kindling is among the things
that can be done .uost effectually under
the mild influence of home.
The other day when | remarked that
l never attended school until six years
old, and that we never had and school
house, bnt that went TO school in four
different dwellings,. in a hop-lSiln, and
IN the tie-up OF a COW barn, and then
had only sever weeks IF schooling in
year until was fourteen. my nine-year-
old boy remarked. PA. | wish / had
been you" believe a good many chill
dren get tired of staying in the school
room so many months, and ! doubt If
they advance any faster than IL they
had five months schooling instead Of
nine. Little children need a great deal
individual instruction, which it is hard
for % teacher 10 give. Only yesterday
heard gentleman say: i have sent
my little girl TO school six months and she
has only been called upon TO read twice
in that time. and l can't learn that she
is called ON TO do anything" The father
was filled with righteous indignation,
and so were we half dozen rough fellows
who heard him | fear here is case Of
artificial cultivation of stupidity in
school. The Republican tells us that
our schools are most important of any
thing, Maybe they are; but | believe
see evil as well as good coming out OF
our system of training the young Does
that training nc the young men for hard
labor early and late ON the farm, in the
mines and where hard manual labor is
TO be doneS Does it better fit the Young
woman TO help her mother in the kitch-
en- and at the wash tub or does it ele
waite hep above such workY Does ii
give the student better health, better
vision, or does it give muscular weak
ness and short sightednessY Is the illit.
erate man or woman the unschooled ia.
dividual whom we make sport Of, other
things being equal, so very much worse
to live beside of, to work with. and as
soeiate with than the scholarly man or
woman. the graduates IF our sohoolsf
Have we not all known men who could
hardly read or write who were honored
citizens possessed of the good qualities
which we admire in men; and have we
not known women. excellent wives and
mothers and the best of housekeepers,
who were illiterateS On the other hand.
are not our schools turning out large
numbers of dudes, young men who are
above hard work, who propose to live
by their wits. and who can boast that
they never eat1ed dollar by hard labor
and never intend tog And are not hun
dreds Of young women as result of
their long training in schools incapaci-
tated for work in the kitchen and else
where in the home? Our children
are triune beings they have body,
mind and soul are we not developing
intellect a. the expense of body and souls
fear we are
Much is written about the ventilation
of our school-rooms Our pupils speed
nearly half their time in bed rooms
where there is no ventilation whatever.
Many of them breathe tobacco smoke
several hours daily. | wonder If they
inhale more carbonic dioxide and more
animal effiuvium in five and one-half
hours in the schoolroom than they do in
the same length Of time in tLs average
homer
Let Us remedy the evil in both places.
God furnishes all the pure air we want;
for Gods sake let us use it in preference
| TO animal excrementitious matter
G.. V. PORTER