Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-02-24
Teachers and Physicians.

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE CHILDo
lima c. Bracket IA N,gU lOrJt Illdeipeltf,Bt
y child is sick or ailing. The anxious pa
rent SENDS Tor the physician, and the case is
lald before him. challenge the contraiic-
ton of all parents who have employed phy-
Siclans 10 the statement that in nine cases
cut OF ten-nay, In % eases out OF l0O-the
physician Will at once recommend that the
child be Withdrawn from school. either per
manently or temporarily; and this he does
without any knowledge whatever of the
character OF the school to which the child
gees, without any inquiry as to the
means OF ventilation, the length OF
recitation hours, the number OF receSseS,
The ability or wisdom OF the teacher.
he also does ib without exact knowledge
as 10 the habitual clothing, the amount OF
sleep, The regularity and kind of food OF the
child who Is weak and sickly. Nor does ne
know how many parties she has attended i'm
how many private theatrcalS she has taken
part. how many hours she has sat before her
piano, nor how few hours she has SDent i'm
active exercise IN the sunlight and fresh air
de does not ask how many days in the cold
OF winter or the damp OF spring her careful
mother has sent her 10 school with her head
and race carefully protected, while her feet
were clad IN the most delicate of cotton
stockings and the thinneSt Of Kid boots Does
he know Of the rich cake and pastry and the
provides for lunch?
The teachers are willing to share the ra-
sronSibility for the health of the children
cOnfided to their care for four or five hours OF
the five days in the week with the family
physician and with the parents. They g.
knowledge their responsibility; but they are
no longer willing TO have the whole burden
OF The sins OF omission and commission of
both parents and physician laid upon their
shoulders. 1t is not Just that thew SHOULD
continue year after year TO be the eXpiatOry
ScapegOatS Tor all the sins of others. They
Will take their full share; but they will no
longer bear tho whole burden as fhefauthOrS
OF all the ills that beSet and too often destroy
the lives OF growing children. At least, they
viii no longer bear il i'm silence and without
protest, or without the uttering OF some inn
POI tant truths.
Those OF us who have girls boarding in our
houses, end who are brought thus into still
more intimate knowledge of their hOme-ac-
qulred habits and customs, know that the
girls come 70 us sick and 60 away well. We
know that they gain flesh and color while
they are at school, and lose il often i'm the
holidays. These things we state as facts well
known to all of US. We know that We often
ind them inSufficiently provided with warm
Undertaking and utterly unprOvided with
shoes thick enough to wear upon the street
We know their habits of eating. dressing. and
sleeping when at home. And we claim that
the health enjoyed under our care is the result
of the hygienic measures of nutritious and
Well-coOked food, served AT regular hours
and eaten al no others, of an abundance of
sleep in well ventilated rooms, of loOSened
clothes and thicllened SoleS 10 boots. But
above all this, and yet working in harmony
with ii, we claim, and We rest our claim on
the undiSputed facts OF physiological science
in modern times, that their health is the re-
suit of regular and persistent mental activi-
~, judiciously stimulated and controlled,
and of pure and healthful mental atmOS-
plere, undiSturbed by the Study OF the eN-
citing and trashy stories which the press
is flooding our homes.