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Show CHILDREN STUDY IN THE OPEN-AIR. (Furnished by the Utah Public Health association.) The open-air school has been tried out and proven to be a complete success. suc-cess. It is a return to nature's own plan. God evidently intended" that man should work and play and sleep in the open-air. Danger from wild animals and from hostile neighbors drove primitive man to seek shelter in caves and fortresses and in time he lost his desire for the free-blowing air. With indoor life came disease, including in-cluding that most pitiless and dreaded dread-ed of all maladies, tuberculosis. After .centuries of suffering man discovered that a return to life in the open-air would bring relief and often cure for these, indoor diseases. And then came the great inspiration. If fresh air, rest and proper food will help a consumptive, would not the same treatment save many children from becoming victims of such diseases? The first open-air school in the United States was opened in Providence, Provi-dence, R. I., in 1908. There are to-'day to-'day more than 1000 such schools in this country. Where ever tried, teachers and pupils as well as health officers and doctors are enthusiastic in their praise. Pupils have not only shown great improvement in health, but also have been quicker mentally. It is predicted that the open-air school will before many years entirely replace the present type of school buildings, a change which would save money for the taxpayer as well as greatly benefit the pupils and their teachers. Fresh air is one of God's greatest gifts to man. To shut up our children chil-dren for hours each day in over-heated, badly ventilated school rooms, when the life-giving, stimulating outdoor out-door air may be had by merely breaking break-ing Out a few windows or slightly readjusting re-adjusting the building plans, is worse than folly, it is a crime against childhood child-hood and the human race. |