SCHOOL SANITATION This question is important, inasmuch as the schools concern all children. Furthermore the close association between susceptible children at school makes the school an important clearing house for communicable diseases. The many ant features in school sanitation can only be lightly touched. (a) Lighting.—A general and safe rule is that lighting space should be provided in each room in the proportion of one square foot of window space for each five feet of floor space. In locating the seats it is important that the lighting come from the left and that none be permitted to shine directly into the eyes when the individual is properly located in his seat (Fig. 116, 118).
(b) Heating and maintenance of the proper mental and physical efficiency in the children requires that the teachers maintain proper conditions of temperature and humidity in the class rooms. This can be accomplished by careful supervision, but is frequently ignored.
(c) Blackboards selected for recitation or demonstration purposes should be so situated that no light is reflected from their surface into the eyes of the pupils. These should have a dull black surface.
(d) A hygienically satisfactory supply of individual drinking cups should be available or drinking fountains should be used.
Common drinking cups should not be tolerated.
(e) Adequate toilet facilities with separate toilets for the sexes are necessary. These should be maintained in a state of proper cleanliness and working order. Washing facilities and indi vidual towels are also necessary. Teachers should require their use by children who come to school with dirty faces and hands (Fig. 117).
(f) Proper seating of the children with regard to their stature and the seats available is necessary. This is important from the standpoint of orthopedic development.
(g) The method employed for cleaning class rooms should avoid unnecessary dust production and should preferably be done at the close of the school day. Common books and pencils tend to favor the distribution of infective agents and are undesirable.
(h) Provision should be made for one or more periods of physical relaxation during the school day. These may be devoted to drills, games, deep breathing exercises or a recess.
In the arrangement of the curriculum the analytical courses should receive first place, so that they are taken while the mind is fresh.