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105
APPENDIX D.
MEMORANDUM ON THE TEACHING OF SEX HYGIENE IN THE PUBLIC
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
28th October, 1918.
The drain upon human resources occasioned by more than four years of war makes it incumbent
upon the Hygienist to examine proposals which suggests directly or indirectly means for the
restoration and improvement of National Health.
Our stock of National Health is at present low. The Birth Rate is falling. During the four
weeks ended 5th October, 1918, the birth rate in Willesden was only 13.24 per thousand as against
a pre-war rate of 24.70 per thousand in 1914, a fall of 46.4 per cent. The medical examination
of recruits for the army has revealed the fact that only 36 to 37 per cent. of the male population
of military age are "A" men. Such men are suffering most heavily as the result of war, and the
population therefore more than ever before will have to be carried on by men of lower categories.
The measure of success achieved by the Teaching of Sex Hygiene must be judged by improvement
in the foregoing conditions. One result should be a rise in the birth rate at least to the prewar
rate. This will only be accomplished if the future education of the girl no longer consists in the
concealment from her of the essential facts of life and if her outlook is so altered that she does not
come to regard the racial instincts as low and shameful. The birth rate, however, is not likely to
increase to the necessary extent unless it is impressed upon all that the rearing of large and healthy
families is national work of the highest importance and the State in its turn recognises the national
character of the work of child bearing.
The teaching of sex hygiene includes instruction in the preservation of the health of the sexual
organs. One of the results of such teaching therefore should be an early diminution in the incidence
of Venereal Diseases and subsequently an increased proportion of " A " men in the population.
Incidentally some diseases or conditions associated with puberty would disappear or be diminished.
For example, masturbation or self abuse would be lessened. Here it should be noted as particularly
important that no mention of this subject should be made to a child who already has no knowledge
of it. Many girls too would be saved from the shock of the onset of menstruation, while at later
ages the various forms of neurosis not uncommonly associated with this cyclic change, such as hysteria,
nervousness or depression—the result of disordered fancies—would tend to diminish in consequence
of healthy knowledge.
These, in brief outline, are some of the main results which the Hygienist would expect to follow
more or less rapidly on the education of the young in the matter of the preservation of the health
of the reproductive organs. The question arises as to how the subject can be introduced in the
ordinary elementary schools. Class teaching has been suggested, but in this connection the main
difficulties are that children of different development and widely varying knowledge in sex matters
are associated in the same class. Individual teaching for those who appear to require it has likewise
been advocated, but this latter method would only lead to the instruction of the more obvious
cases of abuse, as no teacher can very well say which children are or are not in need of sex education.
But whether instruction is given collectively or individually, the person by whom it is given
is probably the most important single factor in connection with the subject. By some the class
teacher is thought to be the right person, by others a special teacher, or the doctor, or the parent.
None of these, to my mind, is necessarily the right person. The kind of teacher required for a subject
like this is one who is well versed in biology and physiology, and who has the gifts or the training
of a teacher. The teacher, too, must be in complete sympathy with the child and have a full appreciation
of the delicacy and difficulty of the subject. Above all, the teacher must have a healthy
mind and the necessary tact for overcoming the inherent difficulties concerned in the enlightenment
of the young on matters of Sex Hygiene.
Bearing in mind the views above expressed and the objects to be attained by the teaching
of Sex Hygiene, and remembering further that the education of the young in this subject is bound
to include in some cases enlightenment in respect of the reproduction of the race, I am reluctantly
impelled to the conclusion that sex hygiene as a separate entity cannot at present be included in the
curriculum of an ordinary elementary school. I think the most that can be done in elementary
schools is the establishment of a graduated course on Nature Study, over a number of years, beginning
with Botany and the reproduction of plants, passing on to Zoology and the reproduction
of the lower and possibly some of the higher forms of animal life, and finally Hygiene, in which I
would include Elementary Physiology. I do not think that the subject of Sex Hygiene as such
should be dealt with. The course should be merely Hygiene as defined above. The introduction
of the word " sex " tends to make the child introspective and curious, and the reaction on the mind
under these conditions is not likely to be beneficial.
At one time I had thought it possible that the subject of Human Embryology might be simply
dealt with and the physiological processes resulting from the fusion of the male and female elements
of reproduction and the development of the fertilised ovum explained. I am of opinion now that
this is not practical in the elementary schools, as some children are without the necessary rudimentary
knowledge on which to superimpose additional information.