Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 71.djvu/318

312 have no regard for their eyes and parents are not likely to interfere with them as long as they are quiet.

My query as to the cause of the early destruction of the eyes is being answered by my investigations. It seems to be simply because our infants are reading more books than formerly, both in and out of school. In Germany the instruction during the first few years of school life is largely oral and at home the children do not read so much as our children. Furthermore, our children are to-day much better taught than three decades ago, and they read much more than formerly during the tender years of from 6 to 9.

The pessimistic forebodings expressed in the first part of this article are more than justified by the figures just presented. The eyes of our school children are being destroyed, and worse than that, the destruction is now taking place at the age of from 7 to 9 years, which makes the matter so serious that we should bestir ourselves to lessen the evil as far as possible. In the palmy days of Greece the Athenian boy was not taught to read till he was ten years old. By our modern improved form of education we injure the eyes of our children so that one half of them have defective vision before the age at which the Greek boy learned his alphabet.

The gravity of the situation is so great that I venture to offer in conclusion the following suggestions:

1. We should recognize the fact that human eyes are ill adapted for reading, writing and drawing for a long period at a time.

2. We should recognize the fact that the normal daily deviation of daylight is so great that any method of adjusting the windows shades from mere habit is inadequate.

3. In constructing school houses the window space should be as large as that described above.

4. The interior walls and ceilings should be light.

5. The amount of sky visible from each seat should be large.

6. The windows should be provided with white Holland screens or their equivalents.

7. Every schoolroom should be provided with light shades and they should be placed over the blackboards as soon as there are dark corners in the room.

8. School children's eyes should be tested annually and parents notified that an oculist should be employed in the case of all defective eyes.

9. Children should not be taught even the elements of reading or writing during the first year of school. For the ordinary reading and writing should be substituted more oral instruction in language, number work, nature study, history, singing, physical training, play and other forms of training suited to the needs of the pupil.