The Semi Weekly News

Overwork of Young Brains.

A great deal of nonsense has been said and written about the overwork of mature brains, and there are grounds for believing that an excuse has been sought for idleness or indulgence in a valetudinarian habit, in the popular outcry on this subject which awhile ago attracted much attention. But according to the testimony of the most eminent physiologists there can be no room to question the extreme peril of overwork to growing children and youths with undeveloped brains. The excessive use of an immature organ arrests its development by diverting the energy which should be appropriated to its growth and consuming it in work. What happens to horses which are allowed to run races too early happens to boys and girls who are overworked at school. The competitive system as applied to youths has produced a most ruinous effect on the mental constitution which this generation has to hand down to the next, and particularly to the next but one ensuing. School work should be purely exclusively directed to development. "Cramming" the young for examination purposes is like compelling an infant in arms to sit up before the muscles of its back are strong enough to support it in the upright position or to support the weight of its body on its legs by standing while as yet the limbs are unable to bear the burden imposed on them. A crooked spine or weak or contorted legs is the inevitable penalty of such folly.