University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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illllrntal Elnrftirirlirg---Gpnv Glaum M O N G the many habits that affects and de- range the mind is that of cigarette smoking. One author says that some of the most familiar marks of the habitual smoker are:- chronic hoarseness, lack of appetite, dyspepsia, pallor from impaired blood, rapid and intermittent pulse, pain in the region of the heart, disinclination for healthy athletic exercise, mental weariness, slowness of thought causing muddled ideas, and defective memory. The poison of tobacco affects t h e whole E- E- FOX human system, but the controling organ, the brain, Neshoba County seems to be the hardest hit. This is very conspicuous- ly emphasized in the fact that a great per cent. of the employers and superintendents of the nation's most responsible institutions, depart- ments, and concerns now unconditionally require their young men employees to be total abstainers from cigarettes. Mr. E. H. Harrison, head of the Union Pacific Railroad, says, Officials may as well go to a lunatic asylum for their employees as to hire a cigarette smoker. In John Wanamaker's store the blanks to be filled out by boys applying for position, read: Do you use tobacco or cigarettes? A negative answer is expected and is favorable to the applicant. The Assistant General Manager of the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company has issued the following order: You are directed to serve notice that the use of cigarettes after August 1, will be prohibited, and you are further instructed to refuse to employ anyone who is addicted to this de- vitalizing habit. Judge Stubbs of Indiana says that every year boys by the hundreds are brought to him for judgement, and that manliness and good conduct can be aroused and stimu- lated in most boys, no matter what the offense of which they have been guilty, if only they are not cigarette fiends. When a boy has become addicted to the use of this form of tobacco, the disease is in his blood and brain, his moral fiber is gone, he is listless and indifferent in school, and often fails in his work. Of 4117 boys received into the Illinois State Reformatory, 4000 were in the habit of using tobacco and over 3000 were cigarette smokers. , Now, from the requirements of these practical men who are leaders in the world of Hnance and industry, and from the testimony of leading jurists, as well as from our own experience and observation we are convinced that the cigarette habit is banefulg and it devolves upon us as teachers to instruct the boys of our State in the bad physical and mental effects of tobacco: to use our influence to prevent in them the for- mation of such a habit, and to throw around them a good environment by effective legislation in regard to cigarettes. E. E. FOX. 13

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what Shnulh hr Bun? with thv iipilrptir ? PILEPSY is perhaps the most distressing in its manifestations and render its victim most de- pendent of all recognized deficiencies of the human body. It is a disease which appears in sudden at- tacks, causing convulsions which include the whole or a large part of the body. Epileptics are dull of mind, as a rule, and many are insane. A few are exceptionally bright between attacks. Much has been said as to the causes of epilepsy, but the con- census of opinion of those who have made careful study of this question is: that heridity has something DOVIE FOSTER to do with it, that general bodily disturbances, such Webster County as intoxication from alcohol, lead, morphine, and other narcotics together with general irritability due to local conditions-eye-strain, toothache, intestinal parasites, and nasal growths are all conducive to the development of the epileptic state. A fractured skull sometimes causes epilepsy, in which case, a surgical operation may give relief. In Mississippi today, epileptic children sit side by side with other children in the public schools. It is clear from an understanding of the nature of the disease that the subjects-should not be required to undergo the same mental and physical strain as other children that the excitement coincident with the life and work of the normal child at school is not the best thing for the epileptic. Epileptics create a dangerous atmosphere for normal children, due to the power of suggestion. Think of the effect upon nervous children of seeing an epileptic have a spell at school ! They should not be placed in the insane hospitals, herded with the bunch, because it has been demonstrated that the two classes are not congenial, having a dis- like for each other which sometimes brings serious results. The influence of epileptics is also detrimental to the other inmates for the same reason as it is to normal people. There is no question but that epileptics should be segregated into colonies as is done in many states. lndividualization would greatly aid in the successful treatment of these unfortunates. If segregated into colonies where the sane and insane can be sepa- rated and where medical supervision and care, proper diet, a little work, and regular habits obtain. the life of the epileptic becomes much more bearable and he is in much better condition than where he remains at home. Ohio was the first state to segregate her epileptics when she opened the Galli- polis Hospital for Epileptics in 1891. New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Connecticut, Kansas, and Virginia have since then segregated their epileptics. Unfortunately, Mississippi has taken no steps in this great social movement. Does it not behoove every teacher, parent, and all others who have children under their care, as well as every loyal citizen of Mississippi to agitate the question of segregating our epileptics who have been so long neglected? DOVIE FOSTER. 12

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Ilivlzltinn nf the lglaggrnunh tu Evalili O school can do the best work unless the chil- dren in that school are healthy and have the physical ability to sustain mental strain. This question of health is one of the greatest problems confronting teachers, and one that cannot be put aside. In working out this problem, out door exer- cise presents itself as the most successful means of providing the children with strong, healthy bodiesg and, without a doubt, school athletics is to be com- mended as a way of securing this exercise. S. M- FURLOW I It is a recognized. fact thatthe condition of Copiah County the mind while exercising is a very important factor in determining the results that will be obtained. In this, athletics is superior to all other kinds of exer- cise, for it produces excitement that stimulates the mind, and at the same time gives it the relaxation from work and worry that it so much needs. Instead of giving only the skillful players among the large boys and girls an op- portunity to use the equipment furnished, each szhool should have a large, well equip- ped play-ground sufficient to accommodate the entire school. If it is impossible to have one this large, the several classes may use it at different times through the school day. For the greatest efficiency, the ground should be carefully planned and the equipment placed so as to permit of the greatest number of games. Inexpensive equip- ment-as basket ball and tennis courts, base ball field, jumping pit, and standards for high jump, for the larger pupilsg sand-bins, see-saws, ropes for jumping, and swings for the smaller ones will be found practical and sufficient. Unless properly conducted there is a very great danger, however, that the re- sults from exercise will be illness instead of improved health. While playing strenuous games on the school yard, the children should not be allowed- to use the clothing that they will wear the rest of the day, for it becomes damp from perspiration and will cause colds on account of the child's becoming chilled after he stops playing. The use of ath- letic suits, which can be obtained at very little cost, prevents any bad effect of this kind. Another important thing is to have bathing facilities for use after participating in the games. The great good resulting from the increased ability of the children on account of better health would many times pay for the cost of fitting out the bath rooms. Each child should have a physical examination by a competent physician and be allowed to participate in the games only as his physical condition permits. Then, the teacher should be very careful to allow no one to play too long and hard, thereby weakening his physical condition and destroying the very effects sought for. 1 With these precautions, athletics offers to our schools great opportunities for making the boys and girls strong and healthy, thereby laying a foundation that will be invaluable in later life. S. M. FURLO W. 14