WHY NEGLECT THE PHYSICAL TRAINING OF THE CHILD?
By Mamie A. Paulson
“TRAIN up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” We have always applied this to the child’s moral and intellectual training, but if we recognize the fact that the moral and intellectual development depends largely upon the physical growth, why should not this training include the physical as well? A mother said to me, the other day: “I am proud of my daughter, she is very bright and talented. She progresses rapidly with her studies, and I am doing all I can to help her finish her education.” Upon inquiry it was found that this mother was almost entirely neglecting her daughter’s physical growth. She is only fifteen years of age, and yet on the verge of nervous prostration,—every bit of nerve energy has been used to gain an education. The mother was beginning to appreciate the fact that something must be done for her daughter’s health. It is difficult to lay a strong foundation after the superstructure is erected; so it is with great difficulty that a healthy woman can be developed from a physically neglected child. While I was a young girl, I read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and I have never forgotten the reply Topsy made when asked who made her. She said, “Nobody, I growed.” Some children grow all right if they have a fair opportunity and a good constitution to begin with, while many others, not so well favored, add to the vast army of weakly, sickly representatives of humanity. Teach the child that the body must be developed to its very best, because through the physical it must represent its Maker to the world. Impress upon his young mind the importance of the proper carriage of the body. It is not sufficient to say, “Stand up straight,” or, “Sit up straight,” but show him the crooked tree, which is crooked because it grew crooked; it did not stand up straight while growing. Tell him of the results of a collapsed chest and round shoulders,—that these will soon be followed by tuberculosis or some other debilitating disease. Teach the child the value of exercise,—what it does for him; how he grows and gains weight while sleeping; and how his mind, muscles, skin, and all his tissues are made of what he eats and digests. Why wait until his habits are formed before teaching him these valuable things upon which to so large an extent his future usefulness depends? Mothers need not excuse themselves from this duty by saying that the child will not understand it. In fact, a child grasps it much quicker than many an older person, and at once makes practical use of the lessons taught.