The Glenwood post., 1910-09-24
THE NEED FOR THE sUPERvIs
ION AND CARE OF INDIGNANT


Communities have found it necessary
as matter of self protection, to sup
ervise not only the mental development
of the child, but also its physical and
moral development. For a child Grip
pied by i'll health or physical defects
is quite apt to be mentally deficient,
and often the young criminal has been
made so from physical caues or heredi-
tary tendencies.
One of the best ways for correcting
the physical defects of children is by
medical inspection in the public
schools. Many defects develop through
ignorance or lack of thought on the
part of the parents, and if their at
tention is called to the condition of
the child by the school physicians, most
parents having the welfare of the child
at heart, will gladly have the condition
remedied
Compulsory education brings the vast
majority of the children under the
jurisdiction of the schools. at least up
TO the age of fourteen, and it is the
earlier years which offer the best oppor-
| tunities for the correction of defects
and bad habits. Gas the twig is bent,
the tree will grow''
| Homes for defective children, support
ed by the state, are of the utmost i'm
portance, not only that the children
may be trained to greater intelligence
and usefulness by first teaching the
child to use his hands, and then through
the training of the hands train the mind
but that they may become at least par
tally self-supporting and the commun-
ity to institutional care.
The states counties and cities, through
their medical officers, hospitals and sani-
tariums look after the i'll and helpless
not only in the cause of humanity, but
also because, by so doing, these com
munites protect their members from
many diseases, such as contagious dis
|
operations prevent many persons from
becoming a burden upon the community
The county farms and the insane asy-
lums have many of them adopted the
modern idea of making these institu-
tions as largely selfsupporting as pos
sible. The inmates doing much of the
work about the institutions, thereby
making the burden of caring for the
helpless ones less, they become of some
use in the world.
The state homes for dependent chill
dren, the schools for the blind and deaf,
all have the definite object of saving
the helpless young to a certain degree
Of citizenship, even though it may not
always be full citizenship. All of this
supervision is paid for by taxation in
some form, either by direct taxes asses
sed by the state. county or city, or else
by the many calls upon the people by
charitable organizations. In most cities
tiles have perfected an organization
which oversees the charitable work of
the city, thereby preventing fraud and
duplication of gifts, and these organiza-
tions also endeavor, in every possible
case, to assist families and individuals
to become self supporting.
Supervision of some kind for these
helpless and INDECENT is absolutely nee
essary as matter of self protection,
if for no other reason. Whether it
shall take the form of organized char
table supervision, or whether it shall
be done entirely by officials in the EN-
ploy of the state, county and city, or
whether by both working together,
done it must be, too prevent an in
creasing number of the helpless and
INDECENT. Prevention is the cry of to-
day; prevent the children from becom-
ing helpless and dependent, fit them to
take their place among the workers of
the world.