Home lessons after school hours / by Sir Joseph Fayrer.

  • Joseph Fayrer
Date:
[1884]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Home lessons after school hours / by Sir Joseph Fayrer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    'V HOME LESSONS AFTER SCHOOL HOURS. By Sir Joseph Fayrer. The proposition which I have to submit for your con- sideration, as the third of four which comprise the subject- matter of this Conference, is stated in the following terms :— “ That it is contrary to sound physiological principles that children of tender age should be called upon to perform home work after school hours.” This proposition imme- diately precedes another, to the effect that there is abundant evidence that the strain of so-called education is excessive, and that it acts as a pre-disposing and exciting cause of disease, of serious and occasionally fatal character. If this can be sustained, the subject of my proposition, which is essentially a part of it, must needs be regarded as contrary to sound physiological as it is to sound ethical principles. It has already been argued that whilst the prevailing systems of schooling are too severe, and are attended by an undue expenditure of vital force, the long hours of confine- ment, too often spent in a vitiated atmosphere—and some- times, it is to be feared, with insufficient food—coupled with ordinary conditions of school work and discipline, are pro- ductive of injury to physical health and due development of the frame, especially as regards the heart, lungs, and organs of vision, to an extent that must be regarded as a matter of national importance. These statements form so grave an indictment against the present system of education, that it seems expedient the subject should be sifted, with the view of ascertain- ing how far the charges can be maintained and the evil rectified ; for if it be proved that such strain exists, there B 2
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