OCR Text |
Show CIGARETTE SMOKING BAD. Investigation Shows Cigarette Smokers Smok-ers to be Two Years Behind Non-Users In School. Cigarette smoking boys tu the public schools of Kokoma are an average of two years behind tho uon smokers ot their own age. This startling conclusion and others almost as Important are the result of a year's careful Investigation by Prof. R. A. Ogg, superintendent of the Hoard ot Trustees ot the Indiana State University. Univer-sity. The Investigation waa carried on quietly but thoroughly by each teacher and the cumulutlvu evidence tuldu'vl is habit that.wlll'lntercstduealors and ph)siciunsand may lead to a combined effort to stamp out tho pernicious habit. hab-it. Superintendent Ogg reports on the matter as follows; 'The Investigation has Involved nearly twelve bundled boys from the first grade through the high school More than one-third of these udmlt they do smoke or have smoked at some time. All these have been included in the list of smokerh, aud only those who say they never smoked are counted in the list of non-users. Surprising uniformity uni-formity Is found iu the effect in all buildings and iu all grades. Those who belong to the class of smokers average one year older than those of their grade who have never used tobacco. The Inveterate In-veterate smokers are two years behind the non-users. This iB true through all gra,,eB' ,Jfc "It might ho expected that tho dl- vergeneu would increase in the higher grudes. That Buch id not the case is doubtless due to the fact that those who smoke full and drop out of school at an eurlier ago and in larger numbers thn those who do not smoke. If, instead of including all who have smoked at all In the list ot smokers, we take only those who sinoko habitually, the difference differ-ence In ago In favor of those who do not smoko is nearly two years. Hero Is a terrlblo 1ojs which may clearly be charged up to the cigarette habit. "Hut there are other losses beside those of progress in their studies. Tho teachers' reports show that the conduct of the smokers is far below tho aver-uge. aver-uge. Some of the reports say of smokers: smok-ers: Self-control poor, Inattentive, not trustworthy; bad memory, careless excitable, ex-citable, nervous, bad conduct; lazy, sleepy, slow to moyc; very dull, hlank look; heavy eyes, sick frequently, never did any good, work lu school; no energy, ener-gy, naturally bright but no power of concentration; vacant stare, gloomy, listless; One boy failed regularly while soio.cing. He quit tho habit und now pastes successfully. Physlclal deterioration deterior-ation Is very noticeable, including shrlnkago of chest measurement." A crusade against the cigarette Immediately Im-mediately followed this alarming report and as a result tho four hundred cigar- otto smokers have given up tho weed. Now the effect is just as notlcablo tho other way. iNew York Monthly World. |