The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1909-04-30
DONT'S FOR CHILDREN.
Some Things That They Should Not Do
to Insure the Best of Health.

Many of the physical defects and imper
fections that trouble grown-up people ex
perience are the result of carelessly ac
CURED habits that were not checked in
childhood. There are number of these
habits, seemingly insignificant enough, that
parents should always be on the watch
for if they wish their children to grow
| up free from common ills Any one with
any close experience of children knows the
readiness with which they will seize upor
| the wrong way of doing thing if the
right way is not drilled into them. 1t is
an English writer who has given Ions
study to the subject who, in the London
| Daily Mail, sets down the following OBJ
| servations:
| Nearly every child has been caught i'm
providenty running his eyesight by reading
| by freight, because it was too INDECENT to
ask for light. This matter of reading
is an important one. Though, of course
it is possible for a child to read too much,
it is much more important to see that it
reads in proper position.
Among the worst methods is the COM
mon one of sitting bent over a desk or
table with the head supported between
the hands This combines various disad-
vantages. The cramped position is bad
for the spine, the readers head or arm is
usually in his own light, and the distance
of the eyes from the book, some six inches
instead of fourteen, is almost certain to
weaken them.
The same objections apply to the habit
of reading a book supported upon the
knees. as children may often be seen to
do. The danger of anything but plain,
clear type, with wide spaces, for children
cannot be exaggerated.
The most satisfactory way to read
book is to hold it before you some four
teen inches from the eyes and slightly be-
low them. If the elbows rest against the
sides this is as comfortable as any unless
the book is unreasonably heavy. Book
rests. of course, have advantages, but so
much adjustment is required for different
people and a growing child that 1t is diff
cult to get them quite satisfactory.
There are similar bad methods of writing
which may cause unsupported damage to
the eyes or the spine, and 1t Is noticeable
that grown-up people are not always al
together free from them. Any attempt
to get the head down near the pen should
be checked at once. A crouching position
contracts the chest and is bad for the
lungs. A twisted position, too, is liable
to leave its traces only too soon in curva-
ture or some other defect of the spine.
If a child persists in dropping its head
or holding it one side, it is quite time
to take expert advice regarding its eyes.
One eye may be less normal than the 9th
er and the head in consequence held with
one side more forward than the other in
an unconscious effort to correct the differ
ence in focus Neglect of such a case
will sometimes cause serious trouble.
By holding the head continuously on one
side, one side of the neck may be forced
to grow in a strained position, and one
shoulder be raised to correct the defect,
finally even resulting in malformation of
the spine and general lopsidedness. The
right way to write is at a table or desk
Just at the level of the elbow and with
the back quite erect. If the left forearm
then rests easily on the table, and the
bend of the head is effected entirely by the |
neck, one is as near the ideal as he can |
hope to be.
Even with these precautions child may |
complain of headache after reading or
writing.
1t should be remembered that this is
nearly as likely to be caused by some |
optical defect as by anything else; and
the same conclusion is often to be drawn
if children select awkward attitudes
1t is generally agreed that it is best
to lie upon the right side. some say with
the right elbow under the head. Others
with it behind the back. Either is
habit that needs to be acquired in child
hood If a child persists in adopting an
awkward and constrained position, 1t Is
wise to take expert advice For this rea-
son children ought to be kept from easy
chairs. 1t Is almost impossible for them
to sit in them properly. and the con-
strained positions into which they curl
themselves, and which they sometimes re
tain for hours at a time when reading,
are not at all good for them.
There Is no doubt that a straight
backed chair is the best, and though this
nav seem to be rather Spartan and to be