Erisman's school desk. Correct posture for reading and writing

Among all the school furniture, the most characteristic and recognizable is the desk, the design of which combines a desk and a bench at once. It was the desk that has long become one of the symbols of the school, study, and the teaching profession. In Warsaw, in front of the building of the Union of Polish Teachers, in 2010, a monument to the school desk was even erected (pictured).

When and by whom this piece of furniture was invented, it will probably not be possible to establish. However, it depends on what should be considered the main inventive idea in the design of the school desk. If an inclined table top, a movable table top or the integration of a reading and writing surface with other elements and functions of furniture, then among its “ancestors” one can name a cabinet, a secretary and a desk (see picture).

If, as the main inventive idea, we take the combination of a table and a bench in one type of furniture at once, then it turns out that this invention is not so ancient. The next photo shows pages with drawings of a school desk from the book by the Swiss doctor Farner (Fahrner) “The Child and the School Desk” (“Das Kind und der Schultisch”), in the subtitle of which the author indicates that “the child’s poor attitude to writing” is a consequence an uncomfortable learning environment at school and at home. The book was published in 1865 in Zurich. The picture shows that the author connects the table and bench into a single structure at the bottom.

Many of the well-known inventors of the school desk today were actually only engaged in its modernization, improving certain consumer properties or reducing the cost of its production. Only in Russia there are several of them:

- hygienist F.F. Erisman (pictured), who designed an individual desk for one student (1870); Fedor Fedorovich Erisman was a Swiss by birth (his real name was Friedrich Guldreich), and he clearly used the ideas of his countryman and colleague Farner in his work;

Zemsky figure N.A. Korf, late 60s - early 70s. 19th century who came up with a low-budget version of a school desk for rural schools;

Ural teacher P.F. Korotkov, who designed a double school desk for mass production (1887), etc.

It is possible that Dr. Farner was based on someone else's similar developments. However, we could not find earlier editions with drawings of a school desk. Thus, the idea of ​​combining a table and a bench in one piece of school furniture on a scientific basis was realized by the Swiss Farner (in Switzerland) and Erisman (in Russia).

Basic requirements for the design of school desks

As vrtorg.ru notes, among all school furniture, the most stringent requirements are imposed on the desk.

We list the main requirements for the design of a school desk.

1. Moderate comfort: Comfortable but not relaxed. Sitting at a desk selected for height, the student takes the most comfortable position that does not interfere with his physical development. At the same time, this position does not allow you to relax as much as possible, because the study room is not a place to sleep.

2. Safety. The “correct” desk should not have protruding corners and fasteners that increase the risk of bruises and abrasions. The immobility of the table and bench relative to each other also reduces the likelihood of injury (for example, sitting at a desk, you cannot fall, swinging, like on a chair).

3. Simple and strong structure, easy maintenance. A child should use a desk, and everyone knows how quickly children can break everything, while personally “earning” a lot of bumps and abrasions for themselves! That is why a good school desk is furniture with a large margin of safety. And even if it has moving parts (for example, hinged covers at the bottom of the tabletop or the tabletop is fully adjustable in tilt height), the connections must be strong and as safe as possible.

4. Providing the student with sufficient mobility. Surely, each of us has been in a situation where, while sitting at a table, he found that it was difficult for him to get up, leave the table and sit down again (for this you have to make serious efforts, squeeze through, disturb those sitting next to you, and sometimes something move, so as not to drop, not break). Of course, in everyday school life this is unacceptable. In the lesson, the student must freely stand up and sit down without leaving the desk, and also go into the aisle between the rows of desks or to the board, without interfering with other students with these actions and without dropping various objects on the floor.

5. Health saving. The design of the school desk allows you to form the correct posture. The posture that the student takes at the desk is the least tiring, and this increases his performance. The correct posture of a student sitting at a desk is also a factor in the prevention of visual impairment. The tilt of the desk cover (tabletop) is most convenient when reading and writing, because, sitting in a comfortable position with a slight tilt of the head forward, the student looks at the lying text at a right angle from a distance of 30-40 cm, and this is necessary to prevent myopia. By the way, it was the hygienist professor, a Russian doctor of Swiss origin, F.F. Erisman in his work "The influence of schools on the origin of myopia" (1870), where he scientifically substantiated the main proportions of the school desk and proposed a design that reduces the risk of myopia in a child.

Requirements for a school desk according to GOSTs are given in the following table (see figure).

The school years that each of us went through do not disappear by themselves from our memory. They, as a monument of acquired primary knowledge, as a reminder of the stages of growing up, always live with us, with many of us, and now and then remind of themselves by opening vivid pictures from childhood in our memories.

I remember very well my first class, the first line, the first teacher and my first acquaintance with the classroom in which I spent the first three years of study. The first thing that caught my attention was a board on the wall with folding halves, one of which was lined under the cells, and the second into an oblique ruler, by analogy with the notebooks in which I learned to write.




The second thing I saw and remembered was a lot of posters with letters, numbers, some illustrations, and all this was as unfamiliar to me as it was interesting. All this I had yet to learn and realize.






Well, the third and strongest impression was the desks. They were strange at first glance, but partly familiar to me from pictures from children's magazines and photographs from the gymnasium where Lenin studied. As it turned out quite recently, these were desks invented in 1870 by the Russian hygienist Fedor Fedorovich Erisman for the most beneficial effect on the health of children for long periods of writing, reading and drawing.

This school desk was originally made single, but at the end of the 19th century, the exiled St. Petersburg student Pyotr Feoktistovich Korotkov improved Erisman's desk, making it a double one, in which form it appeared before me.
The design of these desks is difficult to confuse with any others: an inclined tabletop, the legs of which were connected to the legs of the bench, and created a single structure. The table itself had recesses for pens, as well as a lifting front of the table so that the student could easily get up and sit down. On the sidewall there was a hook for knapsacks and briefcases. The desks differed in size and in the younger grades they were smaller.

Recently, many new designs of school desks have appeared, new technologies for its manufacture, with new hygiene requirements, modern forms and materials of manufacture, but Erisman's desks are the classic school furniture that will remain in memory for a long time, and somewhere in classrooms.

Remember those? Who has kids going to school now? How are things with the parties? What are they sitting on? Uncle Erisman did not have time to forget?

“First of all, do no harm!” This is a principle from the field of medical ethics. Real doctors do not always adhere to it in practice, but in itself the declaration of such a noble intention is a phenomenon in the highest degree gratifying.

There is no such principle in the school system at all. If a graduate wrote an excellent examination paper, then the teacher can rightfully be proud of his professionalism. And the fact that the student has glasses on his nose, and almost a hump on his back - the teacher does not care about this.

At any enterprise, employees are required (at least formally) to comply with safety regulations. From a child at school, they can demand anything, but not careful attitude to their health. And meanwhile, in my deep conviction, all school wisdom taken together is not worth a single diopter of spoiled vision, not a single degree of a curved spine.

There are many reasons why a school will never introduce safety precautions. The school educational process is already so inefficient that any additional "burden" will stop it completely. Even with homeschooling, safety is not easy to follow.

Dad, can I watch cartoons?
- And what letter did you learn to write today?
Silence.
- Did you write at all today?
- No.
- So go ahead, learn how to write the letter "a" first. As soon as you write three beautiful letters in a row, then you can watch cartoons.

The child, extremely annoyed, leaves.

A few minutes later I enter the nursery, and my eyes are met with a heartbreaking sight. The room is dim. The table lamp is off. The child sits with a crooked back, raised shoulders are pressed to the ears, elbows hang in the air, the nose is stuck in the very copy sheet. The writing table is littered with mountains of toys, books, pencils - there was barely a place for copybooks, and then only, from the very edge, on top of some other pieces of paper. The tip of the new capillary pen is already worn out and looks like a bristle brush. It leaves a clumsy, ugly mark on paper.

Drawing letters is such a difficult task for a child that it absorbs all the resources of his attention, and they are no longer enough to monitor the correct posture. Teaching him to keep his posture is not an easy task. To be honest, I don't have ready-made solutions. It remains only to be patient and day after day, month after month, year after year, remind, exhort, admonish. But words do not always work, because the child may not even be aware of all his tightness. Then stroking and tapping are used - sometimes light, sometimes stronger.

At first, you just have to sit nearby and from time to time with your own hands set the naughty parts of the child’s body into the correct position. Such is the lot of parenting. No specialists - neither school teachers, nor leaders of early development groups - will deal with this tedious business. Specialists, hiding behind their specialization, always have the opportunity to choose simpler and more interesting tasks for themselves. The tasks that remain unresolved fall solely on the shoulders of the parents.

Why, then, during a lesson in writing, the child certainly strives to curl up? I think this is because he unconsciously wants to see as best as possible the line he is trying to draw. The closer an object is to the eyes, the more detailed it is perceived. Therefore, the child leans lower and lower until he reaches the limit of visual accommodation. As a result, the eyes are strained and the spine is twisted.

It's no secret that it is the eyes and spine that are most at risk. So, maybe the doctors who are in charge of these organs - ophthalmologists and orthopedists - can offer us some effective safety technique? - Unfortunately no.

I consider myself an expert on myopia prevention and have written extensively on the subject (see the How to Keep Children's Eyes Clear? page and the links provided there). I have no experience in orthopedics. However, after the most cursory acquaintance with the sites of orthopedic subjects, it became clear to me that things are exactly the same with scoliosis as with myopia. The disease is incurable, the majority of the population suffers from it, its causes are unknown, and preventive measures have not been developed. At the same time, private medical centers are cheerfully inviting patients to their place, promising quick relief of the disease with new patented remedies. In short, I did not get the impression that orthopedists deserve more trust than ophthalmologists.

It remains one thing - to call for help common sense. It is most logical to resist the curvature of the spine by straightening it. That's why home children's sports complex just as necessary in learning to write as paper and a pen. I once went to the first sporting goods store I came across and bought the Junior sports complex.

If it may not be so easy to put a child at a desk, then driving him to a sports complex is no problem. Sometimes it is much more difficult to lure him out of there. And yet, at first, I allowed myself some “violence”.

I see you are sitting crouched again, - I said to my eldest son Denis. - Come on, now hang on the top bar - straighten your spine.

Out of habit, hanging on the crossbar is a very difficult task. We started with ten seconds and without the slightest enthusiasm. But gradually, the instincts of distant ancestors woke up in the children, and they became addicted to long “walks” along the upper rungs, hanging on their hands, with the same swaying and antics, like the monkeys in the zoo.

I note that Glen Doman was very much in favor of this method of transportation. Although I consider him a hoaxer, I must still admit that many of his ideas are firmly planted in my mind. The opinion of orthopedic specialists about children's sports complexes is unknown to me. Entering the keywords "orthopedist" and "children's sports complex" into the search engine yielded practically nothing. Perhaps this can be considered a good sign: this indirectly indicates that children who have a sports complex installed in their apartment do not go to see orthopedists.

05/20/07, Leonid Nekin, [email protected]

Guidelines for measures to prevent visual impairment in preschool children and during the years of schooling. Ministry of Health care. USSR, 1958.

A school desk, by its design, should not only ensure the correct seating of children, but encourage them to do so. This is possible only if its size is in good agreement with the growth of the student. The main task in the design of the school desk is to provide such a fit, which requires minimal muscle effort to maintain. If the center of gravity of the body, located in front of the lower thoracic vertebrae, is located above the fulcrum of the seated person, if at the same time part of the body's gravity is transferred to an additional support (the back of the desk), then the position of the body is stable, and muscle efforts are minimal. Under such conditions, it is easier to keep your head straight, and your back muscles get less tired. Therefore, in the presence of constant pedagogical control, children cannot develop the habit of reading and writing with a strong inclination of the torso and head. To achieve this goal, the sizes of desks and their individual parts must correspond to the growth of students.

Currently, school desks are produced in 12 sizes, designed for height groups of children from 110-119 to 170-179 cm. The rear edge of the desk cover should extend 4 cm beyond the front edge of the desk seat (the so-called negative distance of the desk seat). (The distance from the rear edge of the desk cover to the seat (vertically).) This feature of desks is important because it forces students to sit upright. So, the height of the desk and its seat, differentiation and distance are the main elements of the study desk, which must be in line with each other and the height of the students. On fig. 150 these relationships are shown for various numbers of training desks.

Rice. 150. The size of standard school desks is from No. VI to XI.
A - horizontal board of the desk cover; B-C - inclined board (B - fixed part, C - rising part); E - side racks; Zh - runners-bars; G - the back of the bench: in profile and height, it corresponds to the lumbar curve of the spine. On it, the student transfers part of the weight of the body during support. D - bench seat: the shape of the seat corresponds to the shape of the hip. This contributes to a more stable landing of the student. CG - center of gravity; TO is the point of support. If these dimensions are not observed (especially at zero or positive distance) and the height of the desk does not correspond to the height of the student during classes, the position of the center of gravity of the body changes. This leads to excessive muscle effort and general fatigue. In turn, this usually causes the eyes to be too close to the text and predisposes to the formation of an elongated eye shape, i.e., to axial secondary myopia. Proper seating of children in desks should be carried out annually in accordance with their height. (According to A.F. Listov, the desk number can be determined by subtracting the number 5 from the first two growth numbers. For example, with a height of 163 cm, the desk number is 11, with a height of 135 cm, the desk number is 8, etc.)

Rice. 151. The correct landing of a schoolboy when reading and writing.

It is necessary to observe the following rules for proper landing (Fig. 151 a and b): 1. sit straight, tilt your head forward quite a bit; 2. lean back on the back of the desk; 3. keep the torso, head, shoulders parallel to the edge of the desk, without tilting to the right or left. From the chest to the edge of the desk there should be a distance of the width of the palm; 4. put your feet on the floor or on the footrest, bending them at a right or slightly greater angle (100–110°). It is very important that the cover of the study desks is slightly inclined (12–15°). This inclination of the desk lid and a slight inclination of the head make it possible to view separate parts of the text at the same distance, which is impossible without an additional inclination of the head and torso when reading a book located on the table. Therefore, it is desirable that students use music stands or a folding type during homework (Fig. 152),

Rice. 152. Folding music stand for schoolchildren.

or permanent (Fig. 153).

Rice. 153. Permanent desktop music stand for schoolchildren.

The position of the notebook while writing is also of great importance. It depends on what the direction of the handwriting is. The old controversial issue of oblique or straight handwriting has not been resolved to this day (see more on this below). With oblique handwriting, the notebook should lie on the music stand against the middle of the body and obliquely (at an angle of 30-40 °) in relation to the edge of the desk or table. When writing obliquely, it is not very easy to maintain the correct position of the shoulders and torso (parallel to the edge of the table). The result is an inclination of the torso, which entails lateral curvature of the spine. With a straight handwriting, the notebook should lie against the body without any inclination in relation to the edge of the desk or table. When moving from one line to another, you need to move the notebook up so that the distance from the eyes does not change. In the Soviet school, oblique writing with a slope of 10–15 ° is generally accepted, which allows you to use the advantages of both oblique and direct writing. It is necessary to teach children not only the correct landing, but also the correct position of books and notebooks during classes.

how to make a desk less comfortable, without a back, but by yourself.

Dimensions, height and back are important. Correct and incorrect seating at school tables (from left to right):
with a low table and a positive seating distance;
with a low table and a low bench;
at the high table
and at a table of appropriate size.

The spine in an adult has three curvatures. One of them - the cervical - has a bulge forward, the second - the thoracic - is bulging back, the third - the lumbar curvature is directed forward. In a newborn, the spinal column has almost no bends. The first cervical curvature is formed in a child already when he begins to hold his head on his own. The second in order is the lumbar curvature, which also faces forward with a bulge when the child begins to stand and walk. The thoracic curvature, which is convexly backward, is the last to form, and by the age of 3-4 years, the child's spine acquires curves characteristic of an adult, but they are not yet stable. Due to the great elasticity of the spine, these curves are smoothed out in children in the supine position. Only gradually, with age, the curvature of the spine becomes stronger, and by the age of 7, the constancy of the cervical and thoracic curvature is established, and by the onset of puberty, the lumbar curvature.
...
These features of the development of the spine of a child and adolescent cause its slight compliance and possible curvature in case of incorrect body positions and prolonged stress, especially unilateral. In particular, curvature of the spine occurs when sitting incorrectly on a chair or at a desk, especially in cases where the school desk is improperly arranged and does not correspond to the height of children; Curvature of the spine can be in the form of a curvature of the cervical and thoracic parts of the spine to the side (scoliosis). Scoliosis of the thoracic spine most often occurs at school age as a consequence of improper seating. Antero-posterior curvature of the thoracic spine (kyphosis) is also observed as a result of prolonged incorrect seating. Curvature of the spine can also be in the form of excessive curvature in the lumbar region (lordosis). That is why school hygiene attaches so much importance to a properly arranged desk and imposes strict requirements on the seating of children and adolescents ...

These were Stalinist sanitary norms. But they were deftly revised when the situation in the country changed.

In the 1970s and 1980s, as part of a covert creeping sabotage, Erisman's child-friendly and practical school desks were replaced with flat tables with separate chairs.

This was done at the highest level by the Ministry of Education on the basis of the following alleged "study". The text of the commissioned "research" was accidentally saved in one place on the net. (How the school curriculum changed after 1953, read in other forum topics)

Here it is, a long commissioned study, but for the sake of history it must be left.

Posture changes in students when using different types of school furniture

As you know, elementary school students (especially first grade students) experience a large static load during classes, because for a long time, and sometimes for the entire lesson, they have to sit relatively still. If students take the wrong posture while sitting, the load becomes even greater, which leads to a number of undesirable consequences (fatigue, visual impairment, incorrect posture). Incorrect sitting posture may be due, in particular, to the use of unsuitable (in size, design) school furniture.

Many authors point to a certain correlative relationship between the poor posture of students and their incorrect fit, due to the use of unsuitable furniture in schools.

In school practice, until recent years, of the various types of school furniture used in classrooms, the Erisman-type desk, the dimensions of which were legalized by GOST, is the most common.

The dimensions of the main elements of the desk and the fixed distance between the table and the bench provide the best physiological and hygienic conditions for students to work. When exercising at a desk, the following are provided: direct landing, which least of all causes asymmetry in the tone of the muscles of the body, and, consequently, deviations in the position of the spinal column; constant distance from the eyes to the object in question; favorable conditions for breathing and circulation.

In connection with the organization of schools with an extended day and the widespread introduction of self-service, educational furniture is required that is as portable and mobile as possible, which allows you to quickly and easily transform the classroom.

In a number of new schools, instead of desks, tables and chairs are used not only to equip the classrooms of the upper grades, but also as the main school furniture in the primary grades. At the same time, the question of the expediency of replacing desks with tables and chairs in primary school is still open.

The absence of a rigid connection between the table and the chair allows students to arbitrarily change the seating distance. Changing the sitting distance to zero and positive leads to the fact that when writing, students take the wrong posture and cannot use the back as an additional support. This increases the already large static load experienced by the body during prolonged sitting.

Changing the distance from negative to positive causes abrupt changes in posture: the center of gravity shifts, the muscle effort necessary to maintain the body in the correct position increases, which allows the student to work without much stress both during the 45-minute lesson and all day. In addition, changing the distance can lead to the adoption of a reclining posture. Prolonged sitting in an inclined position increases the static load, causes congestion in the joints and muscles, and leads to compression of the internal organs. Students are forced to use the table top as an additional support.

Squeezing of the abdominal organs creates the preconditions for slowing down venous blood flow, leads to a decrease in juice secretion and poor movement of food masses in the gastrointestinal tract.

In a person in a sitting position, with a sharp forward tilt, the excursion of the chest decreases, which reduces pulmonary ventilation.

According to G. F. Vyhodov, many students who lean on the edge of the table during chest exercises have a decrease in the minute volume of pulmonary ventilation (up to 75% compared to the level of pulmonary ventilation in the standing position) and the level of blood oxygenation.

In the available literature, there are no studies aimed at studying the effect of sitting at tables and chairs on the working capacity, the state of the musculoskeletal system, and the vision of elementary school students. Therefore, the question of the permissibility of using tables and chairs required a special study.

First of all, it was necessary to obtain initial data on the state of posture and vision of primary school students, whose classrooms are equipped with various furniture, and establish weather observations for these students.

It was also important to find out whether classes at tables and chairs (ceteris paribus) are more tiring for elementary school students than classes at a desk.

The initial data on the state of posture and vision were taken from students in grades I-II of two schools in Moscow - school No. 702, equipped with desks, and school No. 139, equipped with tables and chairs. Follow-up examinations of these students were carried out twice a year - in autumn and spring. In total, 1100 students were under observation, which were distributed as follows.

In addition, in school No. 702, under the conditions of a natural experiment, students of one first grade in the dynamics of the school day were studied: general performance - by the method of dosing work in time using correction tables and the latent period of the visual-motor reaction - using the Witte chronoscope.

During the entire school day, actography was carried out in the same class, which made it possible to objectively record the number of movements made by students when studying at a desk or at a table and chair.

Pneumatic sensors were installed on the seats, chair backs and benches, on the inner surface of the table covers. Changes in pressure in the system, arising from each movement of the student, were recorded on the actograph tape. The actograph motor provided a constant tape drive speed of 2.5 cm/min. The number of furniture corresponded to the main height dimensions of the students' bodies. The children under supervision were questioned during the lesson by the teacher along with other students, however, they answered without getting up from their seats, which was dictated by the need to exclude from the records on actograms those movements that are not directly related to training sessions in the sitting position. All studied students of the first year of study had an orderly daily routine. We got up in the morning at 7-7 o'clock. 30 min., went to bed at 20-21 o'clock, during the day there was sufficient time in the air, regularly ate at home, at school during the big break they received a hot breakfast. During the observation period, all students had time and moved to the second grade.

Before the start of the experiment, the children were explained why it is necessary to observe the correct landing, special attention was paid to maintaining a negative sitting distance. In addition, during the lesson, the students received instructions from the teacher about maintaining the correct fit.

It is known that with an increase in fatigue, the student is increasingly distracted from the pedagogical process, often changing the position of the body. Thus, according to L. I. Alexandrova, the number of students who are distracted from classes gradually increases from the first to the fourth lesson and reaches 70% in the last hour of classes.

Such "motor restlessness" of children is then often replaced by lethargy, drowsiness, which is a manifestation of protective inhibition that develops in the neutral nervous system.

It can be assumed that in connection with the additional static load, due to the possibility of an arbitrary change in the sitting distance, the fatigue of the body under the influence of educational work will develop more intensively.

The described experiment was started in the second half of the academic year, which made it possible to avoid many different factors that affect the motor activity of first-year students during the lesson, such as: different levels of literacy of children at the beginning of the year, their lack of habit of diligent studies and instability of attention . In the second half of the year, all the studied groups of students were able to read fluently and count well (they were able to perform 4 arithmetic operations within 20). The discipline in the class was good. The experiment involved 25 students, each of them was studied during the entire school day and school week. Relative constancy of air-thermal and light regimes was maintained in the class. All students participating in the experiment sat in turn, first at their desks, and then at a table and a chair adapted for actography. This allowed us to eliminate the influence of the individual characteristics of each student on the indicators of upright stability.

Upright stability. The stability of upright standing was determined using a stabilograph as follows: the student stood on the platform of the stabilograph so that the feet were located within the contours indicated on the platform. The platform of the stabilograph is the receiving part of the device; it is made of two steel plates, between which sensors are placed at the corners. An increase or decrease in the load on the elastic sensor entails deformation of the latter. These deformations are transformed into changes in electrical resistance.

The method of stabilography was used as a kind of "functional test", revealing the state of the motor analyzer.

In the sitting position, the center of gravity of the body is located between the IX and X thoracic vertebrae, and the fulcrum is in the region of the ischial tubercles of the ilium. Since the center of gravity of the torso is higher than its fulcrum, the student's body is in a state of unstable balance. To maintain the trunk in a straight position, the cervical muscles, long and wide muscles of the back, and rhomboid muscles are involved.

These muscle groups are in a state of activity when sitting for a long time. In the studies of A. Lunderfold and B. Akerblom, it is indicated that with an inclined position of the body, in a sitting position, the bioelectric potentials of all back muscle groups sharply increase. In a sitting position with the wrong distance of the seat of the chair, the child's body just assumes an inclined position.

The vibrations of the body while standing are of a very complex nature. The center of gravity can change its position under the influence of respiratory movements, the activity of the heart, the movement of fluids inside the body, etc.

Almost all afferent systems take part in the process of standing as a reflex act: muscular sense, vision, vestibular apparatus, pressoreceptors and tactile endings, although it has not yet been clarified which of the mentioned sense organs plays a leading role. In any case, it is difficult to imagine that this complex reflex act does not reflect the processes of fatigue developing in the child's body. It is known from the literature that graphic recording of body vibrations has long been used in order to study the influence of various environmental factors on the body.

Supervision of student boarding. In school No. 139, where the classrooms are equipped with tables and chairs, in grades I-III, a special observation was made of the posture of students during classes. Throughout the lesson, the observer recorded how often the students changed the position of the chair in relation to the table. For these purposes, lines were drawn on the floor of the classroom according to the location of the chair in the positive, zero and negative seating distances, which made it possible to simultaneously observe 10-20 students. The position of the chair relative to the table was noted every 5 minutes in the lessons of writing, arithmetic, reading, labor and other activities. The alternation of lessons every day of the week was the same.

Maintaining distance. Registration of the position of the chair in relation to the edge of the table made it possible to obtain data indicating that the majority of students maintain a negative distance during the lesson. In the lessons of writing, arithmetic and reading, the number of students keeping the correct distance remains the same all the time. Only in labor lessons (sculpting, sewing) does the sitting distance change as it approaches zero, which is directly related to the nature of the labor lesson. From Year 1 to Year 3, the number of students who maintain the correct chair-sitting distance increases.

Change in restlessness. Actotraphy data made it possible to trace the dynamics of "motor anxiety" of students during training sessions when they use desks, tables and chairs as the main educational equipment.

On each day of the week, students sitting at a desk, table and chair made the same number of movements, the existing differences are insignificant. In both compared groups, the number of these movements increases by the end of the week. Moreover, in the first three days of the week, the number of movements made remains approximately at the same level, the existing differences are unreliable.

The absence of significant differences between the averages made it possible to combine all the data for three days and obtain a single initial value of the number of movements, typical for the first half of the training week. When comparing the initial average and averages typical for the following days of the week (Thursday, Friday, Saturday), we received data indicating that the number of movements from Thursday to Saturday increases significantly. This phenomenon is probably the result of increasing fatigue towards the end of the week.

As already noted, there was no significant difference in the number of movements made by students, depending on the type of furniture used, both during one school day and throughout the week. This allows us to state that the number of movements made by students from the beginning to the end of the week increases with the same intensity regardless of the type of furniture used for classes. In addition to recording the change in the load falling on the pneumatic sensor of the seat of the desk or chair, the load on other sensors was simultaneously recorded, fixing the movements associated with the use of the back of the bench (chair) and the cover of the desk (table) as additional supports.

Processing of the records in the leads from the pneumosensors located under the table cover showed that the movements in their frequency and amplitude remained the same throughout the lesson and did not change significantly from lesson to lesson. The nature of these movements was determined by the work of the students: dipping a pen into an inkwell, laying out the alphabet, sticks, etc. In the records from the sensors of the back (bench and chair), movements with a large amplitude (over 4 mm) were taken into account. Fluctuations of such an amplitude are associated with a sharp deformation of the pneumatic sensors at the moment when the child leaned back on the bench or chair. Such movements characterized periods of "relative immobility" in time.

Actography data suggest that a more frequent change in posture is the most favorable way to relieve the developing fatigue as a result of the additional load associated with prolonged sitting.

The types of furniture we study equally provide students with the opportunity to frequently change their body position when sitting.

General performance. Indicators of the "general" working capacity of first-grade students did not change significantly during the school day.

The dynamics of performance indicators of visual-motor reactions of students studying at tables and chairs was the same as for those studying at a desk.

The absence of significant changes in the indicators of the so-called "general" working capacity and the magnitude of the latent period of the visual-motor reaction in students from the beginning of the school day to the end of it, apparently, is explained by the hygienically correct organization of the pedagogical process: building lessons according to the "combined" type, including classes at the time of a decrease in the efficiency of rhythm, labor, physical education - a qualitatively different activity compared to classes in general education subjects.

Apparently, against the background of a rational daily routine, a small number of lessons, a hygienically correctly organized pedagogical process, the static effort expended by the body to maintain a straight or slightly inclined position of the body is not excessive for a seven-year-old child and does not affect his performance.

Stabilography was carried out for students of grades I-III in addition to actographic studies.

An analysis of the stabilographic data showed that the average amplitude of the displacement of the projection of the general center of gravity in students of grades I-II and III changed significantly from the beginning of lessons to the end of them, and for the same students studying for the compared types of furniture, these changes were unidirectional, without significant differences.

The frequency of oscillations for a certain period of time and the ratio of the amplitude of oscillations of the projection of the general center of gravity of students in a standing position with open and closed eyes did not change significantly.

In the fluctuations of the projection of the general center of gravity, students show certain age differences: the average amplitude of the deviation of the projection of the general center of gravity decreases with age.

A number of authors point out that the stability of a person when standing upright changes with age. Back in 1887, G. Hindsdale established, after conducting a study on 25 girls aged 7-13 years, that the amplitude of body oscillations in children is greater than in adults.
At a later time, many authors noted age-related changes in uprightness, and at a younger age, either the oscillations were large in their amplitude, or the length of the ataxiometric curve increased. The stability of standing upright increases significantly in children from 5 to 7 years old. According to V. A. Krapivintseva, the amplitude and frequency of body oscillations decrease with age (girls from 7 to 15 years old).

At the age of 7 to 10 years, body stability during upright standing is the smallest, up to 11 years it increases slightly, and only at 14-15 years this indicator reaches a level close to that of adults. The increase in upright stability from younger to older age is associated with an increase in the area of ​​​​support (the length of the feet becomes larger with age), the general center of gravity gradually shifts from the level of the IX-X thoracic vertebrae to the level of the second sacral vertebra. At school age, the functional capabilities of the muscles change, strength and endurance increase, and at the age of 14-15 these changes basically end. According to L. K. Semenova, the muscles of the back and abdominals, on which the static load mainly falls during sitting, are finally formed only by the age of 12-14. The gradual formation of the muscular apparatus increases the stability of standing upright.

V. V. Petrov pointed out the dependence of upright standing on the state of health and mood of the subject. L. V. Latmanizova found that in people with deviations in the state of the nervous system, the frequency of body oscillations is higher than in healthy people. E. Kushke noted that when concentration of attention while standing, body vibrations decrease, but then fatigue sets in faster and the amplitude of vibrations increases. A. G. Sukharev studied the process of fatigue during the work of high school students at a drafting table of various heights and found that the amplitude of body oscillations increases with incorrect postures, which contribute to a rapid increase in fatigue. Analyzing the data obtained by us in the experiment, we came to the conclusion that the fact of an increase in the amplitude of fluctuations in the general center of gravity in students from the beginning of lessons to the end of them indicates an increase in the processes of fatigue during the school day. Moreover, given the complex reflex nature of upright posture, it can be assumed that this indicator reflects the state of not only the muscular apparatus, but also the higher parts of the nervous system. The absence of significant differences in stabilographic indices for the same students studying at desks, tables and chairs suggests that the compared types of educational furniture do not have a different effect on primary school students. This fact is consistent with the data that the vast majority of students maintain the correct chair seat distance.

An increase in the amplitude of fluctuations in the general center of gravity among students from the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson and the absence of differences in this indicator when using different types of furniture is clearly seen on individual stabilograms.

Boy Vanya K., 8 years old, student of the 1st grade, average physical development, average academic performance. When studying at a desk, a stabilogram was recorded before and after lessons. In all stabilograms, first there is a recording of fluctuations in the general center of gravity when standing with eyes open (30 seconds), then with eyes closed (30 seconds). After classes, there is an increase in the frequency and amplitude of oscillations. With the same student, when studying at a table and a chair, we see similar changes from the beginning of classes to the end of them. Differences in these indicators during the classes for the compared types of furniture are not noted. This is confirmed by the processing of all data by methods of mathematical statistics.

Posture. In schools equipped with various types of furniture, special attention was paid to the state of posture of students. Posture was assessed by a subjective-descriptive method, as well as objectively, by changing the depth of the cervical and lumbar curves of the spine. The deviation of the depth of the cervical and lumbar curves from the average values ​​taken as the norm for the corresponding age and sex groups was regarded as an indication of posture disorders.

Comparison of the results of observation showed that 30% of students entering the 1st grade already have certain posture disorders. Similar data were obtained by A. G. Zeitlin and G. V. Terentyeva. In the group of children with impaired posture, rickets is noted in a significant number of cases. During the three years of study, the frequency of postural disorders increases somewhat, reaching 40% in grade III. For students studying in schools with comparable types of educational furniture, these changes are unidirectional.

Conclusions:

The above facts show that:

1) the constant use of tables and chairs in elementary school does not contribute to more frequent violations of posture in students;

2) the use of tables and chairs as educational furniture does not worsen the usual dynamics (hourly, daily and weekly) of changes in the functional state of the central nervous system of students;

3) the results of all studies and observations presented in this work allow us to consider it acceptable to equip the classrooms of elementary school students with tables and chairs, as well as desks;

4) when using tables and chairs, the teacher must constantly pay special attention to the observance by students while writing and reading of the negative distance of the seat of the chair.

A school desk is the main equipment in the classroom, without a school desk and a blackboard it is impossible to properly organize the school process. School desk- one of the best school memories, an absolutely lively and individual participant in all school events, she is like a good school friend. But this is not only a subject of childhood and youth memories, but also a serious invention.

Erisman's correct school desk was invented in 1870. Famous Russian hygienist Erisman F.F. first came up with a single school desk, and at the end of the 19th century an exiled St. Petersburg student Korotkov P.F. improved Erisman's desk, making it a double desk, for which he received a silver medal at an industrial exhibition and a diploma of invention. And the first analogue of such furniture in the form of a postovets appeared back in the Renaissance, then it was transformed into desk or secretary, and later - in the school desk.

The correct arrangement of Erisman's school desk creates good conditions for the student to write, read, and draw.

1. The design of the desk allows the student to sit at it in the most comfortable position that does not interfere with the normal development of the child.

2. The school desk does not have sharp corners, protruding parts of fasteners, so it will not cause damage to the child.

3. The school desk has a simple and at the same time durable design, so it is not difficult for a child to use it, and for an adult to serve it.

A student at a school desk does not interfere with his neighbor, he can get up, answering a lesson, without leaving his desk.

The desk was created according to the proportions of the child, at the school desk the posture with a straight posture is the least tiring and contributes to the student's greater efficiency, convenient for writing and reading.

The tilt of the desk cover allows you to see the text in a book or notebook at a right angle, which has a positive effect on the student's vision. In addition, the design of the school desk provides for the maximum correct distance from the student's eyes to the text in a notebook or book of 30-40 cm.

In Tsarist Russia, a unique transforming school desk was also invented, in which the height of the table and the angle of the table top change. Such a school desk has helped to maintain correct posture and good eyesight for many generations of schoolchildren.

At the end of the sixties of the last century, desks were invented in the form of tables with separate chairs, but for some reason they pass by our memory.

And here Erisman classic school desk, in my opinion, should still be the main attribute of any school, especially elementary.

Unfortunately, in my archive there was not a single good image with a general view of the class with desks, I had to search on the Internet. My soul was touched by a photo of a Moscow school class, which reminded me so much of our rural school: worn floors, high painted panels, three rows of desks, some with stains of purple ink. When the bell rang and the teacher said: “The lesson is over!”, there was a friendly roar of desk covers being thrown back and then the clatter of students running out of the classroom into the corridor. What touched me was the look of the shoes of the capital's children: it is clear that both we and they did not have the concept of "replacement shoes" at that time - what they came to school in was walking around it all day. In boots or felt boots it was still all right, but in rubber boots it was a bit heavy. But who remembers it now? - survived everything. However, we still commemorate our school desks with a kind word and tell our grandchildren about them with nostalgic pride.

Being engaged in home comfort and interior, we sometimes forget about our children.

Collecting them for school, we buy them a desktop or desk, which we find in the nearest store or order in the online store. The main criterion in choosing drawers for storage is more. Then the “child” sits down to do homework, and we tell him: “sit up straight”, “you will break your eyes”, “you will make a hump”, well, and so on, depending on the parent’s imagination. All this is correct. It's just that a child cannot sit at a table with a straight top without bending over. A bit of history: The school desk was designed not by anyone, but by Erisman himself - the famous Russian hygienist of the nineteenth century , whose name is borne by several institutes. Such desks with an inclined work plane, backrest and footrest help to maintain the correct posture. And the eyes are less strained. In The Influence of Schools on the Origin of Myopia (1870), he pointed out the increase in the number of myopic children and the increase in the degree of myopia among students as the end of school approached. Having revealed the causes of this phenomenon, F. F. Erisman developed measures to prevent myopia and hygienic requirements for lighting classrooms. He then proposed the design of the desk, which later became known as the "Erisman desk", determined the basic requirements for the design of the desk and its dimensions. F. F. Erisman summarized the results of these studies in the project of the so-called exemplary classroom. She looked something like this:She is well known to the older generation, she has some inconveniences, but the main thing is that she does not spoil the child's posture. Then new desks came, but the main thing remained - the angle of the table top.

German school desk. Then time passed... These desks are gone... Osteochondrosis and myopia have become occupational diseases among schoolchildren. Fortunately, times change sometimes. According to the new SANPIN, the tabletop of a school desk should have from 12 to 15 degrees of inclination. Sitting behind it, our children just technically will not be able to "hump back". This is already laid anatomically and invented a century ago. All this inspired me on September 1 and the back of my child sitting at the box office. Having studied history, new school standards, I made a prototype. While it does not have a mandatory coating (dark color + matte varnish), something may have to be added. The main working construct, since completely different materials were used. Material - birch plywood. Intended coating - stain, polyurethane varnish. Height adjustable. Under the tabletop is a drawer for storing notebooks and books. Will be supplemented with a stopper or a gas lift.

A child working at such a desk gets tired less, and natural material gives warmth and a feeling of comfort. At the moment, "field" tests have shown the full performance of this desk.
These are already in-line options, the finish is walnut stain, primer, Sayerlak polyurethane varnish matte.

The school desk is one of the best school memories. Each desk is an absolutely lively and individual participant in all school events, it is like a good school friend. A lot of interesting memories in school life are connected with the desk. Each of us remembers his school desk to the smallest detail, to every inscription and speck on its tabletop. Meanwhile, this is not only a subject of childhood and youth memories, but also a serious invention.

A school desk is the main equipment in the classroom, without a school desk and a blackboard it is impossible to properly organize the school process.

Erisman's correct school desk was invented in 1870, and today it is returning to us again. The famous Russian hygienist Erisman F.F. first he came up with a single-seat school desk, and at the end of the 19th century, an exiled St. Petersburg student Korotkov P.F. improved Erisman's desk, making it double, for which he received a silver medal at an industrial exhibition and a diploma of invention. And the first analogue of such furniture in the form of a desk appeared back in the Renaissance, then it was transformed into a desk or secretary, and only later - into a school desk.

The correct arrangement of Erisman's school desk creates good conditions for the student to write, read, and draw.

1. The design of the school desk allows the student to sit at it in the most comfortable position that does not interfere with the normal development of the child.

2. The school desk does not have sharp corners, protruding parts of fasteners, so it will not cause damage to the child.

3. The school desk has a simple and at the same time durable design, so it is not difficult for a child to use it, and for an adult to serve it.

A student at a school desk does not interfere with his neighbor, he can get up, answering a lesson, without leaving his desk.

The design of the school desk is such that it allows you to form the correct posture, since the desk is created according to the proportions of the child, at the school desk the posture with a straight posture is the least tiring and contributes to the student's greater efficiency, convenient for writing and reading.

The tilt of the desk cover allows you to see the text in a book or notebook at a right angle, which has a positive effect on the student's vision. In addition, the design of the school desk provides for the maximum correct distance from the student's eyes to the text in a notebook or book of 30-40 cm.

In Tsarist Russia, a unique transforming school desk was also invented, in which the height of the table and the angle of the table top change. Such a school desk has helped to maintain correct posture and good eyesight for many generations of schoolchildren. Previously, these desks were used only in elite schools because of their high cost, but today their production is cheaper, and they are widely used in Russian schools.

Recently, there have been many new school desk designs.

But Erisman's classic school desk is still the main attribute of any school.

Introduction.

Furniture for the school in all its diversity did not appear in history immediately. The history of school furniture began with the most necessary subject for classes - school desk . Although many, out of habit, call the tables standing in the classroom desks. But for more than 100 years, the desk has been a companion of any student from the first grade to receiving a matriculation certificate!

In the schools of antiquity, students were not supposed to have any special desks and tables. Schoolchildren of the times of Ancient Hellas or Rome wrote on a wax-covered tablet, attaching it to their laps.

In the Middle Ages and later, all students under the supervision of a teacher sat at the same table. In some countries they sat on chairs, but in Rus', as a rule, on wooden benches. Then schoolchildren began to study on the so-called postavets - a table with a folding inclined board, at which they worked while standing. At school, these supplies did not take root, but over time they turned into a stationery "desk" (it can be seen in the drawings and paintings of XIX century) and a secretary well known to you (for which, however, they work while sitting on a chair).

But by the middle of the nineteenth

The first to come up with the idea of ​​new school furniture was the famous Russian scientist, professor of Moscow University, who specialized in human hygiene, Fedor Fedorovich Erisman ... The first attempt to somehow solve the problem of the correct fit of the student in the classroom was successful approximately at the beginning of the second half XIX century, when it was prescribed by the Highest Decree - in all schools to use school desks of a single sample.

Target: to investigate and compare the degree of influence of the form and type of a school desk on the health of a schoolchild.

Tasks :

Study the literature on the topic;

To get acquainted with the history of the origin of the school desk and its improvement;

To acquaint with the history of the emergence of a school desk in Russia;

To identify the advantages and disadvantages of a school desk;

Consider the types of school desks in different countries of the world;

To analyze the nature of the impact on the health of school students;

Show the change in the school desk over time and its modern improvement.

Research methods : analysis of literature on the research problem, sociological survey, statistical data, use of Internet resources, adjustment in the design of desks.

Hypothesis : the influence of the design of a school desk on the health of a student.

Object of study : students of MBOU "Lyantor secondary school No. 3".

Subject of study: school desk.

Practical significance of the project : this project helps to find out the importance of proper school furniture in the formation of a healthy child's body, the influence of a school desk on the prevention of children's scoliosis and the development of early myopia in schoolchildren, the formation of correct posture; shows how the convenience of a school desk affects the perseverance of the child, his ability to better absorb educational material.

Chapter 1. The history of the school desk.

1. Erisman's desk

By the middle of the XIX centuries, both teachers and doctors began to think - how does sitting for several hours at a table not adapted for long classes affect the health of a schoolchild? After all, such an uncomfortable position is very harmful to the spine! And yes, it hurts your eyesight...

The first to come up with the idea of ​​new school furniture was the famous Russian scientist, professor at Moscow University, who specialized in human hygiene, Fedor Fedorovich Erisman.

But Erisman's desks were initially made single. On the one hand, this is good: no one could write off anyone, no one interfered with anyone. Only now such desks were quite expensive and took up a lot of space in the classroom. Therefore, in most schools of the 20th century, desks for two were used.

The first attempt to somehow solve the problem of the correct landing of a student in the classroom was crowned with success approximately at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, when it was prescribed by the Highest Decree - in all schools to use school desks of a single sample.
These desks existed without changes until the second half of the 20th century, our great-great-grandmothers and great-great-grandfathers and all living people, born at least until the 50th year, sat on them! A rare example of a successful product design, comparable in distribution to a Kalashnikov assault rifle! But most of today's young furniture makers simply do not remember this desk. It didn't happen.
It was a powerful structure, made entirely of solid oak, individual parts, which had a thickness of up to 40, and even up to 60 mm.

This double school desk included two longitudinal runners, on which a seat with a back was attached and an inclined tabletop with two folding flaps-lids, under which there was a shelf for briefcases and a thick bar-footboard. The farthest edge of the tabletop from the person sitting at the desk was made in the form of a narrow horizontal surface, on which there were two holes where porcelain inkwells were inserted, and two grooves for a pen or pencil.

The entire bottom of the desk was painted with natural and harmless oil paint in light brown, and the tabletop was painted in black, which changed to light green only in the early 60s of the last century. All the details from which the desk was glued did not have any sharp edges and corners. It is also interesting that the hinges of the hinged lids broke quite often, but were not sold anywhere, and their manufacture served as a wonderful activity for the boys at labor lessons!

At such a desk, the student could sit in only one, only in the most convenient position for him, like today's astronaut in an individual lodgement. This was facilitated by the desired height of the backrest, which supported exactly the lower back, the correctly calculated level of the height of the footrest, the exact distance to it from the front edge of the seat, the correct angle of inclination of the tabletop, etc. And in order for the desks, as they say now, to grow with the student, they were produced in four sizes.
That is, already a century and a half ago, the safety of the child was put at the forefront!
Everything was thought out and tested, fully complied with the requirements. So, why did these subjects, so safe and preserving the health of children and adolescents, suddenly disappear from our schools? Why are they preserved only in single copies, and even then, in museums? There is only one single class fully equipped with these desks - in the building of the Simbirsk gymnasium, where Lenin and Kerensky also studied!

1.2 Drawback of Erisman's desk
The fact is that such a desk has several significant drawbacks. One of them - it was possible to get up from behind it only by opening the lid, like the hatch of a tank turret. And the teachers every time, on the first of September, again and again trained the classes to get up from their desks without creating a deafening roar. If a student called to the board stood up, then the textbook or his large notebook was moved forward with the raised lid, clung to the inkwell, and all its contents poured onto the back of the person sitting in front. Moreover, purple ink, then usually reduced with ammonia or ammonia-anise cough drops. But the main difficulty was cleaning the room. After all, desks connected in one longitudinal row and linked together by the protruding ends of their skids are an impregnable structure, almost inaccessible to a broom and a rag. After all, when, after the revolution, the position of cleaners was liquidated, and Chekhov's slogan came into effect: "purely not where there is ...", - cleaning was entrusted to the schoolchildren themselves. As a result, the real cleaning of the floor began to be carried out only in the summer - with its new painting ... Such desks with an inclined work plane, back and footrest help to maintain the correct posture. And the eyes are less strained.Since the students grew older from year to year, desks were made for four age groups. Over time, such desks acquired holes for bookends and other devices, and began to be produced in more diverse sizes ...

1.3 Desk of the 60s.

In the early 60s of the last century, when housing construction finally began, another slogan was announced: “To a new apartment - with new furniture!”. New desks were needed! But the state could not cope with the huge costs of their complete replacement, and the country simply does not grow enough oak to produce millions of new desks at once.

It was then that they came up with cheap tables on tubular metal legs, with a side chair, which during cleaning could be put upside down - sitting on the table top. In addition, this design helped the teacher at the beginning of the school day to immediately see who is not at school today. Then, during the "thaw", everyone really wanted to somehow move away from this seat in the classroom in a strict pose, in a row, back of the head to the back of the head. I dreamed about the American experience, when the students seemed to be engaged in a dialogue with the teacher, sitting at individual tables freely placed in the classroom. But the harsh reality is that the lack of teachers and school premises soon again forced the students to sit two by two at the newly designed tables, still lined up in three rows in the classroom.
Hygienists were immediately horrified by this furniture, back in the 60s, only once seeing how our student sat crookedly behind it.

1.4 Modern school desk.

School furniture is not displayed in stores. It is ordered and bought in bulk. Doing it is beneficial. But in order to evaluate what our manufacturers offer today, it is enough to go through the pages of the Internet.

The choice of school furniture is extremely poor. It is noticeable that its design was carried out by home craftsmen, who not only did not read the current standards, but did not even know how a desk differs from a table with a chair - now everything that is intended for the student to sit is indiscriminately called a desk.

All school furniture is similar to the one that was made in the 60s, only it has become even worse - for some reason it has become unfashionable to fulfill even the elementary requirements of the standards. Instead of durable, multilayer plastic, a laminated board is used, furniture has sharp corners, there is no slope at the tabletops, their height is not adjustable, the height dimensions of children and adolescents are not taken into account, the chair is not adjustable in height, it cannot be fixed at the desired distance from table, no footrests, armrests. Poisonous secretions from chipboard, inhaled by schoolchildren for all ten years of their studies, do not even want to ask what kind of health our future generations will have. It is enough to look at the statistics of military registration and enlistment offices when drafting into the army ...
It seems that those who develop these products are simply taking revenge on the younger ones for their past ten years of torment at school at an uncomfortable and dangerous table.

For more than 100 years, Erisman's desks have stood in all classes of our schools, gradually improving, but not changing the basic idea. But in the 1970s, they decided to “improve” school furniture: after all, it’s a mess when modern children are forced to sit at desks invented back in the time of Alexander II! However, it turned out to be more difficult to create something fundamentally new than to adopt a government decree on this matter. That is why the good old desks were simply replaced with ordinary stationery tables and chairs. Such furniture does not contribute to the preservation of the health of schoolchildren, and even more so - to the growth of academic performance. True, there are advanced schools that can afford to purchase new, practical and medically correct furniture.

But the design idea does not stand still. There are many projects (developments and even real samples) of the most modern school desks, which not only meet all the requirements of medical science, but also include many achievements in science and technology. Desks that grow with students, desks with built-in computers, and even interactive touchscreen desks designed by scientists at Durham University that combine keyboard and display functions. What the student “writes” at such a desk can immediately “appear” without difficulty on the blackboard or at the teacher’s table. The introduction of all new technology is hindered by only one thing: such desks are still very expensive. And yet, let's hope that you still have to sit at such wonderful desks. After all, time and scientists work for you!

1. SanPiN norms.

German school desk.

Being engaged in home comfort and interior, we sometimes forget about our children. Collecting them for school, we buy them a desktop or desk, which we find in the nearest store or order in the online store. The main criterion in choosing drawers for storage is more. Then the “child” sits down to do homework, and we tell him: “sit up straight”, “you will break your eyes”, “you will make a hump”, well, and so on, depending on the parent’s imagination. All this is correct. It's just that a child cannot sit at a table with a straight top without bending over.

Fortunately, times change sometimes. According to the new SanPiN, the tabletop of a school desk should have a slope of 12 to 15 degrees. Sitting behind it, our children just technically will not be able to "hunch over". It is already anatomically laid down and invented a century ago. .

Material - birch plywood. Intended coating - stain, polyurethane varnish. Height adjustment. Under the tabletop is a drawer for storing notebooks and books. It will be supplemented with a stopper or a gas lift.

A child working at such a desk gets tired less, and natural material gives warmth and a feeling of comfort. At the moment, "field" tests have shown the full performance of this desk.

Chapter 2. School desks in different countries of the world.

2.1 Peruvian school.

2.2 School of Nigeria

2.3. German schoolchildren

2.4. School in Japan

Classical Japanese lesson (Tokyo)

2.5 Schoolchildren in Brazil

2.6 English school

Chapter 3. The nature of the impact of the school desk on the health of students.

3.1 Statistical data

The issue of the health of schoolchildren worried both teachers and doctors back in the 19th century. According to a sociological study, we found that an uncomfortable position is very harmful for the spine (children's scoliosis develops).

Yes, and vision deteriorates from this - it develops (nearsightedness) ...

The data is presented in a chart.

Currently, 3% of children in the first years of study already have visual impairments. By grade 3-4, this figure rises to 10%. In grades 7-8, it is 16%, and among high school students, almost 20% suffer from myopia.

Myopia in adolescents in recent years has become truly frightening proportions - according to statistics, every third child aged 14-15 suffers from myopia. Visual acuity stabilizes, as a rule, at the age of 18 to 25 years. Among students in grades 1-2, myopia occurs in 3-6%, in grades 3-4 - in 6%, in grades 7-8 - in 16% and in grades 9-10 - in more than 20% . Severe (high, advanced) myopia gives over 30% of low vision and blindness from all eye diseases, it is an obstacle to the choice of many professions.

According to medical examination data, the number of spinal diseases in schoolchildren has almost doubled in recent years. As a result, in four out of five cases, this leads to “adult” osteochondrosis, which turns into intervertebral hernias, radiculitis, etc., while others make them disabled. According to in-depth pediatric examinations of children in preschool institutions, in the last decade, disorders of the musculoskeletal system have been in first place among all the morphological and functional abnormalities encountered. At senior preschool age (5-7 years), the number of children with asymmetrical posture, with deformities of the chest and lower extremities, is growing.

- What are the symptoms of the most common pediatric orthopedic disease, scoliosis?

- The Greek word "scoliosis" (in Latin scoliosis) means "curve". The main symptom is the lateral curvature of the spine and its twisting around its axis (torsion). But this disease should be considered not only as an orthopedic deformity, but as a complex disease of the bone and neuromuscular system of a growing organism. This progressive pathology, developing, causes severe, often irreversible deformations of the child's skeleton. In patients with scoliosis, not only the figure is disfigured, but there are functional disorders of the state of internal organs, primarily the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Small stature, stoop, and in severe cases, the hump change the psyche of adolescents, especially girls - they become unsociable, irritable. By the way. Girls get scoliosis 4-6 times more often than boys. The disease begins with a violation of posture. Parents should be the first to notice. Incorrect posture in a sitting, standing position, a strange gait should not be left without attention of teachers.

According to studies, almost 70% of boys and girls acquire these terrible diseases at school, which means they can be prevented? What preventive measures would you recommend - a specialist who has been working with children for over 30 years? - If timely outpatient care is provided, children with postural disorders and scoliosis can stop further growth of deformities and stabilize the spine. However, due to the lack of a unified state program in our country and a poorly developed network of special medical institutions for the treatment of children with posture disorders and initial forms of scoliosis, the vast majority of them remain without qualified assistance or fall into the hands of non-professionals. The problem is not only medical, but also socio-economic, requiring state intervention.

3.2 Changing the school desk in time and its modern improvement. For more than 100 years, Erisman's desks have stood in all classes of our schools, gradually improving, but not changing the basic idea. But in the 1970s, they decided to “improve” school furniture: the good old school desks were simply replaced with ordinary stationery tables and chairs. Such furniture does not contribute to the preservation of the health of schoolchildren, and even more so - to the growth of academic performance. True, there are advanced schools that can afford to purchase new, practical and medically correct furniture.

Types of school desks:

Height adjustable school desk
1-seater or 2-seater (separate school table, and separately school chairs). A school desk without tilting the tabletop, suitable from first to senior grades. You can adjust the height of the table and chair according to the changing growth of the child.

Anti-scoliosis school desk with adjustable height
1-seater or 2-seater (separate student table, and separately student chairs).
A student's, school desk is recommended for younger student classes, tk. it has special grooves on the student's side, which make it possible to sit as close as possible to the table and the student's elbows will not sag, respectively, the spine will be in the correct position. This student's school desk has a standard 7-degree tabletop slope. The student can adjust the height of the school desk and school chair to suit their height.

Erisman's desk

The first attempt to somehow solve the problem of the correct seating of a student in the classroom was crowned with success approximately at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, when the Highest Decree ordered that desks of the same type be used in all schools.

These desks existed without changes until the second half of the 20th century, our great-great-grandmothers and great-great-grandfathers and all those living today, born at least until the 50th year, sat on them! A rare example of a successful product design, comparable in distribution to a Kalashnikov assault rifle! But most of today's young furniture makers simply do not remember this desk. It didn't happen.

It was a powerful structure, made entirely of solid oak, individual parts, which had a thickness of up to 40, and even up to 60 mm. This double school desk included two longitudinal runners, on which a seat with a back was attached and an inclined tabletop with two folding flaps-lids, under which there was a shelf for briefcases and a thick bar-footboard. The farthest edge of the tabletop from the person sitting at the desk was made in the form of a narrow horizontal surface, on which there were two holes where porcelain inkwells were inserted, and two grooves for a pen or pencil. The entire bottom of the desk was painted with natural and harmless oil paint in light brown, and the tabletop was painted in black, which changed to light green only in the early 60s of the last century. All the details from which the desk was glued did not have any sharp edges and corners. It is also interesting that the hinges of the hinged lids broke quite often, but were not sold anywhere, and their manufacture served as a wonderful activity for the boys at labor lessons!

At such a desk, the student could sit in only one, only in the most convenient position for him, like today's cosmonaut in an individual lodgement. This was facilitated by the desired height of the backrest, which supported exactly the lower back, the correctly calculated level of the height of the footboard, the exact distance to it from the front edge of the seat, the correct angle of the table top, etc. And in order for the desks, as they say now, to grow with the student, they were produced in four sizes.

That is, already a century and a half ago, the safety of the child was put at the forefront! Everything was thought out and tested, fully complied with the requirements of those sciences that were born much later than this school desk itself - anthropometry and ergonomics. This happened almost a century before the development of the Swedish hygienist B. Akerblom, who in the forties of the twentieth century conducted research comparing the shapes of various chairs, armchairs and seats with the anthropological characteristics of a person and created half a century before the very concept of "design" appeared, the so-called "Akerblom's line", now known to any designer!

So, why did these subjects, so safe and preserving the health of children and adolescents, suddenly disappear from our schools? Why are they preserved only in single copies, and even then, in museums? There is only one single class fully equipped with these desks - in the building of the Simbirsk gymnasium, where Lenin and Kerensky also studied! The fact is that such a desk has several significant drawbacks. One of them - it was possible to get up from behind it only by opening the lid, like the hatch of a tank turret. And the teachers every time, on the first of September, again and again trained the classes to get up from their desks without creating a deafening roar. If a student called to the board stood up, then the textbook or his large notebook was moved forward with the raised lid, clung to the inkwell, and all its contents poured onto the back of the person sitting in front. Moreover, purple ink, then usually reduced with ammonia or ammonia-anise cough drops.

But the main difficulty was cleaning the room. After all, desks connected in one longitudinal row and linked together by the protruding ends of their skids are an impregnable structure, almost inaccessible to a broom and a rag. After all, when, after the revolution, the position of cleaners was liquidated, and Chekhov's slogan came into effect: "it's clean not where they sweep ...", the cleaning was entrusted to the schoolchildren themselves. As a result, the real cleaning of the floor began to be carried out only in the summer - with its new painting ... This very wonderful school desk was developed not by anyone, but by Erisman himself - the famous Russian hygienist of the nineteenth century, whose name is several institutes. Such desks with an inclined work plane, backrest and footrest help to maintain the correct posture. And the eyes are less strained.

In his work "The Influence of Schools on the Origin of Myopia" (1870), he pointed out the increase in the number of myopic children and the increase in the degree of myopia among students as the end of school approaches. Having revealed the causes of this phenomenon, F.F. Erisman developed myopia prevention measures and hygienic requirements for classroom lighting. He then proposed the design of the school desk, which later became known as the "Erisman desk", determined the basic requirements for the design of the school desk and its dimensions. F.F. Erisman summarized the results of these studies in the design of the so-called exemplary classroom.

Rice. 3. The main elements of the school desk and their dimensions: A - horizontal board of the desk cover; B, C - inclined board; B - fixed part; B - rising part; G - bench back; E - side racks; Zh - runners-bars; CG - center of gravity; TO is the point of support.

The height of the seat of the bench should correspond to the length of the lower leg from the popliteal fossa to the sole plus 2 cm for the thickness of the heel. With a proper fit, the leg at the knee joint should be bent at a right angle. The depth of the seat should be such that most of the thigh (2/3-3/4) rests on the seat. The back of the desk is made of one or two bars, preferably two, which provides lumbosacral and subscapular support. Differentiation - the vertical distance from the edge of the table to the plane of the seat - should be equal to the distance from the elbow (with the arm lowered and bent at the elbow joint) to the seat plus 2 cm. Normally, this is 1/7-1/8 part of the height. The bench distance - the horizontal distance between the back edge of the desk table and the front edge of the seat - reflects the relationship between the edge of the table and the edge of the bench. Distinguish positive, zero, negative distance. The bench distance must be negative, i.e. the edge of the bench should go under the edge of the table by 3-4 cm (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Desk seat distance: A - negative; B - zero; B - positive

school desk erisman myopia

The optimal length of the table for different desk numbers ranges from 120 to 140 cm. The table top of the desk should have a slope of 15°. With such an inclination, the axis of vision is perpendicular to the plane of the book, which creates good visibility with less strain on the organ of vision. Currently, new models of school desks (light, light-colored) have been developed and are being developed. By comparing the size of the individual parts of the table and chair with the corresponding dimensions of the student's body, it is determined whether the table and chair correspond to the person sitting behind it. The desk or table and chair of each room serves for a certain height group. Student tables and chairs are made in five groups: A for students with a height of up to 130 cm; B "" "" from 131 to 145 cm; B " " " " " 146 " 160 "; G " " " " " 161 " 175 "; D "" "" more than 176 cm. Each desk or student table with a chair must be marked: on the outer side surface of the desk or table, a relief marking is made with the designation of the table number in the numerator and the position of the students in the denominator. For example, G/161-175. In addition, an additional color marking in the form of a circle with a diameter of 25 mm or a horizontal strip (ring) with a width of 20 mm should be applied on both outer sides of the student table. On student chairs, relief marking is applied on the back surface of the back, and color marking is applied on the legs on both sides of the chair. For student tables and chairs, the following color markings are established: for group A - yellow "B - red" C - blue "G - green" D - white According to the new GOST for school furniture, student tables and chairs are made in two types: Type I - c constant parameters and II - with adjustable parameters, and student tables can be single and double. The working surface of the tables should be finished with transparent varnishes or emulsions and other materials that meet hygienic requirements, have a light color, even tone and color, and be washable with warm water (60 °) using detergents. Chalkboards 3-3.5 m long and 1.2 m wide are usually located in the middle of the front wall of the classroom. The bottom edge of the board should rise slightly above the desks. In elementary school, the board is strengthened at a level of 80-85 cm from the floor, and in middle and high school - 90-95 cm. A tray is made along the bottom edge of the board to prevent floor contamination with chalk dust. Hooks for hanging tables are attached along the top edge of the board. There should be additional local lighting above the boards. The surface of the board should be flat, smooth, matte. Linoleum, plastic, rubber are used to cover blackboards. The color of the board for drawing rooms is recommended to be black, and in other cases - dark green, brown.