PHYSICAL CULTURE AND MILITARY DRILL IN 

 BOYS' SCHOOLS. 



By C. C. Grant, M.A. 



It is now rei^ardecl as a sort of truism that some form of 

 physical as well as mental exercise is indispensable to the 

 preservation of a sound mind in a healthy body. This is true 

 in a special degree of the young and undeveloped, and though 

 in the earlier stages of our civilisation the schools concerned 

 themselves almost exclusively with the training" of the mind, 

 one of the leading tendencies of modern education has been 

 towards a fuller recognition of the importance of a proper 

 system of bodily exercise. Physical training" is now looked 

 upon as essential for children of both sexes, and forms an integral 

 and vital part of the curriculum of every good primary and 

 secondary school. But while all competent authorities are in 

 agreement as to the necessity for some form of physical cul- 

 ture for school children there is a wonderful lack of unanimity 

 amongst individuals and "communities as regards the best 

 system of bodily exercise to adopt. The general aim may be 

 regarded as two-fold — on the one hand, the improvement of 

 the health and physique of the pupils; and on the other the 

 development of alertness, decision, concentration, and perfect 

 control of mind over body. These principles are, of course, 

 applicable to all schools, boys' and girls', junior and senior; 

 but in this paper I propose to deal only with boys' sclioo'is, or 

 schools at which boys of 12 years and upwards are in attend- 

 ance. 



The average boy is naturally gamesome and gregarious, 

 and he revels in the freedom and rivalry of the sporting field. 

 Many of his daily tasks, the cramped desks, the enforced still- 

 ness and the close confinement are irksome to him and he 

 bursts forth from the class-room, like a liberated prisoner, with 

 a buoyancy only known to youth and a store of superfluous 

 bodilv energv for whatever requires exertion and at the same 

 time affords interest or amusement. 



Every well-managed boys' school in these days has its 

 organised out-door games, such as football, cricket, hockey, 

 tennis, etc., in which the pupils can find a congenial vent for 

 their superfluous energy and where the naturally indolent are 

 compelled to take the exercise which they require. Such 

 games are no doubt highly beneficial to the well-being of the 

 youthful participants, provided always that they are indulged 

 in with due moderation and under the effective control of re- 

 sponsible and sympathetic masters. In addition to the physical 

 advantage derived from them, the boys gain much uncon- 

 sciously towards the formation and development of their 

 character — self-control, respect for others, the principles of 

 fair play, and in general that indefinable quality which we sum 

 up in the expression '" gentlemanly behaviour." Of the desir- 

 ability of maintaining and even of further encouraging" these 

 and other such sports in connection wnth the schools I have 

 no doubt whatever, and I should like it to be clearly under- 



