The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1897-05-21


low. One so afflicted begins almost at
youth to draw upon his capital of re-
serve nerve force, or the eyes are over
taxed at the expense Of a proper nerve
/ supply to some other part. The effect
of uncorrected myopia upon the
physical and mental condition will be
different from that of the hyperOpe.
He cannot compete in Out-of-door
sports with his schOolmates any more
then the hypermetrope can compete
in the school room. One thus afflicted
becomes retiring and Indifferent away
from home, and has habit of alb
straction and apparent disregard of
friends and acquaintance in places
of resort. Headache is due to re-
fractive errors of the eye, and when
there is headache, nutritiOnal dis
turbance and digestive troubles are
sure to follow. The primary causes
of sick headache is an ocular defect.
1t is.no less true that defective
hearing may exert a very detrimental
influence on the mental and moral de-
velOpment of the child, and the disa-
bility may exist without the knowl-
edge of the teacher, or stranger still,
the parent. This will often account
for his seeming disregard of explicit
directions given him and the result
ant failures to comply are set down to
inattention, stupidity or willful DISC
bedience.
The child obliged to bestow forced
attention and exercise all his latent
power Of hearing, is unable TO with
draw his attention and fasten it
upon something as quickly as can a
child whose hearing is perfect, and is
often accounted dull therefor. He is
often reproved for not paying atten-
tion to things he has not heard, and
for not doing things he was unaware
he had been requested to do. He soon
appreciates the feeling he inspires
and this tendssfurther to limit his re-
ceptive power, by rendering him SEN
sitive and fearful of harshness and
ridicule. At school because of his in
ability to hear the teacher distinctly
he becomes inattentive, losses instruc-
tions and fails to progress and is &C
!. counted dull. He loses interest in
his studies, time hangs heavy on his
hands and he is led to eXpend his
mental and physical energies in for
hidden ways. At home where great
allowance should be made for this in
: trinity it is usually the last place
where it is acknowledged, and where
it is the least tolerated. By the time
parents are willing to acknowledge it
is not dizziness but deafness, they have
gotten to regard the child as stupid,
, inattentive and insubordinate.
) After speaking of the unfortunate
J effects of these influences upon chill
dren so afflicted, aud the troubles that
often result because Of this lack Of eX-
ercise from a disinclinatiOn to mingle
with other children, the writer quot.
!, ed few statistics SHOWING the preva-
lence of such troubles in the schools.
!, Out of over 500 children examined in
! schools in New York, 76 were found
, to have affected hearing, and only one
, of these Is was suspected to be hard OF
hearing by the teacher. Investiga.
ton in many schools show that pupils
are seated according to rank, the best
nearest the teacher and the poorest
: farthest away. And it is also found
that the majority of the poorest
. pupils have bad hearing, and that this
method of seating worked an injustice
on them. In one school teacher
, was asked to select the poorly gifted
, pupil: 70 were selected and 81 were
: found to have defective hearing.
J There is no place where correction
r of these difficulties can be undertaken
/ as easily as in the school room, ano
r the time will come when school,
f boards will be forced to- take such
: matters into consideration, and teach
! ers required to examiner pupils as tt
: their visual and aural capacity. II
t will be required also that buildings bt
t erected with the proper amount Of
t of light, conditions heretofore rare
. ly found. -
s He then followed with few sug
t gestions from various writer's upor
4 the subject. to the effect that.teacher:
l should keep in mind that'.in Gevery
: class of fifty children, probably doz
Z en- or more have some defective
t hearing and are therefore placed at {
S disadvantage. Children so known tt
y suffer should always occupy place
: nearest the teacher. Those very dea
t should be taught in separate classes
t Where progress is unsatisfactory, ant
g pupils are inattentive, dull and idle
r their capacity for sight 'and i,hearin'
|. should be determined by iproper ties
e and if defective, their parents be in
IS formed Of the fact, and position o
d such pupils arranged in class so as t
minimize the bad effects OF their mis-
4.