The copper era., 1910-03-31
Saving Our School Children.

S@ It has put in motion a campaign of publicity of facts and suggestions for reform which must exert a valued influence in bettering educational institutions not only of the city inn mediately concerned but of schools throughout the country.
 To one interested in every hour of child life, at home and in the school, 1t seems curious that it is difficult to get exact statements concerning the management of public schools. Even the cities proudest of their educa- tional work are long way from real working organization. In but few places does the inquirer meet with the enthusiastic educator and the principal of a school who, inspired with the importance of his calling, has won his teachers to follow him in making every minute of the working day do it's perfect. work in system which intends to develop physically, mentally and morally.
 The ranks contain many earnest men and women, born teachers, feel ing to the utmost the sacredness of their profession. And those who meet them battling with their pro- blem amid unbusinesslike conditions, face to face with the indifference of parents and tue public for whom they are giving their lives, know that their efficiency would be doubled if they had the right support.
 There is no reason why a school system, however large, should not be so organized with trained heads that it may progress harmoniously along known lines of activity centered on the physical, mental and moral welfare of young children. The plans should not be so lax that a teacher is compelled to use his or her own judgment whether questions of health or training should or should not be attended to, especially as human judgment everywhere is q variable quantity. The bureau of municipal research looks to an awakening | through the medium of adequare school reports which should be mines of information. One district would compare with another, bringing about exchange of ideas, the citizens would know how the cost of his school com pared with that of the next city, he would know how great a percentage climbed to the high school, how high the average of health, how the truancy records stood, and other mat ters of moment
 In the advancement of public educa- tion the first problem to be overcome is public indifference. The parent with happy-golucky confidence hands his 6-year-old boy over to the school, calculating that in eight years he will reach the high school, and in four more he will be ready for college. The same parent is careful about the ventilation of his house, but does he eyer visit the school to discover if his child spends five hours of tue day in an r-thickening atmosphere made close and impure by forty other | human beings in various grades of cleanliness? His boy complains of tired eyes. but does he ever inquire if school-rooms are well lighted?
 He knows that the school he passes daily in the cars is a 'cra3k school, " with play ground, basketball, trips to the parks, an art gallery, museum, etc., but does he make an effort to find out if his boys and girls go to a school of that kind? This, frankly speaking, is the average parent who never visits the school, pays his taxes but does not inquire if he is getting full value for his money and traning for his offspring.
 Parents of this kind number into the thousands; they love their children, they are good people, but they do not realize how much the community would benefit or what it would mean to their own families if they visited the schools and insisted on having the best conditions.
 A revolution can be brought about in the national health and national morals through the public schools. Through its inquiries of 35S cities in forty-two states and the District of Columbia the bureau of municipal research discovered that of all these cities with a total population of 22,- 100000, only 148 cities of 100000 school children were making any at tempt to discover transmissblc dis eases at school: 2lO were inspecting such diseases, 227 were examining de- fective vision. I'll for breathing troubles and IF for bad teeth; 106 cities with a population of 3,2OO,0O have no examination of any kind for their school children. Only ninety-eight cities seek out and give special instruction to children found predisposed or already infected with tuberculosis. In ifty-six cities nurses take children to dispensaries or in- struct parents at schoolhouses: forty three cities send nurses from house to house; ninety-eight send out cards of