Health education in the school the central Council of health education. Used good.
HEALTH EDUCATION
IN THE SCHO0L
The Aims of Health Education
HE public health depends more upon an educated
people with a health conscience than upon Acts of
Parliament'"1 and therefore throughout our educational
system there should be ample provision or the study of health
and the teaching of healthy habits.
The aims of health education are threefold"he formation
of healthy habits, the development of a right attitude towards
health, and the acquisition of the necessary knowledge about
healthy ways of living."1 Teachers will, of course, develop
these aimns in their own individual way., but there are certain
general principles that must be borne in mind.
The Importance of Habit Formation
THE child should form habits of healthy living in the
earliest stages of school life, and although very young chil-
dren are incapable of understanding fully the reasons for many
practices, they can be taught to carry them out. To wait until
they can appreciate their value in terms of physiology is out of
the question. The adult later in life may know a great deal of
the theory of healthy living, and yet fail to put it into practice.
But if the child has been trained early in life in the practice
of good habits of health, theoretical knowledge gained later
will foster their continued practice.
In the Nursery School, health education will consist almost
entirely of making assumptions, upon the basis of the school
routine, about how life should be conducted; and of the forma-
tion of specific health habits. Regularity of meals, cleanliness
of body and clothes, attention to the toiletall these are of
great importance. Care should be taken, however, that over-
insistence on toilet cleanliness does not result in the arousing
of the child's opposition.