Newsholme's school hygiene : the laws of health in relation to school life.

  • Newsholme, Arthur, Sir, 1857-1943.
Date:
[1916]
    siderable height and fairly close up to it, to avoid glaring reflexes. This source for the board should be completely screened from the class by an opaque reflector. Window blinds of a light colour to reflect light should be drawn at night, as all light passing out through the windows is lost.
    CHAPTER VII SCHOOL FURNITURE One of the greatest difficulties with which the managers of a school have to contend is the provision of suitable furniture for the scholars. During a small portion of the school day the scholars may be standing or drilling, but usually are sitting at their desks. If all children of the same age were also of the same size, the selection of furniture would be easy; even if the size of the child and his standard of intelligence went together the difficulties would be slight ; but under usual conditions, the difficulty can only be overcome by having a single desk for each scholar, Before the necessity for suitable desks was realized, children of varying ages and sizes were often seen seated at a long desk holding perhaps six or eight, with the result that they were forced to assume attitudes which were both ridiculous and fraught with calamitous conse- quences. This topic of seats and desks has accumulated an enormous literature, but the quest of the perfect seat or desk is as vain as the search for the philosopher’s stone. The growing child, and especially so the younger it is, whose muscles cry out for exercise and who yet has to sit at a desk for hours daily, is in an environment which
    aggravates tendencies in those who by weakness of con- stitution are disposed to myopia or spinal curvature. Muscular fatigue is the chief school element in both con- ditions, and the obvious remedy is to diminish or break up the continuous desk lessons into short periods, intermittent with more active work, standing at a table, or drawing at a blackboard. For the prevention of the bad school habit of near eye-work-distance, and for the prevention of maintained unsymmetrical attitudes in which mere weight tends to deformity, the object aimed at is to have the child sitting evenly when reading or writing. When upright, the sitter is balanced on the tubera ischit (seat bones), and the line of the centre of gravity falls between them. Balance is only retained by constant muscular action, chiefly of the back muscles, which soon leads to strain and muscular fatigue. If a third point dapput is found, increased stability comes with the added support, and the muscle strain is relieved. If the child sits a little back this relief can be given by a low back-rest; if forward, the front edge of the seat under the thighs may serve, or the edge of the desk pressing on the chest, or the legs or arms may be used for support. The desk and seating problem therefore has to provide mainly for relieving fatigue in the writing position and in a listening position, when more relaxation is to be allowed for, and also to allow standing up in class. For the working position the feet should be flat on the floor, the legs below the knees vertical, and the knees bent at aright angle. This gives the first measurement; the height of the top edge of the seat from the floor should be equal to the pupil’s leg, in the position stated above and measured from the under surface of the thigh behind the knee to the sole. The next measurement is the width
    of the seat required, when sitting well back and upright, to leave the lower quarter or even third of the thigh free from pressure of the front edge. If the popliteal artery in this region is pressed upon, interference with the circula- tion of the leg may lead to numb, cold feet, ‘pins and needles,’ and possibly, in cold weather, chilblains. The position of the desk edge (distance) in reference to the seat edge is shown in Fig. 48 as either (#) in the same vertical plane (zero or null distance), or (6) over- hanging it by an inch or more (one inch menus distance), or (c) separated (positive distance). Minus distance 1s possibly best, but so long as it is not noticeably positive not much harm will be done; the child will be constrained Fic. 48.—Three relative positions of seat and desk. to sit up in writing, and to have its eyes 10 or 12 inches off the work. The height of the desk edge must be found by trial. It is probably best just level with the lower tip of the sternal cartilage, so that the child sits comfortably with its arms on the desk without marked raising of the shoulders. Proportions between seat height and desk height are fallacious, as some children have long legs and others long bodies, although they may be the same height, so that difference between the height of the desk edge and the height of the seat is not a fixed ratio of the seat height. The width from the desk edge to the plane of the lower
    back-rest should be about 2 to 24 inches greater than the child’s antero-posterior diameter through the breast- bone. A lower back-rest is required for the writing position ; it should give support to the sacrum. A higher back-rest for the listener’s position should give support a little below the shoulder-blades, and be inclined somewhat backwards. The back-rests should not be rigidly fixed, but work freely about an axis parallel to the desk edge, just behind the upper edge of the lower rest. With this arrangement there will be comfortable fitting; just as the nose clip of eye- glasses fits badly if the clip screw is tight, and comfortably if the screw is loose, so the back-rest will be satisfactory if afforded this play. The dimensions for elementary school furniture in Bradford, which the writer determined many years ago after standardizing the children, were as follows :— INFANTS. STANDARDS. | ; | al i aa C: | | Sizes. | Babies.| Infants.) Tand II.| IlandIV.,; Vand VI. | | | Ins. Ins. Ins. | Ins. Group height of 2 children . 38 42 45 50 55 Height of desk edge above seats | 6 74 8 84 94 Height of seat. | | | from floor am) 11 124 | 14 | 16 | | Sree eee iS a | | Size of seats oe lax 28h aie 11 x 9 x 1d | 11x10x14 ee ene es eee ee _ Size of back rests 8 xox | 8x 04 x Ig The stock sizes of desks commonest in Central Europe have a minus distance of 2 centimetres, and the other dimensions in centimetres are as follows :—