In February of 1860, the principal of the high school gave a lecture describing what he saw as “defects” in the current school system. The newspaper was kind enough to dcoument this, so we can go back and read what he said about such topics as books, naps, exercise, carbonic acid gas, and politeness.
The system he describes seems rather far from what we do today, but the goal is identical.
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Saturday, February 11, 1860
The Lecture at The High School
Professor Bacon delivered an interesting lecture at the High School, of which he is the worthy Principal, on Tuesday evening of this week, upon the subject of defects in our present system of education.
The Lecturer showed that not enough attention is paid in our schools to physical exercise and training. We are too much occupied in stuffing our children’s heads with book-knowledge at an early age, acquired always at the expense of health and a good, sound constitution, when we ought, by conversational practice, in the bosom of the family, to lead them enquiringly into the knowledge that lies enfolded in Nature, and which the present system but seldom develops.
After pointing out the prominent defects of our present system of primary school education, the lecturer then went on to suggest a remedy. He said that – “The first step evidently is, as acknowledged by all observing, thinking minds, to begin at the foundation of the matter by at once overthrowing our system of infant schools – those hot-beds of nervous diseases, consumption, puny bodies and over developed and useless heads.
No child under the age of 10 or 12 years should ever see the inside of what is now considered a model school-room; indeed it cannot do so with any degree of safety.
Infant schools, however, must be had; – but they should be places of nearly purely bodily education until the child reaches the age of at least 7 years. Not a book should be allowed within them; in the place of readers, spellers, grammars, geographies, philosophies, and that sum totum in the eyes of Yankees – the arithmetic, there should be a large convenient yard, a well lighted and perfectly ventilated roomy building, furnished with every imaginable apparatus for developing the muscular system and promoting the health of the whole body. There might even be, without impropriety, comfortable little cots or beds where the little ones could lie down and rest or sleep as nature dictated or inclination led; for by our present system children are deprived of many hours of sleep actually required for keeping the body in health.
During the eighth year of age no child should be confined to books more than one hour per day; and during the ninth year the hours of study should not exceed two. If the child should be weakly, it would be far better to study but one — that is, real bona fide study, not mere leaning over books as pupils do much of the time at the present day.
During the tenth and eleventh years, three hours of study should be the maximum; and for the twelfth perhaps four hours might not be injurious. After that, during whatever course may be pursued, be it long or short, five hours out of twenty-four is all that should be spent in actual study, with a due regard to the health both of mind and body; for it is the testimony of many great scholars that this is about the extent of the healthy endurance of the mind, and all beyond is an injury.
The system of education thus partially described, is, Think, the only one worthy of the name; and any one thus promoting both bodily development as well as mental culture is the great desideratum of the times. Under such a system, the body cannot fail to be vigorous and strong; and much of the sickness now caused by inactivity of body and over exertion of the brain, would be prevented.
The remarks made here apply more to cities and villages than to rural districts where there is a long walk between home and school-house, and not un-frequently quite an amount of “chores” to be done both before and after the walk; yet the evil is fast finding its way even here.
There is one other point connected with this subject to which I would draw your attention, viz.: that of ventilation. And what little I may say on this point I shall design to be strictly personal; for I think it has received but little attention in this vicinity, certainly as far as our school-houses are concerned. As for our dwelling houses, I have nothing to say; I confine myself to our school rooms.
To favor the healthy and successful action of the brain, pure air is necessary, else all its labor must be performed at the expense of the vital powers. The brain in its action is much more injured by vitiated air than the body is during its labor. But how stands the actual practice amongst us? Why, the school house, which is a place expressly designed for the action of the brain, has next to no ventilation. There is hardly a place except the cracks – defects so called in the building, where pure air can find access; and yet, in such a place our children are caged for six hours of the day. No wonder they so frequently come home with aching heads and exhausted bodies!
But parents are ever ready to think that they have overworked themselves; and such, under the circumstances, is perhaps really the case. Those self-same tired, exhausted bodies have received enough carbonic acid gas into their lungs to prostrate them quite independently of the mental labor performed. And is it strange that ill health and sickly bodies should follow as a consequence?
Are those parents whose children attend school in this room aware how much ill health and disease their children daily breathe into their systems during the hours of study spent here? I think not. Let us for a moment look at one feature of this revolting fact.
We start back in disgust at the idea of our children’s receiving breath directly from the lungs of their most familiar play mates; yet in this very room, children breathe over the air coming from the lungs of sixty or seventy pupils two or three times per day. Nor can they choose between that coming from the lungs sound and vigorous, and that which comes from noxious, infectious lungs far gone in disease.
Is it strange that your children are not stronger? – are not healthy?”
The lecturer recommended more oral instruction in the place of that dry entertainment which is afforded through the study of books; and suggested that this kind of instruction, especially for the correction of bad grammar and vulgarisms, should commence in the family circle at home, and that thus home-teaching should go hand in hand with that pursued at the schools.
On one point in this interesting and valuable discussion we are thoroughly agreed with the lecturer, and that is that the sooner we return to the old system of inculcating good manners and common rules of decency and politeness in our common schools the better.
Time was when it was an essential part of rudimentary instruction in New England to inculcate upon every pupil the propriety of good behavior, and to this end the scholar made his obeisance on entering and leaving the school room, and on meeting strangers upon the high way. The ill manners that have supervened in consequence of a failure to pursue a system so meritorious and praiseworthy, were ably depicted by the lecturer in a few graphic touches delineative of the prominent characteristics of “Young America” of either sex. This is a subject we think well worthy of the attention of our school committees, and boards of education.
There is nothing more in accordance with a high state of civilization than politeness. It is benevolence in little things; and its practice, habitual and daily, should lie at the foundation of all Christian education.
