The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-13
DRUDGERY OF TEACHING.
Possible Causes Of the Nervous strain
on Women Teachers.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Str. Ref.
erence has beep made lately BY the Comp.
troller to the fact hat the pubic schoo
teachers have e,aey Hives. by their frufts
shall We know them Is there any pro-
fession, 10 there any walk In ME, where
the work has such deleterious effects
upon those practising the occupation
Any person in the public school system
In New York city is painfully aware oil
the ravages that school teaching makes
upon the practitioners. How often youna
girls fresh from college. the bloom OF
healthy womanhood upon their faces,
enter the profession and In a compare
lively brief period fade into the trad!-
tional dried up old maid school teach
err" Why 10 this?
The same educated young woman,
had she entered into other walks Of fe.
male activity. and had she become either
a stenographer, a secretary, q librarian.
a settlement worker, a buyer in a wom-
ems wear department store. a journalist.
book oanvaeeer or a social service
agent. would not begin to show the
marked physical and nervous deteriora-
ton hat evidences itself nc rapidly in
those that take up school teaching. What
Is the cause of this?
The preparation for this work IN the
eight years course at high school and
college. strenuous az II may be. appar-
emily leaves them In full possession Of
their physical and mental faculties. And
yet an equal period OF time spent in the
class room invariably turns them into
nervous and physical wrecks.
Measured by the time demanded In
other occupations and with due allow
ance for necessary home work. the hours
of the school teachers are comparatively
49, - - -
cause elsewhere than in the time spent
In teaching. Perhaps the harm Is due
rather TO the excessive drain Upon their
vital and psychic forces. e~ngendered by
the character OF the work.
Is II due, In these days Of moral 8ua-
sion, smelly TO the continuous, high
reared nervous tension they undergo six
hours a day. controlling by sheer
strength OF will and Intensity Of per-
s%onality nifty restless, lmpulsive, healthy
little animals. inhibited from pursuing
their natural tendencies. or may II not
be due 10 other causes also?
May II not perhaps be due in great
part to the %unspoleen fear. the hidden
trcpidation, the impending obsesslon that
hangs over the head Of every class
teacher in our public schools?
Is 1t not due to the highly organized
system ~ espionage that permeatss our
top heavy school system?
IL It not due to the countless methods
or supervision. rerortings. ratings, clas-
s!'icat!ons, programme prescrib!ngs of
the harTied. hustling class room drudge,
bearing upon her ben shoulders the
whole staggering load that our modern
system has 20 lnboriously and 20 COM
plexly piled up?
Is II not due 10 me fact that the ex-
plotted worker o: the class room, with
her ~consen!tally finely organised ner-
vous structure. realizing. through i'm
perfect tenure OF ONCE and relentless
machinelike drive from above her utter
impotence as an individual. that she
dare not become vocal and speak the
done 10 her. reacts upon her
nerves and turns her in a brief period
OF time into the pitiful nervous wreck
and prematurely old woman that every
hne young blooming school teacher who
so hopefully enters the system In doomed
soon to become? UNoY.
NEW YORK, August 10.