•84 HYGIENE AND SCHOOL LIFE. 



moderate and common-sense physical exercise and unre- 

 strained play. Calisthenics should be a compulsory subject 

 in every school curriculum; but here again the teacher's know- 

 ledge of hygiene and physiology is necessary to determine the 

 amount and description of exercise that weak or delicate chil- 

 dren should take, and to differentiate between sexes and the 

 ages of each class. Calisthenics should be given early in the 

 day's work, and should not be over-done, as physical fatigue 

 is no more conducive to mental work than is mental weariness 

 to bodily activity. 



Respiratory gymnastics are most useful and necessary to the 

 poorer children who have spent a night in over-crowded and 

 ill-ventilated rooms. The habit of breathing through the nose, 

 instead of through the mouth, is a valuable precaution against 

 certain diseases and pulmonary complaints. May I again 

 refer to medical inspection as being necessary for the further- 

 ance of this simple but important factor of school life, if only 

 to guard against the error of violent exercise being taken 

 immediately after a meal. Older and stronger children will, 

 of course, indulge in the more violent exercises of the field 

 and playground, but care should be taken that the less hardy 

 cease when the point of bodily fatigue is reached. Every 

 teacher should show interest in outdoor sports and exercise, 

 for there can be no doubt that far too many children are 

 encouraged to spend their spare time with books, that they 

 may excel in their studies, rather than to fortify themselves 

 for the struggle of after-life by cultivating their bodily and 

 mental vigour and individuality through the medium of sport 

 and social emulation. 



Punishment and Encouragcnicni . — In view of the old system 

 of corporal punishment having almost disappeared, there is 

 not much to be said about it except to congratulate modern 

 teachers upon the excellent results of their disciplinary 

 measures, which are founded upon the assumption that the 

 first duty of a teacher is to study the character of the children 

 under his or her care, and then, by judicious treatment, to 

 restrain rather than to repel them. Obstinacy in evil-doing or 

 insubordination when persisted in certainly needs severe treat- 

 ment and punishment, not in anger and not without previous 

 caution and persuasion. Constant reprimands for trivial 

 faults, which are natural to children, rather tend to render 

 them fruitless, and no good teacher wotild run the risk of 

 exciting a child's spite by harsh language, or his anger by 

 exaggerating his misdeeds, or of attacking his self respect by 

 contemptuous treatment. 



Praise or encouragement, when it is deserved, generally has 

 good results, but it must not be fulsome, or such as tends to 

 make a child vain or conceited. Rewards are naturally appre- 

 ciated, but care must be taken that they do not appear as 

 bribes or as a condition precedent to the child doing his duty. 

 Girls should on no accoimt be physically punished, pulling or 

 boxing of the ears, slaps or blows upon the head are both 

 dangerous and aggravating, and keeping in during recess is 



