CHAPTER XVII
WHAT SCHOOLING SHOULD THE COUNTRY GIRL HAVE?
Perhaps it need not be urged that the country girl be provided with the same general educational advantages as those outlined for the country boy, as the plain demands of justice would mean as much. She, too, must be thought of as possessing all the beautiful latent possibilities, and high ideals of personal worth and character should be constantly entertained for her in the minds of her parents. And then, they must allow no ordinary business concern about the farm home to stand in the way of her unfoldment in the direction of these higher ideals.
Special problems relating to the girl
Over and above those provisions which relate to the general development of the country boy there are several special considerations in reference to his sister. For example, she has a more delicate physical organism which must be shielded, especially at times, against the heavy drudgery that will naturally fall upon her willing shoulders. And then, the standards require of her rather more of refined manners than they do of her brother. Moreover, it may be shown that a refined and attractive personality will become a larger asset in her life than in his. Comeliness and habitual cheerfulness and numerous other like qualities must be thought of as necessary and helpful characteristics of the well-reared country girl. It will also be much to her advantage to have some special training in at least one of the so-called fine arts. Let her have her musical education or some advanced work in literature or painting. A sum of money invested in something of this sort while the daughter is growing may be considered a far better investment than if the same amount were laid away to invest in a dowry.
Protecting the girl at school
It is not merely obligatory that the farmer send his young girl to the district school regularly, and thus round out her nature symmetrically through instruction in all the common branches. The delicate nature of the normal girl requires far more protection than is often accorded it. Unlike the city walks and pavements, the country road leading to the schoolhouse is often menaced by muddy sloughs, tall vegetation, and deep snow banks. Wading through such places, especially in bad weather, gives undue exposure, the feet frequently becoming wet and the body thoroughly chilled. Many children sit all day in the schoolroom in this condition. As a result of the lowered vitality the incipient forms of various diseases enter the body, there perhaps to return intermittently and with more serious effects as the life advances.
What may be done as preventive measures, it is asked. Simply this: Prepare a better road from the home to the schoolhouse, by putting in foot crossings over ravines, by mowing weeds and grass, by filling and draining low places, and the like. On stormy days and on occasions when the young adolescent girl is passing through her monthly period of weakness—one especially endangering the health—it will be advisable to provide a conveyance to school and back.
Country parents also often need to be cautioned in regard to over-working the school girl. Some even require her to do practically the same amount of work as she could well endure were there no extra burdens at school. Manifestly, this is both unjust and injurious. Observe the conduct of the young school girl for a few days. If there is no song and laughter in her life; if she is not ruddy in complexion and buoyant of step; if she mopes and drones about the place; do not censure her, but seek a constitutional cause and watch for evidences of an over-requirement of work.
The close inspection of the health of school children, now conducted in many cities, brings out the somewhat startling fact that many boys and girls come to the class room every morning fatigued and depressed beyond the point of effective study. The old way was to call them dullards, to punish them, to shame them out of the school, to humiliate their parents. The new method of dealing with such children calls for scientific measures. First, the exact conditions are ascertained by experts; second, the parents are urged and helped to provide for the child more sleep, better food, more fresh air in the living chambers, more recreation, a relief from over-work, or some special medical care—as the particular case may demand.