TEE SCHOOL AND THE FAMILY 91 



by the state, and in turn looks to the state to take care of him, the 

 state may have to pay for the bearing of children as well as for raising 

 them. And when states no longer want citizens for defense or aggres- 

 sion and liave no peculiar institutions to support, it is not likely that 

 the cosmopolitan world will be more ready than the individual to sacri- 

 fice present pleasures in order that there may be posterity. 



In addition to the psychological and economic effects of the school 

 subversive of the family, the physiological effects are serious. The 

 health of our children is in large measure conserved by the inefficiency 

 of our teachers. If children really did what our scheme of education 

 asks, the results would be much worse than they are. It is also true 

 that conditions at home, especially in cities, are such that the school 

 may be an improvement. But the ordinary defective eyesight and lat- 

 eral curvature of the spine are signs of deep-seated injury to the 

 nervous system and bodily organs. Schools are centers for the spread 

 of contagious diseases. The sedentary habits are not only injurious 

 at the time, but are likely to persist, and the result is that but few 

 educated people have normal circulations, digestions and reproductive 

 systems. Alcoholic drinks, tobacco, coffee and medical drugs are used 

 to replace the stimulation that should be obtained through normal work 

 and out-of-door exercise. Some must do too much physical work and 

 are never rested, while others shirk it altogether and are permanently 

 tired. 



It is generally assumed that the small family and diminishing birth 

 rate are due to psychological and economic causes, but it is probable 

 that physiological and pathological conditions are equally potent. 

 When there is no child or but one, until recently at least, physiological 

 infertility may be assumed; and this class represents one third of all 

 families of college alumni. Among these alumni, a considerable per- 

 centage of whom are clergymen, large families such as were formerly 

 common simply do not occur, and it is difficult to believe that volun- 

 tary restriction is absolutely universal. Among women of the Amer- 

 ican upper classes there are probably about as many miscarriages as 

 births, and probably less than one fourth of all mothers can nurse ade- 

 quately their infants. The small family is often due to voluntary 

 restriction in deference to the health of the wife. 



It is quite impossible to determine the extent to which the failing 

 birth rate is due to physiological infertility or the extent to which this 

 is chargeable to the schools. It has been held that intellectual devel- 

 opment inhibits the reproductive function; in Malthusian days this 

 was even urged as a beneficent plan of nature. Girls are injured more 

 than boys by school life; they take it more seriously, and at certain 

 times and at a certain age are far more subject to harm. It is prob- 



