New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-10

Hoe to Treat 1t an the Home and an
the School.


ishment is already beginning TO lead to reaction
declared Earl Barnes yesterday afternoon at a
meeting OF the Society for the Study OF Schooi
Problems. 81 don't mean that we are going back
to the days of careless and wild eyed foggng, but
we are going to acknowledge that an institution
which previous generations have united in think
ing good can't be the unmitigated evil many to-day
believe it 10 be. Take a vicious. criminal child
and his will has got to be broken, Just as you
would break the will of a colt that persisted In
biting and boiling You've got to let that child see
that he's up against life it is''-here Professor
Barnes clinched his fist punitively. and the au-
dience of fifty or sixty souls. mostly women, ap-
plauded him vigorously
THE Nervous Child Element of School
Discipline" was the subject OF the meeting. The
absence of DIR. l.. Pierce Clark, who was TO have
presented the medical side of the subject, threw
the programme somewhat out of gear. Dr. Robert
MacDougal, of New-York University, who was the
first speaker favored the formation of special
classes for nervous children 10 be conducted on
similar lines TO the general classes, and the intro
duction of a more extended medical examination
than is conducted in the public schools
Nervous children" said he. need uninterrupted
regular training with frequent periods of rest
with much praise and appreciation. and with social
emulation as a constant spur Such children.
whether they belong to the class who have badly
nourished bodies and active minds, or fall into
the category of the decidedly deficient, who ordi-
nariy are cared for in institutions labor at great
disadvantage WnSn segregated III ny
selves On the other hand. they at disad-
vantage when classed with the normal. we'll bal
anced child. 1 should like TO the medical in
spection of schools which is now directed chiefly
against the spread of contagious diseases extended
so as to become general psycho-physicaI exam
nation to form a body of knowledge which might
be passed on from grade to grade with the child
to give the teacher experts view of the child
Such an examination would further be useful in
determining physical imperfections. like poor eye
arIfe and ta{v sIaTi, 70
the nervous condition. There large number
of pupils in the public schools about whom the
teachers first question is apt to be- Is he naughty
or morbid? Am to scold or to nurse the child?'"
Professor Barnes began his address BY present.
ing four types of nervous children. No. 1 was
well nourished child OF five with decidedly under
grade mind. extremely destructive and so violent
when angered that he wouldn't hesitate to COM
nit homicide If he had the chance. No. was an
intelligent overstrung boy. anamic active. alert.
and liable TO sullenness epileptic its II disci
pIined. No was a highstrung girl. sensitive
as almost to so insane in trying to do the right
thing. No. was boy of seven or eight whom
Professor Barnes said he had in a crowded
~ car a night or before. The way he struck
out to hit his mother when she told him there
wasn't seat, his weakened face and his matu-
rity in self-possession and sef-assertion marked
him as an example OF vicious boy of criminal
tendencies
Now. what are we going to do with children
first step toward any form Of moral or spiritual
growth 1 take to be obedience. The child must be
made TO mind But there are two ways III which
obedience may be obtained. You may train his
nervous and physical system gradually and regu-
larly or you may let the child come to a crisis.
and then break his will. 1t is just like breaking
In a colt But the question Is. what are you going
TO do with your nervous child when he breaks
away from your system OF gentle. gradual train
tne7 In all such cases must always consider
physical conditions first If you destroy the chance
OF physical wellbeng. you have destroyed all pos
sbIiity of lifting the child out of his rut That
a tvnicaI child for instance who has epileptic fits
IL he is violently coerced-shan one force him 10
toe the mark the risk of MT every two or three
uonths? No because the probability would be
that BY the time he reaches manhood he would
be a confirmed epileptic; whereas. II he doesn't
have a III for the next ten years he VIII outsrow
the tendency altogether
Such a child will keep a school dsmoralzed-
This is where the special school must come IN.
1T Is generally thought that pupils admire hotn-
ing So much In a teacher justice and Impair
tiality Here In this country We believe every