Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-01-02
IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL
EDUCATION.


"
the medical examinations Of the drAf-
tees showed that the American peo-
pie had neglected their physical edur
cation; and that the school commune
ty which neglected this phase Of edu-
cation in the future would be brand
ed as unprogressive.
/ wish to carry these two ideas
further in this article. If the people
Of Belington would carry the pro-
posed plan to completion, the city
would have place in which to cor
rect the physical defects Of the boys
and at the same time give them NOR
al strength.
If we accept the standards Of our
first draft, rejection Of 80 to 40 per
cent Of our young men because they
were physically unfit for military
service would seem to show that our
physical education has been only go
or 70 per cent effective. This war
has awakened the world to the inn
portance Of the human individual a.
a national asset; to the Importance
Of man power and woman power az
fundamental to the stability and con-
tinuity of the Nation; to the impor-
lance of vigorous and enduring health
as solid basis for national conser-
vaton and national defense.
In the face Of the facts that have
been revealed in England, France
and America, no specialist in physi-
cal education to-day would dare
maintain that it is desirable to con-
tinue the former methods for effec-
tiveness, that existed when these
men who were rejected in the draft
were being conditioned in our schools
and through our system Of physical
education for the demands of citizen
ship which they are now facing.
| We must not, we can not, be con-
tented with the sort of work that has
been done in the past; with the ex-
tent Of that work; with the small
number Of specialists who have been
engaged in its operation. 1t is our
duty to bend every energy to be more
usefully productive, to encourage the
entry into physical education Of
competent young blood of BeIington,
and to stimulate all those who are
occupying responsible positions
| in which they come in contact with
the boys and girls of to-day to re-
double their efforts so that those boys
and girls may be ready for the de-
mands which are going to be made
upon them tomorrow.
| Yesterday the most important
thing was victory Nothing else
counted but success in the war. The
victory is won; success is achieved.
But what financial sacrifice are you
willing to make to give those who
gave service and life symbol and
appropriate remembrance in our
city? Again, what Of the boys still
in our hands in school? Shall they
be dropped. 80 per cent of them, or
30 per cent Of them, into the slough
of physical unftness, because the de-
mand for military service is no long
er imperative? If we could realize
| the future battles of science, com
merce, industry, and human welfare
that may be lost because of made
quate and inefficient physical edu-
cation right-now every state and
; every county and every district in
this whole land of ours would be
spending it's greatest energy to con-
serve the lives and vigor of their
boys and girls.
The men and women who are work
4 ing in physical education have res
possibility second to that of no other
profession in the critical period of
reconstruction, a responsibility which
perhaps they have not realized, which
even the thoughtful boy men in this
country do not adequately realize.
These are days of serious thought
days when every man plans
to do for his country the thing he
can do best-days when we challenge
, the things we are doing and test
them in terms Of patriotic service.
| The war is over, but the army of
| 100000 men who risked "all they
had-their hopes of home and fam
lily, their plans for success and happi
, ness, even their lves"-these men
are still "over there" and some must
> remain over there indefinitely. There
, is no respite in the demand for over
seas service on the part Of the Y
M. c. A. and the other agencies that
minister to the welfare and comfort
of these men.
!. The affairs Of the days before TIN
: war seem SO common place, so ordi-
5 nary and SO inappropriate. The
e things of Yesterday and to-day ara