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Research Article

Health of Schools, as a Social and Pedagogical Problem

V O Sutula*

Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture, Kharkov, Ukraine

Submission: March 21, 2018; Published: April 03, 2018

*Correspondence author: V O Sutula, Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture, Kharkov, Ukraine, Email: vsutula@rambler.ru

How to cite this article: V O Sutula. Health of Schools, as a Social and Pedagogical Problem. OAJ Gerontol & Geriatric Med. 2018; 3(5): 555621. DOI: 10.19080/OAJGGM.2018.03.555621

Abstract

The analysis showed that schoolchildren's health is a complex socio-pedagogical problem that the distribution among children of chronic diseases, diseases of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the endocrine system, respiratory viral infections must be sought in three interrelated constituents of their lifestyle (family, school, leisure) that the widespread distribution of children in various forms of posture violations is due to the fact that the school does not pay enough attention to conducting in the school day a variety of if cultural and recreational activities (fitness pause a moment to fitness classes, outdoor break, morning gymnastics etc).

Keywords: Health; Way of Life; Spheres of Life; Social Institute; Public Awareness; Leisure; Sociological Research; Education System

Introduction

In recent years, there has been an avalanche stream of information on the deterioration of the health of schoolchildren in periodicals and in scientific publications. There are objective and important prerequisites for this. Thus, over the past 10 years, the incidence among school-age children has increased by 26.8% [1]. Today, approximately 90% of schoolchildren have a deviation in the state of physical and mental health [2] the overall incidence among students of secondary schools in Ukraine reaches 64% - 71%. During the period of study at school, the number of students assigned to a special medical group is almost doubled [3]. In recent years, a high level of physical health has been found in only 0.32% of boys and girls, above the average 4.18%, the average 27%, below the average27% and the lowest 41.48%. The consequence of this situation was that in the existing informational space of schoolchildren's health is used as an integral indicator of public assessment of the effectiveness of the functioning of the school physical education system, which, as practice shows, is not able to provide the necessary level of physical health of children and young people. The urgent need to address the whole spectrum of health, educational and educational tasks in the field of physical education of the younger generation needs to rethink the basic principles of organizing the existing system of physical education and ascertaining the complex of the main factors on which the health of children and youth depends.

The Aim of the Study

Identification of socio-pedagogical factors that affect the health of children and young people and the main directions of solving the problem of schoolchildren's health.

Methods, Organization of Research

Was to analyze the materials published in the special literature, which examines the health of children and young people, as well as to summarize the results of relevant studies conducted by specialists of the problem scientific research laboratory of the Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture (KDAFK) (scientific research director VO Sutula).

Results of the Research and Their Discussion

The decline in the health of schoolchildren that has been observed recently, according to experts, is due to the lack of volume of their motor activity [4]. Some publications directly indicate the existence of a high correlation between the state of health of schoolchildren and the level of development of the majority of their physical qualities, which (the level of development of motor qualities) in its entirety is the result of the motor activity of students [5]. Without rejecting the above mentioned provisions in general (the increase in motor activity of pupils really improves the functioning of all systems of their body, which is the basis of their physical health), it should be noted, however, that the simple increase in the volume of motor activity of children, without regard to the specificity of the disease, definitely does not guarantee the improvement of their health. This conclusion is indirectly derived from the analysis of the statistics of the morbidity of young athletes, the total volume of motor activity which can be considered sufficient if it is evaluated from the stand point of valid sanitary-and-hygienic norms. The results of this analysis show that among children and adolescents who are actively engaged in sports, in recent years there is a steady tendency of growth of various diseases [6,7]. Consequently, an increase in the volume of motor activity of children and young people does not automatically guarantee improvement of their health. Obviously there are other no less important factors that affect their health.

According to the definition of the World Health Organization, human health is characterized as a state of complete physical, spiritual and social well-being, and not only the absence of diseases or physical defects. It is obvious that this understanding of health is quite general in nature. It covers virtually all aspects of human life. Perhaps not by chance, experts point out that human health is 53% depending on the way of life, 21% from the environmental situation, 16% from hereditary factors, and 10% from medicine [8]. Consequently, it can be argued with high probability that the determining factor on which human health depends is a way of life. The mode of human life in the most general form is determined by the social role it performs in the three main spheres of life in the family, in the field of education (or work), in the field of leisure. From the above basic areas of social activity, the family institution plays a leading role in shaping the way of life of a child, because it is the family that determines the cultural and everyday environment in which the child is brought up.

To a certain extent, under the influence of a family of children, a need-motivational sphere is formed which, in fact, determines the nature of their relationship with others, as well as the main directions of the child's activities, including the use of physical exercises for their own health and physical development . The social status and financial status of parents determine the essential conditions of life of children the conditions of their residence, the quality of food, the possibilities of rest, the forms of spending their leisure time (visits to theaters, museums, palaces and houses of children's creativity, stations of young technicians, classes in sports sections and etc.), their level of medical support, and so on. The place of residence of the family determines the impact on the child of the environmental conditions, of which, as already noted, the health of a person depends on 21%. It is from parents that the influence of hereditary factors on the health of the child depends on which of 16% determines her health. Despite the important role played by parents in organizing the lifestyle of a child, the possibilities of a modern Ukrainian family to solve the problem of ensuring decent living conditions of children are quite limited, because today, as statistics show, 38.2% of the population of Ukraine is outside the subsistence minimum [9].

The second important component ofthe way of life of children and young people, which significantly affects their health, is the form of their leisure. Special investigations of this problem by the State Institute for Family and Youth Development show that only 44% of children between the ages of 14 and 17 have the opportunity to meet their leisure needs at an adequate level. For the majority of children, these funds are not enough to meet these needs (70%), free time (26%) and corresponding facilities at their place of residence (26%). Materials of these studies also point to the non-formation, as a whole, children have the right needs, because 14% of them never went in for sports, 34% did not attend circles, 24% did not attend theaters and museums; most of the free time children gave television programs, and every third teenager computer games. The national report on the implementation by Ukraine of the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child [10] explicitly states that the main reason that adversely affects the organization of children's leisure is the lack of a sufficiently developed network of physical culture and sports, culture and recreation, as well as the poverty of families with children.

Perhaps these factors have contributed to the fact those in recent years the possibility of having children with healthy physical activity, which is a guarantee of their physical health, has narrowed considerably. The lack of real opportunities for children to undertake such leisure activities, as well as their lack of proper needs, leads to the fact that a significant part of children in their free time prefer to communicate with their friends. Currently, it is this environment that most influences the appearance of bad habits among children, as evidenced by the results of an analysis of the causes that cause the spread of tobacco smoking habits and alcohol consumption by young scientists in the KDAFK problem research laboratory [1113]. The materials of these studies indicate that every third schoolboy of secondary and senior school years already had experience in smoking tobacco, and in the seventeen years every fifth student of secondary schools was smoking. During the years of studying in school, the number of students who have tasted some or other alcoholic beverages increases. For example, in the 5th grade, every fifth (!) Student was drinking alcohol, and in the 11th grade of such students already about 70%. The identified trends in the prevalence of bad habits among schoolchildren (tobacco use and alcohol use) are fairly objective in nature. In general, they are confirmed by the results of special sociological studies conducted within the framework of the program "Health and Behavioral Orientation of Student Youth" [14]. Attention is drawn to the fact that in the process of studying in the school there is a pronounced tendency to increase the number of students who are indifferent to the widespread use of adult eating habits and alcohol consumption. The results of special sociological studies indicate that at present fifth grade of such students is about 15%, in the eighth about 35%, and in the eleventh - more than 50%. The given data indicate that during the years of studying in children, the active citizenship position on this issue is practically not formed.

Of the above three main areas of life children play a special role in organizing their way of life, the school, which is the main social institution, through which the process of transferring culture from one generation to another, within which the development of the personality of the child passes. It is at school that the outlook of the children is formed, their liveliness, and activity, independence, and organization, ability to work in a team, mutual help and other features of the character, which just determine the essence of the individual. It is at school that the children receive the necessary knowledge, skills and skills to help them choose their future activities. It is precisely in the school that is prescribed and regulated, through the use of various physical culture and recreational activities, the mode of motor activity of children during the day that is the basis of their physical health. Solving these tasks requires the creation of a special cultural environment in the school in which every participant of this process (student and teacher) should feel psychologically comfortable, be socially protected and in demand from others. It is obvious that the creation of such an atmosphere in school is a rather difficult task, especially in today's conditions, when all the traditional system of education is located, according to I Prokopenko and V Evdokimova [15], in a state of "stagnation and even crisis". As a result of complex processes that unfold in the system of school education, the fact that around 50% of students in general education institutions are weary of classes, about 40% of students is difficult to study, 25% of students consider the pupils' environment to be psychologically not comfortable, in 20% of students formed the feeling of not perceiving them from the side of teachers as individuals, and in 15% of them - a sense of unfair treatment of teachers.

Undoubtedly, the situation prevailing in the system of traditional education imprinted on the whole system of school physical education, since the latter is an integral part of it. At the same time, it should be noted that at present, in the development of the system of physical education of students of general education institutions, despite all the complexities, and positive trends exist. Thus, sociological researches carried out by KDAFK scientists have shown, firstly, that at present society is aware of the necessity and importance of a healthy and physically active lifestyle as one of the basic factors influencing human health; Secondly, among teachers and parents there is an understanding and concern about the negative trends that are manifested in the development of the system of physical education for students of general education institutions, in which the majority of parents (94.6%), which should be especially noted, are ready to take a possible participation in the process of its reform; Thirdly, the vast majority of students have a positive attitude toward physical education lessons (87.3%), and for 76.4% of them, such lessons are only satisfying. The above results of researches testify that at present in the system of school physical education there are positive prerequisites for solving, on a qualitatively new level, the whole complex of health-improving, educational and educational tasks. Some approaches to solving educational and educational tasks have already been presented in a previous publication. In this article, taking into account its purpose, we will pay attention to possible approaches to solving health problems. To objectivism this analysis it is necessary to consider, at least in the first approximation, the range of illnesses of schoolchildren.

If we proceed from the data published in the special literature, it should be noted that over the years of schooling almost twice the number of children with chronic diseases increases, in the last years up to 6-7 times a year the number of respiratory and viral infections has increased, the incidence of organs of the gastrointestinal tract in schoolchildren increased almost by 1.4 times, the endocrine system by 2.6 times. Sufficiently widespread in the environment of children marked diseases is due, as experts say, the state of their immune system, the influence on their organism of genetic factors and environmental factors, that is, the influence of factors that are determined by environmental, biosocial and psycho-emotional causes, and therefore lie in the plane of the three main components of the way of life of children (the family, school, leisure). Consequently, we can conclude that there is no direct cause-and-effect relationship between the occurrence of children with the above diseases and the volume of their motor Activity, which depends, first of all, on the peculiarities of constructing the pedagogical process in the system of physical education. That is why the increase in the number of such diseases among children cannot be a measure of the effectiveness of the functioning of the physical education system.

In the spectrum of diseases of schoolchildren, as shown by literary data, the determining place occupies various forms of violation of their posture. At present, the number of children with posture disorders is 80% 90% of the total number of students, and for the period of schooling, the frequency of manifestations of this disease increases by 1.5 times Violations of posture, as evidenced by the results of special studies, leads to a change in the relative position of the internal organs, which is accompanied by a violation of their normal activities (especially the lungs and heart), which adversely affects the functioning of all organs and makes the body of the child as a whole prone to various diseases. That is why we can say that posture is not a disease in its classical sense. It is likely to represent a "delayed action" that creates the preconditions for the emergence of other diseases, and which "explodes" when the influence of negative factors on the child's organism (ecological, biosocial, psycho-emotional, and others) reaches a critical level. It is obvious that that for the prevention of posture disturbances among schoolchildren it is necessary to apply special complexes of physical exercises, or health systems, which enable from the very beginning of schooling to purposefully influence the causes that cause the emergence and development of this disease.

As the main reason for the disturbances of posture among schoolchildren, as evidenced by the study of hygienists, is due to the fact that about 85% of daytime schoolchildren are without movement (sitting), this may mean that the prevention of posture disturbances among schoolchildren is reduced to regular exercise in the school day, as the lessons of physical culture and what is needed emphasize especially various physical culture and recreation activities (morning gymnastics, physical culture pauses and physical exercises at lessons, mobile breaks), which perform not only preventive functions, but also stimulate the mental performance of students. That is, the mechanism for preventing the disturbances of posture among pupils is based on well-known events, the need for which is regulated by the relevant orders of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and which, unfortunately, is still paid insufficient attention in the system of general secondary education, as evidenced by the above statistics of manifestations of this disease. The importance and necessity of taking effective measures to prevent the disturbances of posture among schoolchildren, which is definitely one of the main health problems of the system of physical education, is understood at the state level. It is no coincidence that in the last year adopted a program for general education institutions to content training material in grades 5-9 introduces topics related to the prevention of violations of posture students.

Conclusions

a) Summarized results of the conducted sociological research indicate that at present the public awareness of the need for a healthy and physically active lifestyle as one of the basic factors influencing human health is formed; There is an understanding by parents and teachers of the role of physical culture in providing children with health; most children have a positive attitude towards physical activity. This creates positive conditions for solving, on a qualitatively new level, the whole complex of health-improving, educational and educational tasks in the field of physical education of children and youth.

b) The analysis showed that schoolchildren's health is a complex socio-pedagogical problem, the solution of which cannot be reduced only to a general increase in their motor activity, after all. It (the level of motor activity) only creates favorable conditions for the optimal functioning of all systems of the body (improves blood flow and ventilation of the lungs, activates the protective systems of the body neuro endocrine and immune), but does not affect the causative factors that cause the most common diseases among schoolchildren.

c) Studies have shown that the reasons for the spread of chronic diseases in children, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the endocrine system, respiratory viral infections should be sought in three interrelated constituents of their life (family, school, leisure). This may mean that a change in this negative trend is possible only with the improvement of socio-economic, cultural and living conditions affecting the way of life of children.

d) The results of the study showed that the widespread distribution of children in various forms of disorders of posture, which creates the preconditions for the emergence of other diseases, due to the fact that the school does not pay enough attention to conducting in the mode of the school day a variety of physical culture and recreational activities aimed at eliminating causal factors that cause the onset of this disease (physical activity pauses and physical exercises at lessons, mobile breaks, morning gymnastics, etc.).

e) To solve the problem of ensuring the proper level of health of children and young people it is necessary, on the one hand, to conduct regular monitoring of schoolchildren morbidity, as they (diseases) may have regional, climatologically and other features, and on the other hand, the development of special methods using physical means, which make it possible to purposefully influence the causes that cause the emergence and development of the most common diseases among school children literature.