Essays On Education And Kindred Subjects (Fiscle Part- 11) by Herbert Spencer (best fiction novels to read TXT) 📕

To Their Children. And Then These Comparatively Feeble Children,

Predisposed To Break Down Even Under Ordinary Strains On Their Energies,

Are Required To Go Through A _Curriculum_ Much More Extended Than That

Prescribed For The   Unenfeebled Children Of    Past Generations.

The Disastrous Consequences That Might Be Anticipated, Are Everywhere

Visible. Go Where You Will, And Before Long There Come Under Your Notice

Cases Of    Children Or Youths, Of    Either Sex, More Or Less Injured By

Undue Study. Here, To Recover From A State Of    Debility Thus Produced, A

Year's Rustication Has Been Found Necessary. There You Find A Chronic

Congestion Of    The   Brain, That Has Already Lasted Many Months, And

Threatens To Last Much Longer. Now You Hear Of    A Fever That Resulted

From The   Over-Excitement In Some Way Brought On At School. And Again,

The Instance Is That Of    A Youth Who Has Already Had Once To Desist From

His Studies, And Who, Since His Return To Them, Is Frequently Taken Out

Of His Class In A Fainting Fit. We State Facts--Facts Not Sought For,

But Which Have Been Thrust On Our Observation During The   Last Two Years;

And That, Too, Within A Very Limited Range. Nor Have We By Any Means

Exhausted The   List. Quite Recently We Had The   Opportunity Of    Marking How

The Evil Becomes Hereditary: The   Case Being That Of    A Lady Of    Robust

Parentage, Whose System Was So Injured By The   _Régime_ Of    A Scotch

Boarding-School, Where She Was Under-Fed And Over-Worked, That She

Invariably Suffers From Vertigo On Rising In The   Morning; And Whose

Children, Inheriting This Enfeebled Brain, Are Several Of    Them Unable To

Bear Even A Moderate Amount Of    Study Without Headache Or Giddiness. At

The Present Time We Have Daily Under Our Eyes, A Young Lady Whose System

Has Been Damaged For Life By The   College-Course Through Which She Has

Passed. Taxed As She Was To Such An Extent That She Had No Energy Left

For Exercise, She Is, Now That She Has Finished Her Education, A

Constant Complainant. Appetite Small And Very Capricious, Mostly

Refusing Meat; Extremities Perpetually Cold, Even When The   Weather Is

Warm; A Feebleness Which Forbids Anything But The   Slowest Walking, And

That Only For A Short Time; Palpitation On Going Upstairs; Greatly

Impaired Vision--These, Joined With Checked Growth And Lax Tissue, Are

Among The   Results Entailed. And To Her Case We May Add That Of    Her

Friend And Fellow-Student; Who Is Similarly Weak; Who Is Liable To Faint

Even Under The   Excitement Of    A Quiet Party Of    Friends; And Who Has At

Length Been Obliged By Her Medical Attendant To Desist From Study

Entirely.

If Injuries So Conspicuous Are Thus Frequent, How Very General Must Be

The Smaller, And Inconspicuous Injuries! To One Case Where Positive

Illness Is Traceable To Over-Application, There Are Probably At Least

Half-A-Dozen Cases Where The   Evil Is Unobtrusive And Slowly

Accumulating--Cases Where There Is Frequent Derangement Of    The

Functions, Attributed To This Or That Special Cause, Or To

Constitutional Delicacy; Cases Where There Is Retardation And Premature

Arrest Of    Bodily Growth; Cases Where A Latent Tendency To Consumption Is

Brought Out And Established; Cases Where A Predisposition Is Given To

That Now Common Cerebral Disorder Brought On By The   Labour Of    Adult

Life. How Commonly Health Is Thus Undermined, Will Be Clear To All Who,

After Noting The   Frequent Ailments Of    Hard-Worked Professional And

Mercantile Men, Will Reflect On The   Much Worse Effects Which Undue

Application Must Produce On The   Undeveloped Systems Of    Children. The

Young Can Bear Neither So Much Hardship, Nor So Much Physical Exertion,

Nor So Much Mental Exertion, As The   Full Grown. Judge, Then, If The   Full

Grown Manifestly Suffer From The   Excessive Mental Exertion Required Of

Them, How Great Must Be The   Damage Which A Mental Exertion, Often

Equally Excessive, Inflicts On The   Young!

Indeed, When We Examine The   Merciless School Drill Frequently Enforced,

The Wonder Is, Not That It Does Extreme Injury, But That It Can Be

Borne At All. Take The   Instance Given By Sir John Forbes, From Personal

Knowledge; And Which He Asserts, After Much Inquiry, To Be An Average

Sample Of    The   Middle-Class Girls'-School System Throughout England.

Omitting Detailed Divisions Of    Time, We Quote The   Summary Of    The

Twenty-Four Hours.

In Bed                                          9 Hours (The Younger 10)

In School, At Their Studies And Tasks           9   "

In School, Or In The   House, The   Elder At

    Optional Studies Or Work, The   Younger At

    Play                                       3½   "   (The Younger 2½)

At Meals                                       1½   "

Exercise In The   Open Air, In The   Shape Of    A

    Formal Walk, Often With Lesson-Books In

    Hand, And Even This Only When The   Weather

    Is Fine At The   Appointed Time.             1    "

                                             ----

                                              24

And What Are The   Results Of    This "Astounding Regimen," As Sir John

Forbes Terms It? Of    Course Feebleness, Pallor, Want Of    Spirits, General

Ill-Health. But He Describes Something More. This Utter Disregard Of

Physical Welfare, Out Of    Extreme Anxiety To Cultivate The   Mind--This

Prolonged Exercise Of    Brain And Deficient Exercise Of    Limbs,--He Found

To Be Habitually Followed, Not Only By Disordered Functions But By

Malformation. He Says:--"We Lately Visited, In A Large Town, A

Boarding-School Containing Forty Girls; And We Learnt, On Close And

Accurate Inquiry, That There Was _Not One_ Of    The   Girl Who Had Been At

The School Two Years (And The   Majority Had Been As Long) That Was Not

More Or Less _Crooked_!"[8]

It May Be That Since 1833, When This Was Written, Some Improvement Has

Taken Place. We Hope It Has. But That The   System Is Still Common--Nay,

That It Is In Some Cases Carried To A Greater Extreme Than Ever; We Can

Personally Testify. We Recently Went Over A Training-College For Young

Men: One Of    Those Instituted Of    Late Years For The   Purpose Of    Supplying

Schools With Well-Disciplined Teachers. Here, Under Official

Supervision, Where Something Better Than The   Judgment Of    Private

School-Mistresses Might Have Been Looked For, We Found The   Daily Routine

To Be As Follows:--

At 6 O'clock The   Students Are Called,

 " 7 To 8 Studies,

 " 8 To 9 Scripture-Reading, Prayers, And Breakfast,

 " 9 To 12 Studies,

 " 12 To 1¼ Leisure, Nominally Devoted To Walking Or Other Exercise, But

     Often Spent In Study,

 " 1¼ To 2 Dinner, The   Meal Commonly Occupying Twenty Minutes,

 " 2 To 5 Studies,

 " 5 To 6 Tea And Relaxation,

 " 6 To 8½ Studies,

 " 8½ To 9½ Private Studies In Preparing Lessons For The   Next Day,

 " 10 To Bed.

Thus, Out Of    The   Twenty-Four Hours, Eight Are Devoted To Sleep; Four And

A Quarter Are Occupied In Dressing, Prayers, Meals, And The   Brief

Periods Of    Rest Accompanying Them; Ten And A Half Are Given To Study;

And One And A Quarter To Exercise, Which Is Optional And Often Avoided.

Not Only, However, Are The   Ten-And-A-Half Hours Of    Recognised Study

Frequently Increased To Eleven-And-A-Half By Devoting To Books The   Time

Set Apart For Exercise; But Some Of    The   Students Get Up At Four O'clock

In The   Morning To Prepare Their Lessons; And Are Actually Encouraged By

Their Teachers To Do This! The   Course To Be Passed Through In A Given

Time Is So Extensive, And The   Teachers, Whose Credit Is At Stake In

Getting Their Pupils Well Through The   Examinations, Are So Urgent, That

Pupils Are Not Uncommonly Induced To Spend Twelve And Thirteen Hours A

Day In Mental Labour!

It Needs No Prophet To See That The   Bodily Injury Inflicted Must Be

Great. As We Were Told By One Of    The   Inmates, Those Who Arrive With

Fresh Complexions Quickly Become Blanched. Illness Is Frequent: There

Are Always Some On The   Sick-List. Failure Of    Appetite And Indigestion

Are Very Common. Diarrhoea Is A Prevalent Disorder: Not Uncommonly A

Third Of    The   Whole Number Of    Students Suffering Under It At The   Same

Time. Headache Is Generally Complained Of; And By Some Is Borne Almost

Daily For Months. While A Certain Percentage Break Down Entirely And Go

Away.

That This Should Be The   Regimen Of    What Is In Some Sort A Model

Institution, Established And Superintended By The   Embodied Enlightenment

Of The   Age, Is A Startling Fact. That The   Severe Examinations, Joined

With The   Short Period Assigned For Preparation, Should Compel Recourse

To A System Which Inevitably Undermines The   Health Of    All Who Pass

Through It, Is Proof, If Not Of    Cruelty, Then Of    Woeful Ignorance.

The Case Is No Doubt In A Great Degree Exceptional--Perhaps To Be

Paralleled Only In Other Institutions Of    The   Same Class. But That Cases

So Extreme Should Exist At All, Goes Far To Show That The   Minds Of    The

Rising Generation Are Greatly Over-Tasked. Expressing As They Do The

Ideas Of    The   Educated Community, The   Requirements Of    These Training

Colleges, Even In The   Absence Of    Other Evidence, Would Imply A

Prevailing Tendency To An Unduly Urgent System Of    Culture.

It Seems Strange That There Should Be So Little Consciousness Of    The

Dangers Of    Over-Education During Youth, When There Is So General A

Consciousness Of    The   Dangers Of    Over-Education During Childhood. Most

Parents Are Partially Aware Of    The   Evil Consequences That Follow

Infant-Precocity. In Every Society May Be Heard Reprobation Of    Those Who

Too Early Stimulate The   Minds Of    Their Little Ones. And The   Dread Of

This Early Stimulation Is Great In Proportion As There Is Adequate

Knowledge Of    The   Effects: Witness The   Implied Opinion Of    One Of    Our Most

Distinguished Professors Of    Physiology, Who Told Us That He Did Not

Intend His Little Boy To Learn Any Lessons Until He Was Eight Years Old.

But While To All It Is A Familiar Truth That A Forced Development Of

Intelligence In Childhood, Entails Either Physical Feebleness, Or

Ultimate Stupidity, Or Early Death; It Appears Not To Be Perceived That

Throughout Youth The   Same Truth Holds. Yet It Unquestionably Does So.

There Is A Given Order In Which, And A Given Rate At Which, The

Faculties Unfold. If The   Course Of    Education Conforms Itself To That

Order And Rate, Well. If Not--If The   Higher Faculties Are Early Taxed By

Presenting An Order Of    Knowledge More Complex And Abstract Than Can Be

Readily Assimilated; Or If, By Excess Of    Culture, The   Intellect In

General Is Developed To A Degree Beyond That Which Is Natural To Its

Age; The   Abnormal Advantage Gained Will Inevitably Be Accompanied By

Some Equivalent, Or More Than Equivalent, Evil.

For Nature Is A Strict Accountant; And If You Demand Of    Her In One

Direction More Than She Is Prepared To Lay Out, She Balances The   Account

By Making A Deduction Elsewhere. If You Will Let Her Follow Her Own

Course, Taking Care To Supply, In Right Quantities And Kinds, The   Raw

Materials Of    Bodily And Mental Growth Required At Each Age, She Will

Eventually Produce An Individual More Or Less Evenly Developed. If,

However, You Insist On Premature Or Undue Growth Of    Any One Part, She

Will, With More Or Less Protest, Concede The   Point; But That She May Do

Your Extra Work, She Must Leave Some Of    Her More Important Work Undone.

Let It Never Be Forgotten That The   Amount Of    Vital Energy Which The   Body

At Any Moment Possesses, Is Limited; And That, Being Limited, It Is

Impossible To Get From It More Than A Fixed Quantity Of    Results. In A

Child Or Youth The   Demands Upon This Vital Energy Are Various And

Urgent. As Before Pointed Out, The   Waste Consequent On The   Day's Bodily

Exercise Has To Be Met; The   Wear Of    Brain Entailed By The   Day's Study

Has To Be Made Good; A Certain Additional Growth Of    Body Has To Be

Provided For; And Also A Certain Additional Growth Of    Brain: To Which

Must Be Added The   Amount Of    Energy Absorbed In Digesting The   Large

Quantity Of    Food Required For Meeting These Many Demands. Now, That To

Divert An Excess Of    Energy Into Any One Of    These Channels Is To Abstract

It From The   Others,