Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-16

mental retardation and deviation in the
schools.
1t interprets health and growth in
broad terms. 1t provides for school
sanitation.
It provides for a class of educators,
experts in physiology, hygiene and
practical psychology who can skillfully
diagnose defective growth and devel-
opment and take steps to intelligently
train children and youths and for the
cooperation of such educators and OF
all educators with skilled physicians.
1t is basic in all educational work in
shaping the activities, physical and
mental, of the pupils of the public
schools.
Stated Specifically
( The law provides for:
First-The establishment of annual
physical examinations of school pupils
and the follow-up service to secure the
correction of physical defects, thus
maintaining continuous health and
growth supervision of children and
youths.
Marked need of this supervision is
everywhere in evidence. Every home
and every school affords far too many
illustrations of the needless waste of
health aad growth and efficiency Of
children and youths and adults.
The highest achievements of adult
life will never be realized until home
and school have brought the health
and growth and vigor of youth to
maximum.
This means, above all other things,
(a) the removal of barriers to health
and growth; (b) The right balance of
physical and mental activity and their
adjustment to health and growth needs
and to development process of the in
dividual child.
Things which interfere with health,
growth and efficiency, the consequences
attending the neglect of which are usu-
ally not appreciated until poor health,
more or less failure in adult life, re-
suits in needless loss-the tragedy of
many a life, are defective eyesight, de-
fective hearing, defective and decayed
teeth, abnormal and diseased tonSils,
poor chest development and breathing
capacity, poor circulation and heart
action, defective sex development, de-
formity, poor physical development due
to poor feeding or lack of exercise.
These defective conditions waste the
energy of youth needed for growth, and
thus arrest growth and bring about
more or less incapacity and failure.
They exist among school pupils today
to an alarming eXtent-very largely I'M
corrected, either at home or school.
Illustrations
New York city recently reported
over so per cent of her school popula-
ton physically defective (April, 1900.
1t is a safe estimate that one-half of
these. 80 per cent, were in need of help,
glasses, surgery or corrective training,
and that the other half needed more or
less careful health supervision by the
teachers of the schools.
The state of Massachusetts reports
81, 900 pupils defective in eyesight and
$4,000 defective in hearing, out of AGO.
900 examined.
Los Angeles and Pasadena report
from 20 to 80 per cent of their school
population physically defective and in
need of help to such an extent that if
the right help is secured the health and
growth of these pupils will be mark
eddy improved.
Eighty to 80 per cent of the school
pupils of Germany are reported as hav-
ing defective teeth. Reports of Ameri-
can schools in this regard are essen
TALLY the same percentage.
one to 2 per cent of all school pupils
have organic heart trouble, and in most
cases neither pupils nor parents are
aware of this condition.
Approximately ones sixth of all school
pupils are defective in hearing, most
of which defects are needless and due
to adenoids, abnormal and diseased
tonsils and lack of care of nose and
throat.
Poor circulation and breathing ca
pacity abound among the young, due
to lack of exercise and training and
sedentary lives. The consequence is
lack of physical and mental vigor
Nervous instability is in evidence at
every hand in the schools. The build
ing of a staple nervous system ought
to be first in order in the educational
work of home or school.
A large amount of poor mentality is
relative only and disappears upon the
correction of physical defects and the
supplying of rightful activities
If some one had the power to enter