[Report 1917] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council.

  • Cheshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1917] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    you are quite old—getting on for 20 years old. Some parts of the bones for instjince are not properly joined up together, and if you are rough or have an accident you may break tliem at those weak spots. The private parts of your body are those in which the seed (the egg) grows and these parts are not properly grown until you are getting on for 20 years of age; like every other part of your body, if they are not properly taken care of, they will never get completely grown, or they may get diseased or unhealthy. All that you have to do with them is to keep them clean just as you do your hands and face and the rest of your body and never think about them. It is a terribly wrong thing, as any doctor will tell you, to play with them or excite them ; any child who does that is not only committing a grave sin, but is sure before lotig to become weak, forgetful, ill, unfit to enjoy or play games and, if by chance it should be fotmd out, will be shunned by other boys and girls, because j\ll clean and decent boys and girls know that such a thing is the most unmanly or unwomanly thing anybody can be guilty of. Never listen to unclean talk such as you would he ashamed to let your father or mother hear. You would not think of drinking a glass of dirty water or of eating food that was soiled with dirt, and you would feel disgusted if anyone threw dirt on your clothes or on to your face. You should feel just as much disgusted when other people ti’y to throw dirt into your mind by talking dirty talk to you. Boys should always respect and never think of hirrting girls or women, not only because they are usually weaker, but for the special reasoti that it is in their bodies that the egg which is some day to become a living baby may have to grow, and if their botlies are hurt it may happen that the egg will not grow into a strong, healthy bright little baby at all, but perhaps only into a feeble or deformed baby.* (See bottom of last page.) Boys, take your example from the lion which not only lu’ings food to the lioness, but will fight to the death at any time to protect the lioness and the cubs or baby lions. (Jirls, take your example from the lioness, which will battle with both man and beast, no matter at what cost to itself, to keep its cubs from injury. Remember that your body is not your own to do just what you like with. God has given it to you for you to guard and care for, and if you do not guard it from evil things you will have to pay the penalty. You know- what the Bible says, “Be sure your sins will find you out.