The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-07

JOnVAo VI OhCSpllOuS, WlllSH obdAA
quire children to begin school at six
or seven and stay In school for eight
years
Why Children Leave School.
Why do half of tho children drop
out OF school before graduating? Six
teen per cent. of all who drop out do
so because OF ill-health: and those
who have physical defects, such as
poor hearing, poor seeing. hypertro-
phied tonsils, adenoids, or decayed
teeth. progress through school 9 per
cent. more slowly than children who
are not SO handicapped.
suppose that child Is somewhat
deaf and does not learn enough OF
what Is going on to do well, He falls
and has to repeat the first grade. At
ter II Is discovered that he is deaf, a
seat In the front row Is always given
him He makes no moro failures. He
entered school at seven, at nine he
entered the second grade. at ton the
third. at eleven the fourth, at twelve
the NTH. and at thirteen the sixth.
There seems TO be no question about
the general truth Of these figures The
chances are good that this bow will
drop out OF school III he is followed
by the school officer 1t will be shown
that the boy is already in his four
teenth year. and that he will drop out
on his fourteenth birthday anyway
without completing the year. The re-
suit IL that he Is out either then or
on his fourteenth birthday. He reasons
that he cannot hope to graduate for
that will take him till he Is sixteen,
SO he had better drop out at once.
Medical inspection as already carried
on in many places will detect all these
cases before they have failed, and an
efficient "follow-up" system will see
that the defects are removed 1t is
wasteful to the state and inhuman
to the child to have his progress in
school blocked because he has some
removable defect that prevents his
seeing, hearing, breathing or chew
ing. Children with bad teeth are. on
an average, six months behind those
in school with good teeth. Purely on
the basis OF economy. It is cheaper to
have the teeth of these children filed
than It is to pay for the extra six
months instruction or to have the
children drop out school with year,
less OF education than they otherwise
would have had
Now about the 1s per cent. who
drop out because of ill-health. Ade-
quate attention to a few simple mat
ters Will remove most OF this.
"a Medical inspection can stop the
schools being means of spreading
measles. scarlet fever and diphtheria.
(2) No matter what the system or
lack OF system OF ventilation. every
window in the building could be
opened for three minutes every period.
or at most every hour. During this
time the pupils should march around.
sing, dance. and do exercises. Change
of temperature is as important as
purity of air, and moving around
every little while is essential to good
work. The method of opening the
windows and taking exercise all at
once avoids disturbing the balance of
circulation in a pressure system of
noise. 10
t3) The building and pupils must be
clean. Send the children home IL
they smell. and clean the building by
the vacuum system. In most schools
a cloud Of dust rises about three feet
from the floor when the children run
or dance on II. No wonder that they
have colds. The school building could
and should be as clean as a hospital
and for the same reasons. These three
steps will largely prevent losses from
Illness.
Here are two largely preventable
leaks In our school systems:
7 "a About 16 per cent. of those who
drop out do SO because OF i'll health.
CD Those having removable ply
steal defects make 9 per cent. slower
progress than they should.
To Stop the Leakage.
Another great leak in our school
systems is due to intermittent at
tendance. The facts found by study
ing the records of all American cities
which give in detail information about
the regularity of attendance of their
school children. are the following:
Three children out OF four attend
school regularly. that is. more than
three-fourths of the time. One child
out OF four attends schoo. irregularly,
that is. less than three-fourths of the
school year. 1t is not to be expected
that child can master the work of
a grade well enough to be promoted
In less than three-fpurths of the time.
London. Eng. and a good many
American smaller cities nave almost
stopped this leak in the school sys-
tenn. 1t is accomplished by two steps
efficiently taken:
"a A school census which accurate
ly locates every child OF school age
in the community.
(2) Adequately administered school
laws. SO that all who are not in school