The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-09-29

school term over 1900 children between
the ages of eight and fourteen taken out
of the public schools because their ner-
vous systems were wrecked, and their
minds were incapable of going any
further in the Internal examining system
which exists today in our schools? And ,
these 1900 helpless little wrecks are
simply the children We know about. Con-
servative medical men who have given
their lives TO the study of children place
the number whose health is shattered by
overstudy at more than 5000 each year. 1t
Is putting the truth mildly TO state that
of all American institutions that which
deals with the public education of our
children is at once the most faulty, the
most unintelligent and the most cruel.
am making no attack on the teachers
of this country, for / yield. 10 no one in
my admiration of the work which these
noble women and men doing. And
from no class, / venture to say, will these
words elicit a stronger approval. Indeed.
IL is from them that there has come the
most intelligent aid received by this mag
aziDe in its investigation of this question:
But as Mrs. Lew Wallace said in her re-
narkable article in the Journal lew
freely. Especially is this true of the pub
lie school teacher, who is only too otteh
rsrt of a vast political machine controll-
ed by men ignorant of the first principles
of true education. She is expected 20
cram a specified amount of book-learninS
into the heads of an immense class within
a given time She knows the class Is TOO
large. But her position compeis her ID
follow orders 1t is hopeless task Tor
the best of women to fight crowd OF lg-
most part, what the Boards of Education
of our largest cities are.
Just see what is being done to our chill
dren and with our consent as parents; or.
~ not with our consent, with shameful
negligence of the matter on our parts
The most rapid growth in the human
brain takes place during the hrst sever.
wears OF a child's life. That Is settie1
fact. Hence all that is required at TINS
pt riod is simply TO direct into the right
channels this outpouring of natural mem
tai energy, and to nourish the pody prop.
erly 10 stand the strain OF rapid mental
and physical growth. Therefore, no cnild
should be sent TO school before the age
OF seven Fortunately, this is becoming
the general rule. But where 1t Is not, IL
should be. Froebefs teachings are per-
fectlv I'm accord with this fact, for the Kin
derrarten simply directs natural energy
through natural methods of play, etc,
anf is scarcely to be reckoned as schooi,
During the second seven years OF chll1
the marvellous brain growth begins 10
slacken 1t was planned by Nature that
between the years of seven and ffteen the
child should have rest-not rest which Will
step all mental and physical growth, OF
course. for when growth ceases in the
natural or physical world, decay begins;
hut the child's pace should be checked 81
as TO allow him to recover from the
strain which his system has just under
gone.
But what really happens to the average
child at the age of seven? Is he given
this period Of rest? Verify, no. He en-
tors the schoolroom and becomes victim
of long hours of commemorative hrs'
rental application, mind you, that the
child has ever known. The nervous wear
ard tear begin: the child is fairly launch
ed upon his enjoyment God save the
msrkD OF the great educational system OF
America. The warning has been again
and again sounded that the fresh mental
interest of a child of seven cannot be ad-
vantageously held for more than eight
consecutive minutes at time on any one
subject 1t has been proved that the
health of a child between seven and ter
cannot stand more than thrty-fve min
utes of study during any single twenty
four hours.
Here Is a very recent demonstration OF
this fact: in Chicago they have started
at the Alcott School, n common sense ex-
pertinent in education. which, if persisted
in. will do a great deal for American edu'
cation. On the theory. not by any means
new, that brain growth is affected
through III not entirely by, physical vi
tally a child is carefully examined phys
ically, and his mental capacity is thus
established. IL has been found that. q
number Of children who are sent TO school
should, instead. be at home and under
physicians care and they have been re-
turned to their homes. 1t has also beer
found that the physical force of a child
varies tremendously throughout the day
At o'clock, for instance. 1t is fair; a.
ten II is strong; but from that point i
decreases until at twelve 1t is very low
At o'clock there is a slight revival; a
two 1t is fairly good. and at three IL Il
again low. Thus IL Is demonstrated tina
there is barely one brief hour in a days
study when a child's mind rs actually
fresh.
Now, these discoveries are not new
Their value lies in the fact that they hav'
been found out once more, brought int
publicity in another way, and given
new emphasis. But the question is: Whei
will the warning they sound be needed
when will parents learn the lesson?
For how are these conditions met? j
the majority of cases. by the little tot
being compelled to study or to hang owe
their books from one hour and a half t
three hours each day. There's education
for you!
,
auently his mental good. Into what Ma
ture planned should be a period OF rest,
time OF moderate study, an immens
amount of learning Is crammed which
absolutely valueless because one-tenth o
II isnot absorbed, and the child Is physi
cally injured. The MONDAY meal Is has
tily eaten for fear OF "tardy" marks, o
TO make time for recess in the play
ground The child goes back to anotne
two hours in the schoolroom when nj
mind has lost its freshness. and Is give
another dose of the examining system, an
OF the had air, which in the averag
schoolroom Is enough to sicken any on
who enters II from the street.
SpeciaI systems of marks, whic
amount to prizes. are started, serving on
lv TO overstimulate the preternaturah
bright child who needs relaxation mos
of all. and to discourage the child wh
happens to be below the average OF intel
lieence. IL Is examining. examining, cram
mirg. A certain amount of ground mus
he gone over" as IL is usually called
whether the child is physically able =
mot