The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-11-02
TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS. ,
A Plea In Tleiaif os School Chiidren--rha
Aiiing One.


has grown up In our areets and success
fully eluded the truant officers. Such
one Is almost always OF the .'gnmin. or.
der, III fed. scantily clothed and gener.
ally neglected And yet, notwithstand.
Ing the harrlships implied, we find him
strong, active and ''wiry." If pitted
against country boy Of his age tho
chances are our city lad would ''use the
other up" All things considered Il
must appear evident 10 those who study
the subject that because our children nra
seut TO school nj 400 early an age Is one
| potent reason why they suffer so much
from the contrast with their country
cousins. But It Is purposeiess to attempt
TO persuade parents TO keep their little
ones out of school until Il is safe to send
them. borrowing an expression, ono
might as well hope to level Gibraltar
with crowbar. In the proper authori-
ties Is our only hope Of reform. They
cannot bc ignorant OF this grave re-
/ sponsibility. Reluctantly accepting the
situation. we viii give mothers and
teachers few words Of practical advice
a. regards their treatment of school
/ children, In so far as pertains to health.
''Cleanliness IL next To godliness." Its
either by parents or children. Every
child should have full bath at least
| once n week, whereas many In our pub
! lie schools know that luxury only when
the public bathing houses are opened to
/ them. which Is, of course, only In warm
weather. Neglect OF cleanliness propa-
gates other mean habits, and tends TO de
/ velop the beast In ones nature. III a
/ child's body IL continually dirty be will
/ soon grow low and depraved, notwith-
standing all his other influences are the
best. Let parents FIX that fact In their
minds, else by that one neglect they ut
terly ruin the natures Of their children.
Those who live Ia humble tpnements,
destitute OF bathing facilities. should call
the washing tub into service Mt least opee
a week, and a general scrubbng of the
| children take place. Some mothers take
pleasure and pride In the appearance Of
their little ones; others seem positively
indifferent whether or not their faces are
washed or hair IL ever conbed They
should sec that both Is done faithfully,
not only in the morning. but on going TO
| bed.
The character Of the clothing gener-
| ally Is not a matter of dictation. We
cannot expect the children of poor pa
rents TO wear good Clothes" but what
Is worn can be clean, and there Is no ex-
cuse for their being otherwise. From
this time out until school closes In the
spring, children should wear flannel next
to the skin. and let mothers remember
that undertaking worn during the day
must not he worn during the night while
i In bed. Children. as well as adults,
must have undershirts for night wear,
| and tho ono taken or at bedtime should
L. n HI
well. A word here about the sleeping
room. Our poorer people are forced to
content themselves with a few small
rooms, and, as n rule, they are sadly
oyercrowdcd. That cannot be helped In
many instances, but such rooms can be
properly ventilated. Open--thruw wide
open-the windows of the bedroom a
little while before the children go TO bed,
and then, when they arc ready to un-
dress, go In and partially, but not en-
tirely, close them. Leave them open as
much as tho weather viii permit. A
disinclination to ventilate their rooms
properly Is ono glaring and fatal fault
with ignorant people. To that cause
alone can be attributed much Of tho sick
ness and many Of the deaths among
them.
Some mothers allow their children to
remain In bed in the morning until late
and then hurry them away TO school
The consequence is breakfast must be
bolted. It ought not to be necessary to
say that children should have ample time
in which to eat, and should be forced 10
do so slowly. Tea and coffee are injuri-
ous to them. II mothers will insist In
allowing them to have those drinks, then
let the quantity be small, and In much
milk. Cocoa Is liked by every child.
and, IL not made too strong, 1t Is whole
some and nourishing. One thing more
about breakfast; be sure that the children
eat enough. Even II they eat heartily,
as a rule they will be hungry before din
nef time comes; therefore. provide them
with light luncheon-bread and butter
and some sound, ripe fruit If possible.
EARLY TO bed and early to rise" is n rule
which cannot safely be violated by chill
dren. That they need much more sleep
than adults. every one should know. Let
the hour before retiring be passed quietly
in some form OF amusement.
To allow them to go to bed excited
either by hard play, by study, or by q
''s:ory book, !" means wakeful hours OF
sleep disturbed by dreams. When q
child appears to be ailing he should bC
kept out Of school until he is himself
again. BY teachers much too high q
premium IS put upon punctuality and un
broken attendance. In consequence
: children are encouraged to go to schoo
when they are really quite sick enough e
: be at home and I'm bed. Scarlet fever
measles. diphtheria and the like are very
easily transmitted from an affected child
toone in perfect health. The former neec
not DO very ill; he may, in fact, be in
: school and appear but slightly ailing, and
yet ii isquite possible for him to bear about
with him the germs of disease, and CON
municate them to those with whom he il
brought in contact. All must remembeI
that case of infectious disease need not
be severe to be a source of great danger
? to others. A child is just as likely t.
''catch the disease" from one who ha,
, only very light attack of an infectious
2 nature as he would were the attack oi
! deadly intensity.
Again, the first sufferer may be only
slightly ill-in fact, be up playing abou
: the house, or even in school-and yet th'
3 one to whom he transmits the diseas'
may become terribly i'll with 1t and die
Hence, there is but one rule for motherv
and teachers to follow: Never send I
| child TO school who appears to be ailing
no matter how confident you may be tha
, the trouble Is but trif1ing. And a teache
| | should never allow child to remain II
; school q moment after she detects sigl
g which leads her to suspect that he is no
| we'll If thia rule Ia rirorously observed