The Health Education Programmes
The school attempts to promote
health in children and youth through a specialized programme “that contributing
to the understanding,
maintenance, and
improvement of the health of pupils
and school personnel, including health services, health education, and
healthful school living.
The healthful school living phase of
the school health programme has been considered. The health services phase
of the total
school programme will be considered later.
The health education phase of the total
school programme refers
to "the process
of providing
learning experiences for the purpose of influencing knowledge, attitudes, and
conduct relating to individual and group health.” This phase of the school
health programme will be discussed in this chapter.
Health education and the schools
A recognition of the need for health education in the
schools has developed through the years, as educators and the lay public health
have come to realize the importance of providing learning
see ences which will result in healthful living ci more
people. Furthermore, they have come to
more clearly the relationship of knowledges, attitudes,
and practices in respect to health. :
The importance of health has been taught
by nducators since early times. Older generations tell shout how they received
instruction in physiology, learned how to trace the flow of blood through the
body and memorized long definitions of various anatomical and physiological
aspects of the human body. This approach to health education, however, has
changed over the years. Toward the end of the nineteenth century some new ideas
were introduced into school curricula. This resulted from a feeling on the part
of certain individuals that the evil effect of alcoholic beverages should be
taught. They also felt there should be a greater emphasis on the hygienic
aspects of living. As a result, these concepts became an important part of
health teaching, especially in colleges. This emphasis continued until the
early twentieth century. Then, the impact of World Wars I and II gave health
education the impetus it needed to become firmly imbedded as an important part
of the school programme. The public became aroused, for example, by the number
of defects discovered in young men through selective service examinations.
There has been an increased emphasis on the school health programme because of
this public concern. Results of this emphasis have included passing state laws,
developing courses of study publishing many textbooks dealing with health
education, and providing for the training of special teachers in this ar Today,
there is increased recognition that he education can play a very important role
in helping to make individuals aware of their responsibility for not only their
own health but also that of others. Health is rapidly being regarded as
"everybody's business."
Health education and the school health programme.
It has been pointed out that
this chapter is primarily concerned with health education. It is interested in
those knowledges, attitudes, and practices essential to good health. The
teacher attempts to provide educational experiences and give a background of
scientific knowledge upon which healthful living is based and thus help to
develop favourable understanding and attitudes. However, it must be recognized
that health education is only one phase of the total school health programme.
School health services and healthful school living are also important. The
success of a school health programme is dependent upon the successful
functioning and coordination of all three.
Health
education can play an important part in motivating children in the development
of healthful habits and attitudes. Superstitions and fads can be proved unsound
as a result of developing an attitude of appreciation for scientifically
accurate knowledge.Such an attitude recognizes the importance of consulting
qualified medical persons in regard to health matters, the dangers of
self-diagnosis and self-medication, the need to distinguish between fact and
fallacy, and the importance of obtaining health information from authoritative
sources.