SPECIAL FEATURES.

SCIENTIFIC TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION. REPORT STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS. ARBOR DAY IN IOWA SCHOOLS.

SCIENTIFIC TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION.

The law requiring that regular instruction shall be given in all the public schools of the State, having special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, has been the subject of much thought and attention. I believe the law has been steadily growing in favor, and that its provisions are generally complied with by our teachers. Not only has the attention of teachers been called to the absolute necessity of obeying the letter of the law, but in most of our county institutes valuable instruction has been given in methods of teaching this branch, and in the arrangement of the subject matter, so as to make the teaching most effective.

In response to many inquiries, in May, 1888, the following circular was distributed among the teachers for their guidance and direction:

To County Superintendents and Teachers of Iowa:

We are often asked as to the limit of instruction in the branch of scientific temperance instruction.

The evident intent of the law is to place the teaching of the nature and effects of stimulants and narcotics upon the same basis as other branches taught in our public schools. The pupil gains his knowledge of arithmetic by successive steps; he must pass an examination in one part of the subject, and show his familiarity with it, before he is advanced to the next division. Scientific temperance instruction should be treated in the same manner. One portion should be thoroughly mastered before the next is entered upon. If this is well done, the teacher will often find work enough in one part of the subject to employ and interest the pupils during a whole term. Careful consideration will convince us that the work in this branch of study is too superficial in many of our schools, because we are attempting more in a given time than can be done well. Temperance instruction needs to be reduced to a system.

We suggest the following plan:

In the first division, intended for little children, let the work be entirely oral and confine the subject-matter largely to the simple rules of health, as cleanliness, exercise, and habits of eating and drinking, with but little of physiology or anatomy.

In the second division, instruction should still be given orally, but an advance may be made, in that the pupil should be required to carefully reproduce what has been given him and to commit to memory facts and principles, so as to make them his own. The department of hygiene may be enlarged and something of the mechanism of the body may be added. It is to be noticed, however, that this oral work should be very carefully prepared, with method and thought, in order to adapt it to the capacity of the pupils. It is of especial importance in these two divisions, that you give, if possible, a strong bent to the child's mind against the use of liquor and tobacco. In the third division, the use of the text-book should begin. Here more individual study and work on the part of the pupil is necessary. It would not be well to endeavor to cover the whole ground of physiology and hygiene. The functions of the more important organs only, should be thoroughly studied and explained. The action of stimulants and narcotics upon these organs should be faithfully impressed upon the child's mind.

In advanced divisions, the whole subject of the human body, its mechanism, its needs and protection, may be carefully studied. At this stage, a few of the more important technical names may be learned and the functions of the various organs more minutely described.

In all your work, care should be taken to give instruction in accordance with the spirit of the law. Total abstinence should be taught as the only sure way to escape the evils arising from the use of alcoholic drinks and tobacco. This systematic plan if carefully followed will insure a more thorough understanding of the subject, and teachers will not complain that they have used up all their material.

Allow me to suggest to county superintendents, that you give this study, especially as it has reference to the effects of stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, the attention which it deserves at your coming institute; and that at examinations you submit to your teacher short but comprehensive questions to test their knowledge, as required by section 3, of the law. For the information of many who will receive this, but have not the law itself at hand, we print the chapter in full, and invite your careful attention to its provisions. It will be seen that its requirements are plain, positive and mandatory.

CHAPTER 1, LAWS OF 1886.

TEACHING AND STUDY OF EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND STIMULANTS UPON THE HUMAN SYSTEM.

SECTION 1. Physiology and hygiene, which must in each division of the subject thereof include special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, shall be included in the branches of study now and hereafter required to be regularly taught to and studied by all pupils in common schools and in all normal institutes, and normal and industrial schools and the schools at the soldiers' orphans' home, and home for indigent children.

SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of all boards of directors of schools and of boards of trustees, and of county superintendents in the case of normal institutes, to see to the observance of this statute and make provision therefor, and it is especially enjoined on the county superintendent of each county that he include in his report to the superintendent of public instruction, the manner and extent to which the requirements of section one

of this act are complied with in the schools and institutes under his charge, and the secretary of school boards in cities and towns is especially charged with the duty of reporting to the superintendent of public instruction as to the observance of said section one hereof, in their respective town and city schools, and only such schools and educational institutions reporting compliance, as above required, shall receive the proportion of school funds or allowance of public money to which they would be otherwise entitled.

SEC. 3. The county superintendent shall not after the 1st day of July, 1887, issue a certificate to any person who has not passed a satisfactory examination in physiology and hygiene with especial reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, and it shall be the duty of the county superintendent, as provided by section 1771, to revoke the certificate of any teacher required by law to have a certificate of qualification from the county superintendent, if the said teacher shall fail or neglect to comply with section one of this act, and said teacher shall be disqualified for teaching in any public school for one year after such revocation, and shall not be permitted to teach without compliance.

Reports from every county in the State indicate that there is a very general desire to administer the law faithfully. Considering the difficulties naturally arising when a new branch is introduced into the course of study, the progress made is very encouraging. The attention the subject received last year in institutes greatly assisted teachers in their work. Our confidence in the fidelity of the school officers and instructors of Iowa to any trust imposed upon them, makes us certain that much more will be accomplished during the coming year. To assist in this important work, the hearty co-operation of all is invited.

DES MOINES, May 20, 1888.

HENRY SABIN,

Superintendent of Public Instruction.

By the provisions of the law, the secretaries of school boards in cities and towns are charged with the duty of reporting to the superintendent of public instruction, as to the observance of section one in their respective town and city schools. I accordingly prepared a blank form and sent to each secretary, asking for definite information upon certain points in primary, grammar, and high school grades.

An inspection of the following table will show the nature of the information sought, and the answers received from each town or city included in the list: