SCHOOL HYGIENE
SCHOOL BUILDING
Site
In the consideration of school hygiene we will first briefly discuss
the school building. Its site should be carefully chosen. It should
be reasonably high; the soil should be porous, if possible, and
properly drained to insure dryness. The building should not be
located near a manufacturing plant or other places where there is
much noise, smoke, gases or fumes. The buildings should be plain but
artistic, and should by all means be modern, fireproof, substantial
and sanitary.
The building should be surrounded by sufficient yard room to provide
ample playground. There should be plenty of shade but not so many
trees that there will be an interference with the sunlight and
ventilation of the grounds. Some attention should be given the
beautifying of the yards, for it must be remembered that the entire
child goes to school—physical, mental and spiritual natures must all
be developed.
The number of stories a modern school building should have is
somewhat of a mooted question; however, it is quite obvious that
there are many objections to a building of more than two stories. A
two-story building certainly is an advantage and especially is this
true when the pupils have to change for their different classrooms.
Stairways
Stairways should be of ample width, allowing pupils to pass up and
down without danger of crowding. The risers should be no more than
six inches and the treads not more than twelve inches. Where the
pupils are compelled to go from one floor to another several times a
day it is much better to have inclines instead of stairs.
Corridors
The corridors should be wide enough so that the children in passing
and repassing will not have to crowd. They should be at least ten
feet in width and should be supplied with plenty of doors for exits,
ventilation and light and also windows for ventilation and light.
When practicable the corridors should be along the north side.
This insures sufficient lighting and at the same time does not
interfere with the lighting and ventilating of the schoolroom. It is
more important that the direct rays of the sun be admitted to the
schoolroom than to the corridors.
Basement
The basement should be well protected from dampness; therefore it
should be well ventilated and properly heated, as well as arranged so
that the direct rays of the sun may reach at least a part of it.
The basement should not be used for classrooms unless it is for
machine shops, or workrooms. It should not be used for playgrounds
or gymnasium, but may be used for bathrooms and toilets. It should
occupy the entire space under the building.
The Schoolroom
In planning the building it must be remembered that the schoolroom
is the unit of the building and therefore must receive primary
consideration. The entire building should be a collection of
schoolrooms properly arranged.
The schoolroom should be about twenty-five feet by thirty feet with
not less than a thirteen foot ceiling; this size room will be large
enough for thirty pupils and no teacher should be required to take
care of more than this number in a class. There should be plenty of
entrance and exit doors for each room.
The interior of the classroom should be attractive but plain, the
surfaces smooth, the junctions of ceiling and floor with walls should
be concave. All mouldings, projections, ledges where dust and dirt
could lodge should be eliminated. The walls should be of such a color
as to absorb as little light as possible and prove least taxing to
the eyes. A light green-gray is favored. The walls must be so treated
with paint or some other method employed so as to be readily washed
or otherwise cleaned. White ceilings which reflect the light are
best. Floors are made of hard wood in narrow planks with matched
joints, or they are dovetailed. This may be laid over false floors
of boards or reinforced concrete. The walls, floors, ceilings and
partitions must be proof against sound, dampness, fire, vermin, and
dust.
Lighting
The lighting of the schoolroom, the amount of glass surface or window
area, will be governed by the aspect, the location of the building,
direction from which the light is admitted, shape of the room and
the proximity of other buildings or objects which might obstruct the
light. The window area must be ample to insure sufficient light in
every part of the room even on dark, overcast and cloudy days. The
rule is that the window area should be at least one-fourth of the
floor space and it is practically impossible to have an excessive
window area for the light may be toned down and softened by shades
and awnings. Prism glass is more practicable because it refracts the
light and gives a more even distribution over the entire room.
Most of the light should be admitted over the left shoulder of the
pupil so as to eliminate annoying shadows, but it is not necessary
that all the light come from the left. The windows should reach to
the ceiling and the height of the sill from the floor should be about
four feet. Light should never enter from the front and strike the
eyes of the pupil. The upper fourth of the window furnishes one-third
of the light, also the best light; therefore it can readily be seen
that window shades should not be hung from the top but from the
bottom, and should be rolled upward. In nature the light comes from
above, hence this being natural it is consequently best.
Ventilation
Pure air is absolutely indispensable for mental work. Much time and
energy is wasted by teacher and pupil in trying to work in vitiated
atmosphere. The educational results obtained in the school will
be influenced more than has been conceded by the character of the
air the pupil and teacher are forced to breathe. Vitiated air will
produce sluggishness, headache, listlessness, inattention, lack of
energy and a depression of mental vigor which will prevent the child
from doing his best work. The same influence will be felt by the
teacher and the result will be inefficiency in instruction.
Natural means of ventilation should not be relied upon since it is
difficult to get a sufficient amount of fresh air into the rooms in
winter time without creating objectionable drafts which interfere
with heating. Regardless of the method employed in ventilating it is
a good plan to open all of the doors and windows occasionally during
the day and flush the rooms with fresh air. At such time the children
should exercise or employ some means to prevent them from taking cold.
Schoolhouses should be provided with the combined plenum and vacuum
system and operated in conjunction with the heating plant in cold
weather. In this way the air that is admitted can be regulated not
only as to quantity, but also the velocity can be controlled and
likewise the humidity and temperature.
Heating
The relation between ventilating and heating must be kept in mind.
It is not only a question of providing a proper amount of pure air,
but also a question of the proper temperature of the air. A poorly
ventilated room is always more difficult to heat and an improperly
heated room is very difficult to ventilate. Local heating should
never be used in a schoolroom except when impossible to provide
better means.
The best arrangement for heating school buildings is hot water or
steam in connection with the ventilating system in which the air is
passed over hot radiators before being forced into the classrooms and
corridors. This is supplemented by heat from the radiators placed in
proper locations throughout the building. In this way the temperature
of the room may be kept at the proper degree and at the same time the
air circulation and the humidity properly regulated. Best work is
accomplished by the children when the temperature is kept at about
68° F.
School Desks
The furniture most important to the health of the child is the desk
and the desk chair. These should be very carefully adjusted to the
child; if this is not properly done the child will have a tendency
to assume a faulty posture which will favor the development of
curvatures of the spine and other physical defects.
The height of the desk should be such that the pupil will not find
it necessary to raise the shoulder in placing the arm on the desk to
write, or so low that he will have to bend forward. The top should
slope at an angle of about fifteen degrees. The best distance from
the eyes is from twelve to fourteen inches.
The height of the chair from the floor should be very carefully
adjusted to the student and it should allow the feet to rest
comfortably on the floor; that is, when the student is seated the
thighs should be level and the leg at right angles to the thigh, thus
allowing the feet to rest on the floor. If the chair is too low there
will be too much weight thrown on the back of the thighs while a
chair that is too high produces too much flexion of the lumbar region
of the spine. The slope of the seat should be slightly backward and
downward and the depth about two-thirds the length of the thighs. The
back of the chair should slope slightly backward and should be made
to fit the curve of the back.
The chair should be placed far enough from the desk so that the
abdomen will not touch its edge. When properly adjusted in most cases
the edge of the chair will project under the edge of the desk about
one inch. In the lower grades it is best to adjust the seats and
desks to the child twice a year.
Blackboards
The best material for blackboards is slate, which furnishes a surface
that is not shiny and will not reflect the light. They can be
washed and easily kept clean and thus lessen the nuisance of dust.
Blackboards should never be placed between windows. When possible
there should be no windows on the same wall because when pupils are
looking at the board there should be no light shining in their eyes.
The blackboards are best placed opposite the principal light.
Dustless chalk is best and the use of colored crayons made of arsenic
or sulphide of mercury should be prohibited, since the dust from
these crayons is poisonous.
The blackboards should be plainly visible to all the pupils and care
should be taken that all writing or other work on the board is large
enough for the pupils to see without eye strain. The distance of each
pupil from the board should be governed by the strength of vision.
Charts
If charts are used the printed matter should be large enough
for the pupils to read without undue strain on the eyes. Glass
surfaces should be avoided to prevent objectionable reflections
and all figures and illustrations should be plainly visible, but
objectionable bright colors and clashy combinations should be avoided.
Cloakrooms
In school buildings having no lockers the pupils must place their
wraps in a cloakroom. There should be such a room for each classroom.
The cloakroom should be well ventilated, lighted and heated and
should be connected with both the hallway and the classroom.
Special attention should be given the wet clothing and provision made
for drying the same. This can be nicely taken care of during school
hours by the janitor. Children should never be allowed to sit in damp
clothing during the school hours. All dressing-rooms, cloakrooms and
lockers should be kept clean.
Water Supply
It is very essential that an ample supply of fresh, pure water
be provided. The old drinking cup is a thing of the past, except
possibly in some of the smaller country schools, and it is fortunate
that a more modern method has taken its place. The supply fixtures,
such as the drinking fountains, should be conveniently located and in
a part of the building easily accessible to the pupils. A sufficient
number of fountains should be provided so there will be no necessity
for crowding. They should be placed in a well lighted and properly
heated portion of the building and special care taken that the
floor does not become damp and unsanitary. The fixture which allows
a constant bubbling of the water is most satisfactory, since it
eliminates the necessity for the child to operate and hence lessens
the temptation for the child to play in the water.
Toilets
Ample toilet facilities should be provided and separate toilets
arranged for the girls and boys. The toilets may be placed in the
basement of the school building, but special attention must be given
to their proper ventilation. They should be kept so clean that it
will not be necessary to use deodorizers; they should be constantly
and automatically flushed. The floors should be of cement to allow
thorough washing every day and the urinals of slate or some other
hard, non-absorbent material. In the girl’s toilet the seats of the
water closets should not be too high. Where practicable there should
be a separate toilet for the little girls and stools provided with
U-shaped seats. This will assist very materially in maintaining
cleanliness. The toilets should be well ventilated and lighted.
This is of special importance and should receive the most careful
attention. A matron should be in attendance to help care for the
kindergarten children and also those of the lower grades. The toilets
at all time should be under supervision of a competent, dependable
person.
PERSONAL FACTORS
Function of School Life
A large part of the child’s life is spent in the schoolroom and it
must be remembered that it is that part of the child’s life when
he is most susceptible to environment and is therefore most easily
influenced mentally, morally and physically. The entire child goes
to school, therefore the function of the school is to develop the
physical and moral as well as the mental.
Youth is the time of unrest and intense activity and the schoolwork
should be so arranged that the energies of childhood and youth may
be directed so as to develop the pupil into a symmetrical adult. With
such intense activity a great amount of energy is used up; thus it is
clear that the child needs plenty of sleep and the proper amount of
good, nourishing food and if he is deprived of these he can not do
his best work mentally.
Age of Beginner
We have not yet fully realized that our present school system, well
organized as it is, has certain ill effects on the health of the
children. Many of the reasons are peculiar to the circumstance under
which the child must attend school and can not be relieved, but
there are many that can be corrected and in time will be. Children
are often sent to school at too early an age and as a result the
growth is retarded and in some cases results in an actual defective
physical development. The physical development is often retarded
by prolonged fatigue. This fatigue may be the result of improper
ventilation, forced attention to subjects that are too difficult,
strict discipline, lack of sufficient relaxation and many other
factors connected with the ordinary school.
One of the greatest mistakes in our modern system of education is
sending the child to school too young. Six years of age is plenty
young; seven years old is better. Even at this age some are not
sufficiently sturdy to endure the mental and physical strain of the
schoolroom and the application to the studies that is usually exacted
of them.
Play Periods Necessary
The school affords an environment that is entirely different from
that which the child has been accustomed to; therefore the beginner
should be allowed much liberty and should not be compelled to
remain in his seat more than one-third of the time. This should be
divided into short intervals, alternating work and play. It must
be remembered that the small child is active; therefore it is
imperative that he be given various exercises that will call into
play the different muscles of his body. This will have a tendency to
relieve the fatigue from sitting at the desk. When children first
start to school they usually lose weight and become more or less
nervous during the first few days or weeks.
The child should be allowed sufficient free time during each day for
play and for the development of initiative. The amount of home work
required should be very carefully considered and regulated according
to the capacity and ability of the child; yet care must be taken or
the especially bright child will be overworked and will not be given
enough time for play and the development of a real childhood.
Peculiarities of Child Considered
The peculiarities of the child should be considered and the
curriculum arranged accordingly. The methods of study should receive
proper consideration as well as the methods of teaching. Special
classes should be arranged for the backward students. Many cases of
backwardness or mental deficiency are due to the child’s inability
to see clearly or hear distinctly, and when these conditions are
corrected the child will be normally bright. Many times a child is
unjustly disciplined because of some physical defect or handicap
which should be corrected.
Statistics show that tests and examinations have a detrimental
effect upon the health of the pupils. Experiments have shown that
children lose weight during such tests and examinations; that they
are restless at night and suffer loss of appetite. All these have a
bearing upon the health of the child.
Posture
Attention should be given the habits of the children and especially
the posture of the child as he sits in the seat at his desk. A faulty
posture may result in an adaptative curvature of the spine which
in later years will do much harm. The sitting posture is of more
importance than the standing posture since the child sits so much
more than he stands.
The pupil should not be allowed to sit in a stooped position over
his desk as this cramps the chest and interferes with respiration,
makes the heart action labored and produces round shoulders; it also
tends to produce a kyphosis in the dorsal region of the spine. If
a child persists in sitting in this stooped position and finds it
difficult to sit in the proper position, attention should be given
the spine, for subluxations will be found which are interfering with
the transmission of mental impulses to the muscles of the back, thus
making it difficult for the child to sit in the normal posture. Or it
may be defective eyes which make it difficult for the child to see
his work and he therefore stoops that the work may be brought nearer
the eyes. In this case a cervical subluxation will be found and when
properly adjusted no more trouble will be experienced. It may be
this tendency to stoop is the result of fatigue; to overcome this
he should be given periods of rest and relaxation from time to time
during school hours; or this fatigue may be due to poor elimination
from the kidney place subluxations.
Recess
During the morning and afternoon sessions the pupils should be
given a recess for fifteen or twenty minutes, and when the weather
will permit all the children should be required to go outdoors and
engage in some form of play or exercise, properly supervised by a
thoroughly competent individual. This will not only benefit the
pupils physically, but will also make the mind more active and aid
very materially in their mental development. In addition to this
exercise, some time during the day the windows should be opened,
except possibly in extremely cold weather, and the teacher and pupils
should engage in some form of calisthenics. This will tend to keep
the pupils in a fit physical condition and mentally alert for the
balance of the day.
The school grounds should be provided with modern equipment for
the proper development of the children physically and should be
supervised by kind and well trained attendants. Every school should
have a well equipped and properly supervised gymnasium.
School Dis-eases
At one time the school was thought to be largely responsible for the
spread of dis-eases among children, but this idea is changing in
later years. In reality there are no specific school dis-eases. The
dis-eases that have been so referred to are merely those abnormal
conditions incident to childhood and youth. Rosenau gives a very
interesting article on this subject. He says: “Parents naturally
come to regard the school as a veritable pesthouse for the spread
of communicable dis-eases of childhood—especially measles, whooping
cough, mumps, diphtheria, scarlet fever, common colds, etc. Many of
these dis-eases prevail in epidemic form during the summer time,
when school is closed, and under other circumstances which show the
epidemics may be independent of school attendance. It is difficult to
determine just what part is played by the commingling of the pupils
in school in the spread of such dis-eases and what part is due to
other factors. Some dis-eases take a sudden jump in the autumn with
the opening of school. Further, these dis-eases are not contracted by
the school children alone, but are carried home to the other members
of the household, and thereby create secondary foci. This problem
of the communicable dis-eases and the school is far from solution;
the spread of these dis-eases has not been conquered by medical
inspection, and their relation to school attendance is one that needs
careful observation and study.”
Thus we see that the cause of school dis-eases has not been answered,
and we find in this article that which strengthens the contention of
Chiropractic—that the cause of the dis-ease is in the child and not
something introduced from the outside.
The environment of the school creates a necessity for certain
internal adaptative actions, and if this adaptative action can not
take place the result will be an abnormal condition peculiar to
the necessity for adaptation. The lack of adaptation may result in
incoördinations of the respiratory tract; incoördinations of the
eyes, involving not only the sight but the different tissues and
secretions of the eyes; incoördinations involving the heart, throat
and mouth and many conditions of eruptions of the skin. Especially
do we find deformities and incoördinations of the spine and spinal
column.
In diagnostic terminology these conditions would be called
bronchitis, bronchopneumonia, pleurisy, myopia, catarrhal
conjunctivitis, trachoma, cardiac dis-eases, such as endocarditis,
etc. The mouth, nose and throat dis-eases would be coryza, adenoid
growths, enlarged tonsils, tonsilitis, nose bleed, etc. These
conditions could all be prevented or corrected by adjusting the
causative subluxations.
Prophylaxis
It is not necessary for us to go into an explanation of the spinal
column and how subluxations are produced. It is sufficient at this
time to call the student’s attention to the fact that subluxations
are often produced, and especially is this true during childhood.
The children are subject to falls during their play at school and
they are most likely to produce subluxations. This being true,
the children should be analyzed periodically to determine the
subluxations and then they should be adjusted. When parents realize
the good that is to come from such procedure they will take their
children to the chiropractor and have their spine palpated and the
subluxations adjusted. When this becomes a universal practice there
will be a marked decrease in the so-called school dis-eases or
children’s dis-eases.