The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-06-11
SCHOOL CHILDREN

For many years much has been said and much
has been written in condemnation of our public
school system. One can hardly take up medical
journal OF today without coming across some arti-
Gle decryng the present methods of teaching
physicians are becoming interested in this matter
from the standpoint of health. Not only are our
school rooms inadequate in every way for the pur-
pose tor which they used, but the vast amount
OF work which children compelled to do is sadly
undermining their health and making nervous
wrecks OF our young and women. They are
grouped together in large classes, and are required
to do amount of work.which taxes the ability of
Their teachers to cope with. Instead of trying to
teach the fundamental principles of education they
try to include their curricula little knowledge
of everything, with the result that the child often
has very little knowledge of anything which is of
any practical value to him.
Being interested, as a physician, in the welfare
OF children under my medical care began year
ago to find out that could concerning the present
methods of education l have read many articles
upon educational matters, have talked with many
children upon the work which they have to do in
school, have interviewed a large number of teach
ers in order to get their opinion the quantity
and quality of work done in the public schools, and
have also visited in person, many of these schools
have done this in order to find, ii possible, where
the trouble hes, and to determine, if can, the
remedy for these evils, if evils there be.
On account of the extent of human knowledge
educators have been adding from year year study
alter study to the curricu4 OF the public Schools
until the child OF eight today is expected to know
as much as the child of twelve few years ago.
Children in some of the grades have as many as
sixteen Rotations day upon as many different
Subjects while from eighteen to twenty distinct
studies; and many separate Subjects are to be
taught in six years or less
Both children and teachers have to try to keep
up to this enormous pressure, with the result that
thousands upon thousands of both teachers and
pupils become physical and mental wrecks each
year, thus destroying the usefulness of many
lives. 1t is said by who has been studying
these statistics of the Bureau of Education of
Washington, that $1,000 children, between the
ages at eight and fourteen, were taken out of the
public schools in five cities of our country alone
during the last school term, because their nervous
systems We're wrecked and their minds were ircap-
able of going any further with the Internal
examining system which exists today in our public
schools. These 10 900 helpless little wrecks are
simply the children know about How many
other thousands there we must leave to conjec-
ture.
Medical men throughout the country are crying
out against such a system; parents all over this
broad land are wrnglng their hands heiplessy at
such tremendous slaughter of innocents. Teach
ers and progressive educators in every city and
state realize most fully this great crime, and vet
they seem helpless to change the established order
of things. Medical journals are filled with articles
concerning it, and the lay press have columns upon
columns OF matter in almost every issue, and yet
the tragedy goes on, and all seem to be helpless
Not only are the lives of helpless children sacrificed,
but the whole aim of education l. e., the harmoni-
Gus and equabe evolution of the human power is
destroyed on account of the multiplicity of studies
and the scholars can learn no subject we'll What
they do is only half done and is in accurately done
AS result, the child goes through life only half
doing anything that he attempts do on account
of the habit Of doing that he has acquired while
at school. SO both from physical standpoint
and from educational standpoint the whole
system is bad and should not be tolerated any
longer.
Educators say that they cannot down the
course of study because study can be left
out. Each is as important the other, and all
are most important Therefore, they go on, year
after year, in the way with this difference
that they keep adding little each year.
Upon looking over the ground l find that the
teachers are helpless to act in the matter because
they subordinate, and the members of the
board of education will because they do not
wish to change the established order of things
they handicapped by large numbers of men
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