Environmental Pollution and Cognitive Decline: A Teacher's Observation of Student Learning in 1970s England
By
dividendpayee
If you only eat one bagel today, this is the bagel.
Summary
The article explores the connection between environmental pollution and cognitive decline through a personal anecdote about a teacher in Northern England in the late 1970s. The teacher noticed students seemed to be getting "dumber every year," with smart primary schoolers struggling in middle school. Years later, he realized the school was located at the bottom of a hill in a valley, with the playground right by a busy main road, causing exhaust fumes to pool in the area. The article suggests this may have been an early observation of how environmental toxins like leaded gasoline exhaust could affect children's cognitive development.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledWhen he started teaching in Northern England in the late 1970s, he and the other teachers would often talk in the break room about how their students seemed to be getting dumber every year.
Smart primary schoolers turned into middle schoolers that just didn't get things.
Years later, he connected the dots: the school was at the bottom of a hill, in a little valley, and the playground right by the busy main road.
All the exhaust fumes pool
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