New Britain herald., 1916-02-12
Athletics.

muscles but the instincts and impul- i ses as well.
 Athletics.
 l Athletics has serious dangers ;ls 1 well as great possibilities. Unregulat- 1 ed or improperly conducted it tends
 to help only the few who participate l and not all of these under all cir ] cumstances.
 1 Elements of professionalism and
 unworthy social ideals are likely to 1 enter in unless the utmost caution is
 exercised. If properly directed and kept up to it's best possibilities, ath- | Ietics can, on the other hand, give i play to all the hig1er motives of l conduct and incuIcate high moral 1 ideals. Sport is not for it's own sake, 1 nor for the amusement of the specta- ] tors nor for the glory of the school, l it is rather a means to be employed
 for the bringing of youth to com 1 plete manhood. All pupils, not q
 few. should be reached The aim to be sought should not be merely phy- sical prowess or physical develop ment but harmony of body and mind 1 extending even to minor manner and | department.
 We believe that the natural desire 1 Cn the part of every normal youth of 1 grammar or high school age to be healthy strong and beautiful if prop erly directed, may be so employed as to afford a strong incentive for the formation of moral standards as well as an adequate physical develop ment .. The foregoing statement of princi- ples will serve to indicate the needs in our own school system 1. Skilled direction of physical education by trained specialists to cover the needs of all pupils. 2. The devotion of sufficient time to the work of physical education in the daily program to insure results that will be commensurate with the needs.
 8. Sufficient funds to carry out such a program of development The physical training work as at present carried on in our schools is
 inadequate. It should, in the opinion of your committee be completely re- organized and should be conducted on the lines already indicated in this
 report.
 At the present time no physical training is provided for either boys or girls of the elementary grades. For the boys and girls of the Prevoca- tional- Grammar school one instructor a woman, is employed for full time; and for the High school one instructor, a woman, devotes one half of her | time to Physical Training for girls, | the boys of the High school being en- l tirely neglected so far as physical 1 education is concerned.
 It is plain to see that the employ | ment of one and a half instructors l for hte inspiration, the instruction and the physical deve1opment of ap-
 proximately 5000 pupils, 2,300 of 1 whom are of the adolescent age, is ] hopelessly inadequate. Again tho 1 fact that we have approximately
 1,2O0 boys in our high and grammar
 grades who are without the whole
 some and uplifting influence that
 they ought to receive from a male physical director, one who under
 stands the moral and mental as well
 as the physical problem of develop
 ing boyhood and youth, is probably
 one of the most serious defects in our 1 school system.
 Recommendations.
 We believe that the foregoing
 reveals the need of a thorough reor-
 gan1zation of the physical education
 department of our schools We ! therefore recommand:-
 l. The employment of a man as 1 director of physical education for boys
 or the grammar and high school
 grades, whose special field should be
 the care of the physical and athletic
 interests of the boys of both schools l y,I0
 director of physical education for girls
 Of the grammar and high school
 grades, whose special field should be
 the care of the physical welfare of | the girls of both schools.
 3. The employment of a woman
 as director of physical education for
 the elementary grades, for both boys and girls, whose special field should
 be the supervision of the play interests | or the children of these grades for the
 purposes of physical training, this | work to be done as far as possible l through the direction and instruction or the regular classroom teachers. 4. That the necessary amount of | money for carrying out these recom- l mendations be included in the estf- 1 mates for school expenses for the next | nnanclal school year, and that this ] program be begun with the opening l of the schools in September, 1916. The estimated additional cost for ] the above is approximately $1,800. In the selection of directors of phy- sical training as recommended above we believe the following qualifications l should be established:
 1. A personality which has a ca 1 pacity for leadership and ability to | inspire.