Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-02-12
SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
Following Up the Observation-Disclosures
lllustrations-Most Recent Develop
ments-Remedy Discovered.

enough. a marked interest in the indi-
vidual. In a sense it may he said that
we have now for the first time discoy-
cred the individual. Where formerly PEG
pie We're dealt with III the mass. they
are now being dealt with more and more
as human beings, each with peculiar in
dividual needs.
Familiar Illustrations.
A few instances with which we are ali
FAMILIAR may be mentioned TO illustrate
this modern tendency to bestow greater
attention upon the individual The cleo
tive system in education makes ii posi-
BILE for each individual to select a course
of study for which he is specially adapt,
ed; whereas the older system Jumped all
together and forced all through the same
mould. The Juvenile court and the sys-
TEN of probation officers now treats ev.
cry delinquent child as a sperate problem
to be dealt with in the way best fitted
TO his particular needs; formerly all jul
yenile criminals were treated alike, ana
what was still worse were regarded as
i'll the same class with adult criminals
Defective children are now handed over
to public physicians and nurses for ndi-
yIdual examination and treatment In
fact the whole modern treatment of dis
ease, as eXemplified in the development
=
same tendency to deal with the individual
according to his needs.
The Most Recent Developments.
/ wish to call attention to two more
recent instances of this same tendency
to follow up the individual. They are as
yet scarcely known of by people in gem
eral, even those who are particularly in
terested in social developments. They
promise to be of the greatest value in
the future. They are so simple and
natural that we cannot but be surprised
that no one has thought of them before.
Aid for the Merely Dull
The latest of these developments is n
plan inaugurated the other day by the
Public Education association of the city
of New York. \ staff of visitors has
been appointed to follow dull pupils
from the schools to their homes, and
there make a special investigation with
the aim of finding out if possible the cir
cumstances existing i'll their homes which
may explain the dullness of the children
These merely dull children are distinct
from the delinquent class and the de.
fective class The class of the merely
duh embraces those thousands of chill
dren, neither bad nor abnormal who are
variously described by their teachers as
duh, troublesome. sensitive, unmanage-
teacher has in her class children of this
sort who do not seem to be getting any
thing out of their school work. The uues-
ton is, what to do with them The
school doctors and nurses can do moth
ing for them because physically there
Is nothing the matter with them. The
juvenile court cannot dispose of them be-
cause they are not delinquents.
Remedy Discovered by School Teacher.
The problem was first solved by a
clever young teacher in New York. Miss
Mary ). Marot. She not only combined
the gift of sympathy with her peda-
goSical knowledge, but she had an inter-
est In edncatlon that extended beyond
the days work. Therefore she deter
mined to find the root of the trouble in
each one of the difficult" cases in her
class. After school she went to the
homes of these children. and tactfulIy
and sympathetically entered into friendly
relations with the whole family. In this
way she soon found out the cause of the
difficulty, and in most cases by delicate
hints and suggestions was able to re-
move il.
For example she found out that David
never knew his lessons and could with
difficulty keep his eyes open because
his parents sent him out to peddle shoe
laces on the street every night. She
learned that Harry was fdgety because
IN all too careful mother kept him at
home after school in a tiny three-room
flat, from fear that he would go to the
settlement gymnasium, where he surely
would break Il bone--he was that wild. !"
She discovered that the meek and docile
little Annie couldn't he inspired with the
least interest in her lessons, because she
was required to wash and iron the
clothes for a family of nine every night
a n a h1h 20
milk and wash the breakfast dishes ev
cry morning before school.
staff of Visitors Needed.
The more Miss Marot did. the more
she found to be done. until she found
the task beyond her strength. She laid
the matter before the Public Education
association, with the result that this
year there are three visitors who form Il
school and home visiting committee. For
next year they are trying TO raise Il fund
of S2OOOO to establish n central office
and support fifteen visitors. If this can
be done, they believe they can demon
strate to the school authorities that this
work should be taken over into the public
school system. Prof. John Dewey has
said that it is the most important and
significant reform yet suggested for the
schools, and one which. if taken mp iii a
healthy and continuous way, will lead
to results not yet seen.
The Hospital and Social Service.
The other recently developed plan for
following up the individual is not quite
so recent. and has now in fact pro-
crossed beyond the experimental stage.
refer to the social service department
of the Massachusetts General hospital
in Boston, established by Dr. Richard c.
Cabot in October, 1905. This plan is
described by Ray Stannard
Baker in the American Magazine for
January of this year. under the title.
THE New Mission of the Doctor
DIR. Cabot was impelled to establish
this new department because he real
lied that he often had to prescribe for
patients the very things which he knew
would be impossible for them to secure
For example he would tell man to
take a vacation, only to find that the
man could not leave his work without
himself and a large family to
or he would order a woman
to live out doors and eat more nourish-
ing food, when she was eking out a
miserable existence in one room at Il
few pennies a day for sweat-shop labor.
or he would see that certain operation
was imperative for Il woman who could