Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-09-08
CITY RUNS NERVES
One In Every Three School
Children In Chicago Victims
of Nervous Diseases
AN INVESTIGATION MADE
INVESTIGATION
Superintendent of the Chicago Schools
Points Out Some of the Causes of
Nervousness Among the Children of
the Cities Talks of Appalling
Increase"

Chicago Sept. S.--One in every three
school children in Chicago, 1t is esti-
mated, is victim of some form OF
nervousness mild or aggravated. This
is the finding of public school peda-
gogues after observations extending
more than a year. The prevalence of
nervous disorders among children is
attributed to the following causes:
The strenuous city life.
The impure city atmosphere.
The bringing up of children in fiat
buildings.
No relief from noise, day or night.
Lack of proper nutrition.
Residence along cable and trolley car
lines.
The finding is based on statistics col-
lected in every part Of the city. or
the 800 pupils examined by the child
study department of the school board
during the last year large majority
of the detectives were found to be suf-
According to G. G. Krauskopf, assist
ant supervisor Of the child study de-
partment, the nervous affections usu-
ally took one of two forms:
Sluggishness and mental depression.
with tendencies toward melancholia.
Cholera, or uncomfortable nervous
twitchings
DR.. Krauskopf attributed to malnu-
triton the condition of many OF the
children brought to the attention OF the
department
Gin a great many of the cases ner-
vousness was directly traceable to lack
of the proper food, accompanied by
poor air to breathe, life in fiat
buildings, noise day and night this
natural results Of city life" he SAID.
| Nervousness is a natural result of life
in the city"
Cooley BIames City Life.
Superintendent Cooley declared that
it has become a recognized fact that
everything possible must be done in
the public schools to counterfeit the
nervous effect Of city life.
ITO exercise too great devotion to
the school books provokes nervous
ness" he said, land manual activity in
school will tend to lessen the danger.
We have introduced manual training,
and the correlated branches of study
into the schools for the purpose of de-
creasing the prevalent nervousness.
The city life has much to do with the
nervousness Of the school children
the rattle Of the elevated trains, the
noise Of the cable cars and trolleys,
and the congested condition of certain
sections of the city"
Talks Of "AppaIIing Increase"
A public school principal who has
made a careful investigation of the
subject and intends to publish pam
phlet showing the effect of city life on
the child, declared that the parents
have no conception of the appalling
increase" of nervous complaints among
children.
He blamed the parents for permitting
their children to keep late hours to go
into Society" to attend dances and
theaters while they are still in their
teens. The public schools also were
held to blame for a measure of the evil.
"The children in many instances are
obliged to sit in desk chairs, which
do not suit them" he said So many
children are crowded into a room that
the air cannot be kept pure"
OF the III teachers examined by the
child study department during the last
vacation period only six failed to pass
the physical examination.