The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-04-06

gByzMrs,.. Mary D.. Bradford.l

EuOS6r WHO dE6 AuJciSpPCu LII $1,000
osha IS open air school are hearing
many comments and inquiries that are
encouraging, and some that cannot be
30 characterized.
To be pronounced "fads" and
s'pieces Of folly" has been the expert
ence of many innovations which are
now well established and generally
accepted part of our school system.
The kindergarten, sewing and cooking
manual training, music and drawing,
assregular studies of the school curric-
Glnm, all have passed through that ex-
perience.
This open air school idea is so en-
tirely in line with the great movements
now on for the promotion of public
h7alth, that it is spreading rapidly. 1t
was no further back than 1908 that
Providence, r. I. knocked out the
south side of an old school house to let
I'M air and sunshine, and thus started
the first open air school in America.
Now twenty-seven cities have followed
the example, and many others are con-
templating doing so.
The following is portion Of an ar
ticle which appeared in ''The Survey"
of April %, 1910 on elbow to Build
and Equip an Outdoor School," by
Thomas Specs Darlington, M. d. AS
sistant Secretary, National Association
for the study and prevention of tuber-
culOsis, expert on hospital construction
in the New York State Department of
Health.
DR. Darlington says:
Why should a community establish
RnS outdoor schoolg The question must
be answered and the reasons be sound
If the outdoor school is to be a perm
anent feature of our educational
equipment. The school children of to-
day are the men and women of tomOr-
row. There is at present a strong
movement to discover and prevent ply
steal defects among them and one Of
the most insidious causes of deform-
ities and i'll health is tuberculosis in
its many forms. Children seem more
susceptible toit than adults. 1t often
attacks their glands, bones and joints
and, after doing more or less damage
10 tRe tender tissues, seemingly disap-
pears until in early adult life, usually
after a bad cold, the lungs are found
30 be infected. This accounts in no
small degree for the high mortality OF
consumption between the ages of TWEEN
ty and forty-fve. 1t is held by some
authorities that pulmonary tuberculosis
in the adult is, in a majority of cases,
the result of infection during child
hood and that, the only way the dis
ease can be suppressed is by improv
ing the health and building up the
strength of children. If this be true,
and believe it is, any device that pro
vides sanitary surroundings during
portion of the day, is an important adj
junct to their school life, and increases
their resistance to disease in later
years.
Outdoor schools are an experiment of
only two or three years standing, but
they have shown that the children who
attend them, although tuberculous, are
after few weeks in the open air, in
better physical condition than many
children in the public schools. This is
shown by their appearances, by com
parison of weights and by other tests.
The children of the outdoor schools us
ually have a healthy color, while many
school children appear pale and weak.
One cause for the anaemic condition of
school children is the warm, dry air of
the school room, which lowers their vi
tally. 1t would seem best to remove
from child environment ANYTHING
which lowers the vitality of the BODY
and handRcaps nature in her efforts to
prevent disease, particularly during
HCuOUA AONAl - AOA buS pIdlu Is uudDIS TO
do good work, and the mental powers
cannot be used for any length of time
under bad sanitary conditions. The
schoolroom under any circumstances is
a trying place for children. their bod
les were made for action, and exercise
in the fresh air is necessary for healthy
growth. Children should not be con
fined or required to study when tired,
for their physical condition should
surely be regarded as of greater i'm
portance than early education. Any
one familiar with the combining atmos
phere Of city schools will appreciate
the need of adopting every means by
which the pupils health may be i'm
proved, and, as lessons in the open air
usually do this, the agitation for out
door schools should interest everyone,
Recently, an editorial in daily pa
per argued that no part of an appro-