The years of adolescence, during which rapid growth and development
inevitably cause so much stress and frequently give rise to danger,
are the very years in which the weight of school education necessarily
falls most heavily. The children of the poor leave school at fourteen
years of age, just the time when the children of the wealthier classes
are beginning to understand the necessity of education and to work
with a clearer realisation of the value and aim of lessons. The whole
system of education has altered of late years, and school work is now
conducted far more intelligently and with a greater appreciation of
the needs and capacities of the pupils than it was some fifty years
ago. Work is made more interesting, the relation of different studies
to each other is more adequately put in evidence, and the influence
that school studies have on success in after life is more fully
realised by all concerned. The system of training is, however, far
from perfect. In the case of girls, more particularly, great care has
to be exercised not to attempt to teach too much, and to give careful
consideration to the physiological peculiarities of the pupils. It is
impossible for girls who are undergoing such rapid physiological and
psychical changes to be always equally able and fit for strenuous
work. There are days in every girl's life when she is not capable of
her best work, and when a wise and sympathetic teacher will see that
it is better for her to do comparatively little. And yet these slack
times are just those in which there is the greatest danger of a girl
indulging in daydreams, and when her thoughts need to be more than
usually under control. These times may be utilised for lighter
subjects and for such manual work as does not need great physical
exertion. It is not a good time for exercises, for games, for dancing,
and for gardening, nor are they the days on which mathematics should