The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1900-10-09
HEALTH IN
THE SCHOOLS
As To Uncertihcated
Children.
MANY ARE NOT EXAMINED
Board Of Education Receives Com
munications and Refers Them
to Health Board.


| Again the matter OF the children who
have been kept out of the public schoo &
wing to the fact that they have no health
certificate has come before the .,oard of
Education and In view OF the great
amount of talk and criticism that has
arisen owing to statements at the last
meeting of the Board with reference to
this question, the correspondence read at
tee Board meeting yesterday makes later
cit ting reading.
The question was the most important
which came up and 1t was brought up by
the following letters IRON ageals OF the
Board of LuucatIon at two dimerent
points on the lsIanus. The nrst OF these
I,tters is from Il. 4. Rosecrans, agent OF
the Board at Ulupalakua, Maui, ana Is as
follows:
UlupalllSua. Maui, Sept. 2S. 1900.
Mr.. A. I. Atkinson, Superintendent OF
fuDlic instruction., HUnClu.u.
Dear Sir: The Children IN U.upalakua
school have not been examined by Gov
eminent physician for three years and so
cannot bring health cert.ncates. 1 have
t,.cphonod Government School Agent at
Wailuku about same, also physician at
kiEel, but to no purpose.
l understand that teacher is liable to
fine If he permits the a .tendance of pu-
pills without health certificate. What IS
to be done?
Very respectfully,
+. p. ROSECRANS
p. S.-Makua children are in same boat
as ours. F. =. r.
The letter from S. Keliinoi, normal in
structor for the Second Circuit Is even
no nd
1t is, In full. as follows:
Waihee, II. l., Sept 20, 1900.
MI. A. T. Atkinson. Superintendent of
Public Instruction, Honolulu.
Dear Sir: / did not intend to visit
Waihee School SO soon, but having heard
that a great many of the children were
Icing excused by the doctor. 1 wanted to
know just on what ground these chill
dren were excused. About ten of these
children were excused and were told to
r6rort to the doctor every month. In 9TH
err We rds, these children are suspects. The
queerest thing about this wholesale sep
aration was that it happened on a second
eS mination by the doctor. On his first
round he found them o. X. but when he
found very bad case, then he went over
certain number of children and picked
scme out as suspects.
DIR. Goodhue Il believe 1t was be) sep
arated some children when i first came
them that they were not to mix with the
other children, ETC.. he gave the rest of
the school clean bill of health. Three
years ago DR.. Weddick gave the scnool
clean bill of health. Two years ago,
lie same. Last year. no examination:
found one case which was quite bad:
excused him all the year-he would not
report, and the doctor was too busy to
come and examine the school. This year
that case was pronounced leprOsy. where
as the three suspect cases excused four
years ago are still In Waihee, nave been
mixing freely with the rest of the chill
dren. etc.
This is not reported to complain of the
doctor as he has tried to do his duty: but
1t seems to me a child Is either sick or
he Is not. There ought to be no ''sus-
pect" business. If a child is a real sus-
be separated from the place and from
asaociating with the other children. 1t
risy be cruel and hard, but 1t Is best for
thu rest of the community.
Then again, the Board OF Health might
require that the examinations he conduct
ed a little more thoroughly than just
mere glance. ! admit that there are
great many children 10 be gone over. but
would II not be better to have the work
done, especially as the doctor
comes only once year. than to run the
risk of having well children associate
WIN CHlluTeH WIZ nave IL
disease?
The question OF providing a means OF
educating these "outcasts' will he one of
the tough questions the department VIII
have to consider. Are we to let them be
to still mix with the others, or shall there
he place provided for them other than
or course, having been with the chill
dr en- for four years, you can guess how
anxious j was about the results OF the
dcctor's examination, for my own young
ones mixed quite freely with the school
/ am reporting on the
health conditions at Waihee as I found
them, and do not wish to he understood
"a complaining about the doctor. That
Is his own lookout. I only wish there |
could he more thorough work. He NAV
think he was doing his work thoroughly |
trough; but that is where we would diff |
fer, s. KELIINOI,
Normal Instructor. Circuit III.
IT was decided by the Board to send |
roth communications to the Board of |
Health for action by that body.